I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Mussoorie right now, owned by a sikh guy who sounds almost american, and who has taken it upon himself to educate us in hindi hip-hop. It's not bad. The street outside is probably 10 feel wide, and has deep horizontal grooves in it for traction purposes. Oh, did i mention that we're on the top of a mountain? Across the street is a man in plaid pants, lifting a burlap sack seemingly 80 or 90 pounds on his back, and putting the strap over his forehead to keep the bag on, and keeping his hands free. I guess school just got out because there's tons of 'mountain children' as Rae says walking up the hill back to their homes. Horns of motorcycles, motor-scooters, trucks and cars are constantly blaring to notify each other of their presence as they go around the tight and treacherous switchbacks up the mountain. The roads here are sort of similar to those in Yosemite, except that cars go into the other lane frequently to pass each other. Driving here is SO dangerous, and it looks like there should be constant accidents, but there aren't. On roads as narrow as 7 feet, two cars going opposite directions will get within a centimeter of each other, while being on a 60% grade. Also, they're all stick shifts, and the cars never roll back - i don't understand how they do it. Indians are the the best drivers on the planet.
Anyway, I'm in this internet cafe as part an excursion downtown to get a few things. Downtown is about a 20 minute walk from where we're staying, which is at the top of the mountain. We're literally living on the edge - the clouds aren't anything distant anymore, we're stuck in them, which means the the view isn't as impressive as it could potentially be. However the view is absolutely incredible. We see all of mussoorie on a relatively clear night, wrapped around the roads that wind their way up to us. It's so nice to get out of the city - Mussoorie is super lush and green - i've never seen so many bugs in my life, we're getting used to it. There's also the monkeys, which are very territorial and are known to get very close and screech at you, sometimes even attack if they feel threatened. the trick is not to look them in the eye, show your teeth, or challenge them, and you'll be alright. Just in case, Camden and I went into town yesterday to get canes to double as weapons in the event of a monkey attack. They're also pretty stylish.
Aight i gotta go, but hopefully we'll get internet at the place we're staying today and i'll be able to tell more.
Namaste
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
In Da Club
Yesterday was a long day. As usual we got up at 730 to eat breakfast. After that, Viji took the remaining group to the foreign registrars office. You would think that for a city as big as Delhi there would be a huge building dedicated to registering foreigners but once again India has subverted our expectations. People were crammed into all the chairs available, and for about 20 minutes we had to stand in a line and wait for them to check us in. After that, we had to go outside and wait, which, considering the 110 degree weather, wasn't very comfortable. The place were sitting was a kind of courtyard, covered by a huge green tarp, which in-effect made us colorblind. Somebody brought cards (considering the last group had to wait for 5 hours), so we were pretty well entertained. I taught the group my new favorite card game, called Gumpsh, where you have a partner and you have to come up with a secret code to tell your partner what cards you have and how many of them. People's codes are pretty funny; when we played tonight Rae and I didn't even need to make up a code, we just spoke in Hebrew. Anyway, we ended up only being at the office for 2 hours total, so it really wasn't bad.
Lunch at the YWCA, and then Kat, Rae and I went on a few errands. Kat and I had gotten cell phones 2 days earlier, been told they would work within 90 minutes and they still didn't work so we went to go fix them while Rae needed to buy a phone. It was my first time taking an auto-rickshaw, also known as a tuk-tuk. The place we needed to go was about 10 minutes away which should cost about 30 rupees, about 75 cents, but the drivers would try to charge us 200 rupees. The problem was that none of us had small change, only 500 rupee notes. All we had collectively in small change was 20 rupees, so i flagged down about 8 or 9 rickshaws, trying to haggle them down to 20 rupees. All of them reacted in the same way by just driving off. it was about that time that Rae discovered that she had 10 more rupees, so we snagged the next rickshaw we saw and found our way to the phone store. As we get into the rickshaw, i get a text message on my phone, telling me it's been activated. This is a perfect example of Indian standard time: It's even worse than jewish standard Time. Jews are usually about 30 minutes late, whereas Indian standard time can range from 30 minutes to 2 days late.
When we got to the phone place, and Kat's phone was working within 2 minutes. While the girls were doing this, i found a store that sold indian sweets. They had gulab-jamin, which is my favorite indian dessert, so i ate a few of those. Rae didn't want to get her phone at the place we got ours because it took so long for our phones to work. Luckily, in our subsequent wanderings, we found a cell phone store that was actually cheaper than our cell phones, so Rae got her phone there. In order to get a cell phone in India, one needs to bring a passport, and passport pictures. So Rae gave her passport to one indian guy at the store, and he begins to walk out of the store. This freaked us all out, because that was Rachel's passport walking out the door to an unknown area, with an unknown man. So i walked out with him, and followed him just to make sure. He led me down a few alleys to a crowded hole-in-the-wall copying place, made a copy of the passport, and then walked back to the store. The area with the copy place was this really cool market, with really tiny shops crowded next to each other, each selling something unique. So after Rae got her phone, we went there and browsed the shops - I bought a few mangos.
Later that night we heard about this club called Urban Pind, where it was ladies night. Ladies night means that women drink for free, so 3 of the guys and 9 of the girls took a bunch of rickshaws to the club to check it out. Too bad the club was in an obscure part of Delhi, because our rickshaw driver stopped at least 7 times to ask directions from the locals. Our driver was so fun: honked his horn when there was absolutely nothing to honk at, sang songs loudly to himself, and took turns at a speed thought to turn the rickshaw over. The rickshaws here are so cool - tiny green 3-wheeled vehicles with the driver in front and a seat for 3 in the back. The streets in Delhi are ridiculous - first of all traffic goes the wrong way, and second of all, everyone drives as if they're playing bumper cars. The lane markings on the streets are a mere suggestion so motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, and scooters weave haphazardly through traffic. The cars get within inches of each other, and honking your horn, contrary to its use in america to express anger and annoyance just means hello here, and is in abundance. On the whole, driving in Delhi can only be described as organized chaos - it's much like a flock of birds being instantaneously synchronized in their flight pattern, but never bumping into one another.
Anyway, we got to the club which was really fun - 3 levels of partying going on, good music, and lots of interesting people. I met some french people who were visiting their friend in Delhi, and talked to them for a while. The heat of Delhi, even at night, plus the club-dancing atmosphere made sure that all of us were drenched in sweat after about 5 minutes, a feeling we've become used to. It's always a good idea to bring a handkerchief around to wipe off the shvitz. We stayed at the club for a long time, and then slowly left in our groups of four - one guy to each 3 girls. Our rickshaw on the way back, though more expensive than the previous one, didn't get lost many times, and returned us safely to the YWCA. Another successful day in Delhi.
Lunch at the YWCA, and then Kat, Rae and I went on a few errands. Kat and I had gotten cell phones 2 days earlier, been told they would work within 90 minutes and they still didn't work so we went to go fix them while Rae needed to buy a phone. It was my first time taking an auto-rickshaw, also known as a tuk-tuk. The place we needed to go was about 10 minutes away which should cost about 30 rupees, about 75 cents, but the drivers would try to charge us 200 rupees. The problem was that none of us had small change, only 500 rupee notes. All we had collectively in small change was 20 rupees, so i flagged down about 8 or 9 rickshaws, trying to haggle them down to 20 rupees. All of them reacted in the same way by just driving off. it was about that time that Rae discovered that she had 10 more rupees, so we snagged the next rickshaw we saw and found our way to the phone store. As we get into the rickshaw, i get a text message on my phone, telling me it's been activated. This is a perfect example of Indian standard time: It's even worse than jewish standard Time. Jews are usually about 30 minutes late, whereas Indian standard time can range from 30 minutes to 2 days late.
When we got to the phone place, and Kat's phone was working within 2 minutes. While the girls were doing this, i found a store that sold indian sweets. They had gulab-jamin, which is my favorite indian dessert, so i ate a few of those. Rae didn't want to get her phone at the place we got ours because it took so long for our phones to work. Luckily, in our subsequent wanderings, we found a cell phone store that was actually cheaper than our cell phones, so Rae got her phone there. In order to get a cell phone in India, one needs to bring a passport, and passport pictures. So Rae gave her passport to one indian guy at the store, and he begins to walk out of the store. This freaked us all out, because that was Rachel's passport walking out the door to an unknown area, with an unknown man. So i walked out with him, and followed him just to make sure. He led me down a few alleys to a crowded hole-in-the-wall copying place, made a copy of the passport, and then walked back to the store. The area with the copy place was this really cool market, with really tiny shops crowded next to each other, each selling something unique. So after Rae got her phone, we went there and browsed the shops - I bought a few mangos.
Later that night we heard about this club called Urban Pind, where it was ladies night. Ladies night means that women drink for free, so 3 of the guys and 9 of the girls took a bunch of rickshaws to the club to check it out. Too bad the club was in an obscure part of Delhi, because our rickshaw driver stopped at least 7 times to ask directions from the locals. Our driver was so fun: honked his horn when there was absolutely nothing to honk at, sang songs loudly to himself, and took turns at a speed thought to turn the rickshaw over. The rickshaws here are so cool - tiny green 3-wheeled vehicles with the driver in front and a seat for 3 in the back. The streets in Delhi are ridiculous - first of all traffic goes the wrong way, and second of all, everyone drives as if they're playing bumper cars. The lane markings on the streets are a mere suggestion so motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, and scooters weave haphazardly through traffic. The cars get within inches of each other, and honking your horn, contrary to its use in america to express anger and annoyance just means hello here, and is in abundance. On the whole, driving in Delhi can only be described as organized chaos - it's much like a flock of birds being instantaneously synchronized in their flight pattern, but never bumping into one another.
Anyway, we got to the club which was really fun - 3 levels of partying going on, good music, and lots of interesting people. I met some french people who were visiting their friend in Delhi, and talked to them for a while. The heat of Delhi, even at night, plus the club-dancing atmosphere made sure that all of us were drenched in sweat after about 5 minutes, a feeling we've become used to. It's always a good idea to bring a handkerchief around to wipe off the shvitz. We stayed at the club for a long time, and then slowly left in our groups of four - one guy to each 3 girls. Our rickshaw on the way back, though more expensive than the previous one, didn't get lost many times, and returned us safely to the YWCA. Another successful day in Delhi.
Two mornings ago we ate breakfast and gathered to go to the police station to register with them or something. Viji (the program advisor and all around awesome guy) told us that only 25 people could come at a time so he read off a list of those coming with him. I didn’t get picked. A group of unpicked people and I went off to exchange some currency, get a cell phone, and get power adapters. At the phone store we were told that we should come back in an hour or so, so we decided to go to a bazaar and get some cool Indian clothes. On the way we met a guy named Viki – he just came up to us and asked if we needed directions. He didn’t want any money or anything from us, just to practice his English. So he hung out with us and led the way to the bazaar. On the walk with Viki, a guy was walking about the same pace as us, and befriended me. His name was VJ. So we had two Indian tour-guides lending their experience and knowledge to us. At the bazaar they just hung out, and were there for advice when needed. I bargained a lot for my kurta, and got it down from 2500 rupees, which is about $55, to 1800, which is about $35. Great success! I also helped a few friends with their haggling. After the bazaar was the search for power adapters, and then instead of going back to the original phone place, VJ took us to a place that he said was very cheap and very good. Half the group went with this store, and the other half went to the original phone store. Viki and VJ told us the way back to the YWCA, where the group slumped to the marble floor trying to cool their overheated bodies.
Later after lunch, Viji took a bunch of us apartment-hunting. The area that the apartments are in is totally different than the area we’re currently in, so it was kinda cool to see where we will be living for 5 months. They were all pretty much the same, but a bunch of people all seem to want the same one, so I’m not looking forward to people fighting over the same apartment. Speaking of the people on the trip, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on this trip is awesome. I mean, how can you sign up to go to India for 6 months and not have a sense of adventure? I haven’t met a person who’s not down to travel, experience, and take risks. I foresee little to no conflict within the group, and that makes me so happy. My face hurts from smiling so much.
Later after lunch, Viji took a bunch of us apartment-hunting. The area that the apartments are in is totally different than the area we’re currently in, so it was kinda cool to see where we will be living for 5 months. They were all pretty much the same, but a bunch of people all seem to want the same one, so I’m not looking forward to people fighting over the same apartment. Speaking of the people on the trip, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on this trip is awesome. I mean, how can you sign up to go to India for 6 months and not have a sense of adventure? I haven’t met a person who’s not down to travel, experience, and take risks. I foresee little to no conflict within the group, and that makes me so happy. My face hurts from smiling so much.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
3rd Day
Yesterday I got up at 5am to walk around Delhi because I heard that Delhi in the early morning is wonderful. So I woke up my two roommates, and went downstairs to check if more people were doing the same thing. Nobody was there, so I just waited for my roommates to come down. Suddenly I see a flustered looking kid with a duffel bag walk by the door of the YWCA. I assumed he was another EAP participant so I opened the door and told him that yes, this was indeed the YWCA. Turns out his name is Matt, and he just came directly from Israel. Also notable was his black kippah. The moment I heard he was in Israel, I addressed him in Hebrew and we spoke it for the rest of our conversation. So he, my two roommates and I wandered the streets of Delhi, eventually spotting a huge golden dome near us. So we walk towards it and find it to be a Sikh Temple. In order to enter, we had to take off our shoes, and put on head-scarves. The Temple sat in the middle of a huge marble courtyard, on which there were many people lounging around. Inside the temple there was live music playing, people praying, and people just sitting around. Outside there was a communal meal being served, and though we didn’t try any, I’m sure it was delicious.
At around 2ish Rae, Camden and I went exploring. We exchanged some currency, got some iced coffee, and Rae and I bought a hookah. It’s beautiful. His name is Rama. We also got a tour of this local park made up of a bunch of buildings from the 1700’s that all serve some astrological purpose. One building was a HUGE sun-dial that can tell time accurate to the half-second! When we got back Rae Katie and I just hung out in my room with the door open listening to music, and people started coming in. Soon we had like 10 people all hanging out in my room, listening to music and playing games. We did this for like 3 hours, which was really nice. At night we tried to go to a bar, but Noah and I couldn’t find the bar we went to earlier with Rahul, so we (20 of us) found some other bar, which was okay.
At around 2ish Rae, Camden and I went exploring. We exchanged some currency, got some iced coffee, and Rae and I bought a hookah. It’s beautiful. His name is Rama. We also got a tour of this local park made up of a bunch of buildings from the 1700’s that all serve some astrological purpose. One building was a HUGE sun-dial that can tell time accurate to the half-second! When we got back Rae Katie and I just hung out in my room with the door open listening to music, and people started coming in. Soon we had like 10 people all hanging out in my room, listening to music and playing games. We did this for like 3 hours, which was really nice. At night we tried to go to a bar, but Noah and I couldn’t find the bar we went to earlier with Rahul, so we (20 of us) found some other bar, which was okay.
Here, let me just shove this sharp metal object in your ear
When lunch ended, I was driven to the YWCA where I would be staying for the next week, until we go up to Moussoorie. The drivers had a bit of trouble finding the place, but eventually they got me there and I met up with the group. There’s about 40 of us total, with 10 or so going to Hydrabad University, and the remaining 30 staying here in Delhi. For the first month we all stay together, but when we come back from Moussoorie we split up. The YWCA is in central Delhi, so we’re in the thick of city-life. There are auto-rickshaws everywhere, people managing their various food-stands, homeless people strewn about on the ground, and it seems like the entirety of downtown is under construction. To get into the YWCA, you pass through a gate, and then enter the lobby, which is wonderfully air conditioned. Did I mention that it’s usually a cool and balmy 110 degrees in the daytime in Delhi? In the lobby there are a few chairs and couch’s around a TV, a front desk where we drop off and pick up our room key (there’s only one key, and three people to a room), and a set of doors leading to the dining room where we eat our meals.
The fact that the Lobby is air-conditioned is a blessing and a curse: coming off the streets of Delhi, all shvitsy (sweaty), hot and tired, the lobby is heaven. But it also is the only consistently cool area of the YWCA. There are another set of doors on the other side of the room that open to a stair-case. The moment these doors open, the heat washes over you in such a way that the only response is a sorrowful, “uuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhh”. I’m reminded of that scene in the Anchorman when Ron Burgandy stumbles around Chicago with a gallon of milk saying, “It’s SO hot outside! Milk was a baaaad choice”. Anyway, the reason those doors don’t open into an equally-air-conditioend staircase is that the WYCA is currently under construction, so that where long windows should be, Long boughs of wood are lashed to each other with rope (like primitive scaffolding). My room (room 8) is pretty good – 3 beds, linoleum floor, fan, fluorescent light (which is crooked on the wall), and a bathroom.
Within 5 minutes of getting in, I found my friend Noah, and we went exploring with a few other people. It was my friend Rachel’s birthday so I decided to buy her something from the street. Good thing there were tons of people following us with various nick-nacks – this one guy was selling a head massager for 150 rupees. I told him I’d pay 50 rupees for it, and when he said no I walked away. A minute later, I look back and he’s following me. “120 rupees, ok?” . I hold firm to my 50 rupee asking price. I walk away again, he follows, etc… I ended up getting it for 80 rupees, I probably could have gone lower. Anyway, 1st haggling experience. Soon we came back to the YWCA, rested a bit, and then just Noah and I went out to explore. We went looking for some authentic chai, and passed through some street-markets.
Everyone is SO friendly here. They all say hello and try to talk to us (even if they’re not trying to sell us something). Noah has been taking Hindi for the past year so he was very excited to speak with the locals. He met one guy who, after a bit of small talk, busted out a small notebook with short testimonials about how good he was at what he does. Soon another guy came up to me with the same routine. They were ear-cleaners, and I’m not talking about a q-tip. After exaughstively showing me his book of testimonials, he pulls out a toothpick-thick metal stick, puts a piece of cotton on top of it, holds my head and right ear, and sticks the stick deep into my ear. At this point there’s very little I can do, so I just relax and wait for him to finish. He swirls the piece around in my ear, and brings it out. The once-white cotton is now dark brown, and there’s a bunch of gunky ear-wax on it. My ear actually felt pretty good afterwards, but when he tried to do my other ear, I said no. This was when my brain had started working and was saying to me, “it’s your 2nd day in Delhi, maybe we should hold off on the sketchy Indian guys poking around inside of your ear with a sharp metal stick”. And so we journeyed on.
We passed through is very nice park where everybody was lounging about in the heat, and hung around there for a while. Then we moved back onto the street, because on our agenda was this bar that we had heard of where we could get a beer and watch the world cup. This part of Delhi isn’t based on a grid system, so navigating is quite tough if you’re new. So Noah and I, kind of lost, are stopped at a corner debating over which way to go, when this Indian kid comes up to us speaking, and in very good English asks us where we are going. We tell him, and he tells us that he will lead us there. Not trying to sell anything, not having anything to do, he acts as our guide and we follow him to the bar. At first I was a bit paranoid, because he came out of nowhere, was leading us down some alleys, and I was disoriented. So while Noah was practicing his Hindi with him, I lagged a bit behind, trying to judge the situation. However eventually we wound up at our desired bar, and my paranoia was absolved. His name was Rahul, and when we asked him if he wanted to join us at the bar, he seemed surprised and honored. “who, me? You want me to come up and talk with you?”. He said yes and we bought him a beer while chatting and watching the world cup. Turns our Rahul is 18, from Rajastan, engaged, and studying English here in Delhi. We must’ve been at the bar for 2 hours or so but eventually Rahul had to go so he gave us his phone number, and told us that anything we ever need in Delhi, don’t hesitate to call him. Such a sweet kid. Noah and I found our way back to the YWCA, where we ate dinner and hung out with the rest of the kids.
The fact that the Lobby is air-conditioned is a blessing and a curse: coming off the streets of Delhi, all shvitsy (sweaty), hot and tired, the lobby is heaven. But it also is the only consistently cool area of the YWCA. There are another set of doors on the other side of the room that open to a stair-case. The moment these doors open, the heat washes over you in such a way that the only response is a sorrowful, “uuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhh”. I’m reminded of that scene in the Anchorman when Ron Burgandy stumbles around Chicago with a gallon of milk saying, “It’s SO hot outside! Milk was a baaaad choice”. Anyway, the reason those doors don’t open into an equally-air-conditioend staircase is that the WYCA is currently under construction, so that where long windows should be, Long boughs of wood are lashed to each other with rope (like primitive scaffolding). My room (room 8) is pretty good – 3 beds, linoleum floor, fan, fluorescent light (which is crooked on the wall), and a bathroom.
Within 5 minutes of getting in, I found my friend Noah, and we went exploring with a few other people. It was my friend Rachel’s birthday so I decided to buy her something from the street. Good thing there were tons of people following us with various nick-nacks – this one guy was selling a head massager for 150 rupees. I told him I’d pay 50 rupees for it, and when he said no I walked away. A minute later, I look back and he’s following me. “120 rupees, ok?” . I hold firm to my 50 rupee asking price. I walk away again, he follows, etc… I ended up getting it for 80 rupees, I probably could have gone lower. Anyway, 1st haggling experience. Soon we came back to the YWCA, rested a bit, and then just Noah and I went out to explore. We went looking for some authentic chai, and passed through some street-markets.
Everyone is SO friendly here. They all say hello and try to talk to us (even if they’re not trying to sell us something). Noah has been taking Hindi for the past year so he was very excited to speak with the locals. He met one guy who, after a bit of small talk, busted out a small notebook with short testimonials about how good he was at what he does. Soon another guy came up to me with the same routine. They were ear-cleaners, and I’m not talking about a q-tip. After exaughstively showing me his book of testimonials, he pulls out a toothpick-thick metal stick, puts a piece of cotton on top of it, holds my head and right ear, and sticks the stick deep into my ear. At this point there’s very little I can do, so I just relax and wait for him to finish. He swirls the piece around in my ear, and brings it out. The once-white cotton is now dark brown, and there’s a bunch of gunky ear-wax on it. My ear actually felt pretty good afterwards, but when he tried to do my other ear, I said no. This was when my brain had started working and was saying to me, “it’s your 2nd day in Delhi, maybe we should hold off on the sketchy Indian guys poking around inside of your ear with a sharp metal stick”. And so we journeyed on.
We passed through is very nice park where everybody was lounging about in the heat, and hung around there for a while. Then we moved back onto the street, because on our agenda was this bar that we had heard of where we could get a beer and watch the world cup. This part of Delhi isn’t based on a grid system, so navigating is quite tough if you’re new. So Noah and I, kind of lost, are stopped at a corner debating over which way to go, when this Indian kid comes up to us speaking, and in very good English asks us where we are going. We tell him, and he tells us that he will lead us there. Not trying to sell anything, not having anything to do, he acts as our guide and we follow him to the bar. At first I was a bit paranoid, because he came out of nowhere, was leading us down some alleys, and I was disoriented. So while Noah was practicing his Hindi with him, I lagged a bit behind, trying to judge the situation. However eventually we wound up at our desired bar, and my paranoia was absolved. His name was Rahul, and when we asked him if he wanted to join us at the bar, he seemed surprised and honored. “who, me? You want me to come up and talk with you?”. He said yes and we bought him a beer while chatting and watching the world cup. Turns our Rahul is 18, from Rajastan, engaged, and studying English here in Delhi. We must’ve been at the bar for 2 hours or so but eventually Rahul had to go so he gave us his phone number, and told us that anything we ever need in Delhi, don’t hesitate to call him. Such a sweet kid. Noah and I found our way back to the YWCA, where we ate dinner and hung out with the rest of the kids.
1st Day in Delhi
It’s 7:40 Pm here in Delhi, and only 95 Degrees out. Dinner is at 8, and then after that we plan on going to a bar that Noah and I discovered with our new friend Rahul. So much has happened since my last post, and our Internet access is limited to two very old and slow computers downstairs in the lobby here at the YWCA and our desire to pay for using them. As a result, I haven’t had the time or patience to deal with those things, nor have I gotten a power adapter to charge my out-of-battery computer.
I guess I should start at the beginning, when I got into Delhi. My flight from Taipei to Delhi was great – there were basically no people on the plane so I got an entire middle row of about 5 seats to myself, so I stretched out and took a nap for the duration of the plane ride. During the mad rush to get me on a plane to Delhi on time, Josh organized for me to stay with our family friends, the Lambas. Divij, who is around Josh’s age, was very kind to come pick me up from the airport, whereupon we drove to his house. Currently under construction, it bore almost no resemblance to the house my family and I stayed at in 2004 for the marriage of Dhruv and Mandi. The place was totally gutted, with rubble scattered everywhere. We took an elevator up to the 2nd floor, which remained intact and livable. Dhruv, Mandi, their son Arieh-Veer, and Divij all lived on this floor while the renovations were being done. Divij showed me the room that I was to stay in – it was the biggest room I’ve ever slept in! Huge bed, beautiful wood floors, private bathroom, a couch, and a porch. When I tried to get my bags from the car I was told to leave them, because the driver would bring them up. This concept is weird and uncomfortable for me, I feel weird having people do what I can do for myself. It seems apparent to me that my things mean that I deal with them.
Anyway, after a quick but luxurious shower, Divij took me to a hotel about 20 minutes from the house, which is technically in another state altogether, to meet his cousin and his fiancé for lunch. I enter the spacious and modern looking hotel, and we walk to the dining room, where my senses were instantly assaulted by the multiplicity of gourmet and multi-cultural foods. There was one table dedicated to cold cuts, which included a whole leg of porchutto, with a knife next to it for self-carving purposes, a plate of carpacio, several types of slami, jars of pickled vegetables, a wide variety of cheeses, and dozens of freshly baked breads.
That was just one table. There were other such tables dedicated to Chinese food, Indian food, appetizers, and desserts, all equally as impressive. When asked what I wanted to drink, and my response was “just water”, I was swiftly ordered a beer by Divij, who didn’t seem shy about repeating this act in the future. For the next 2 ½ hours, we nibbled here and there, until we were totally full – but India, being full isn’t enough. Good-old Indian hospitality kept the food and drinks coming long after I stopped eating. I definitely felt taken care of. A long nap preceded the long lunch, after-which we went next door to see ‘grandfather’.
Pashori Lamba was friends with my grandpa, and is the father of Sunil, who is around my Dad’s age. Sunil is the father of Divij (who’s around Josh’s age), Dhruv, and Divya. Divij, Dhruv, his wife Mandi and I walked to the house next door, and hung out with Pashori. Just sitting in the room with him, you can sense that he’s done great things with his life, and is a very intelligent man. After a while, Divij and I left to see the Karate Kid, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – Jackie Chan is the bomb. In India, regardless of the movie you’re watching, if you’re in a movie theater, there is an intermission. An employee also walks up and down the aisles, offering to bring you any food from the concessions stand. Needless to say, when we got back to the house, I slept soundly until the morning.
From around 12 pm to 1:30 Divij gave me a tour of the country club accessible to all of the members of his living community. Included is a pool, a bar, a restaurant, several card rooms, a gym, and a billiards room. To waste some time Divij taught me how to play Billiards. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so I let him win – next time we play though; I’m not going so easy. Next was Father’s Day lunch with Pashori, Sunil, Divij, Dhruv, Mandi, and I. There were 3 generations of fathers there, which I thought was kind of cool. We went to Hotel Oberoy for lunch, and ordered the Dim Sum Lunch. The Lambas seem to be very into Dim Sum – I don’t blame them. Lunch was incredible, and once again I was pushed to my limit of fullness by the ever-more famous Indian hospitality, “Benny, I thought you said you could eat a lot! Have a few more Dim Sum. Oh and you have to try these green beans. And of course the coconut ice cream, its divine here!”. (Insert Indian accent). They really take care of you, it’s very generous.
I guess I should start at the beginning, when I got into Delhi. My flight from Taipei to Delhi was great – there were basically no people on the plane so I got an entire middle row of about 5 seats to myself, so I stretched out and took a nap for the duration of the plane ride. During the mad rush to get me on a plane to Delhi on time, Josh organized for me to stay with our family friends, the Lambas. Divij, who is around Josh’s age, was very kind to come pick me up from the airport, whereupon we drove to his house. Currently under construction, it bore almost no resemblance to the house my family and I stayed at in 2004 for the marriage of Dhruv and Mandi. The place was totally gutted, with rubble scattered everywhere. We took an elevator up to the 2nd floor, which remained intact and livable. Dhruv, Mandi, their son Arieh-Veer, and Divij all lived on this floor while the renovations were being done. Divij showed me the room that I was to stay in – it was the biggest room I’ve ever slept in! Huge bed, beautiful wood floors, private bathroom, a couch, and a porch. When I tried to get my bags from the car I was told to leave them, because the driver would bring them up. This concept is weird and uncomfortable for me, I feel weird having people do what I can do for myself. It seems apparent to me that my things mean that I deal with them.
Anyway, after a quick but luxurious shower, Divij took me to a hotel about 20 minutes from the house, which is technically in another state altogether, to meet his cousin and his fiancé for lunch. I enter the spacious and modern looking hotel, and we walk to the dining room, where my senses were instantly assaulted by the multiplicity of gourmet and multi-cultural foods. There was one table dedicated to cold cuts, which included a whole leg of porchutto, with a knife next to it for self-carving purposes, a plate of carpacio, several types of slami, jars of pickled vegetables, a wide variety of cheeses, and dozens of freshly baked breads.
That was just one table. There were other such tables dedicated to Chinese food, Indian food, appetizers, and desserts, all equally as impressive. When asked what I wanted to drink, and my response was “just water”, I was swiftly ordered a beer by Divij, who didn’t seem shy about repeating this act in the future. For the next 2 ½ hours, we nibbled here and there, until we were totally full – but India, being full isn’t enough. Good-old Indian hospitality kept the food and drinks coming long after I stopped eating. I definitely felt taken care of. A long nap preceded the long lunch, after-which we went next door to see ‘grandfather’.
Pashori Lamba was friends with my grandpa, and is the father of Sunil, who is around my Dad’s age. Sunil is the father of Divij (who’s around Josh’s age), Dhruv, and Divya. Divij, Dhruv, his wife Mandi and I walked to the house next door, and hung out with Pashori. Just sitting in the room with him, you can sense that he’s done great things with his life, and is a very intelligent man. After a while, Divij and I left to see the Karate Kid, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – Jackie Chan is the bomb. In India, regardless of the movie you’re watching, if you’re in a movie theater, there is an intermission. An employee also walks up and down the aisles, offering to bring you any food from the concessions stand. Needless to say, when we got back to the house, I slept soundly until the morning.
From around 12 pm to 1:30 Divij gave me a tour of the country club accessible to all of the members of his living community. Included is a pool, a bar, a restaurant, several card rooms, a gym, and a billiards room. To waste some time Divij taught me how to play Billiards. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so I let him win – next time we play though; I’m not going so easy. Next was Father’s Day lunch with Pashori, Sunil, Divij, Dhruv, Mandi, and I. There were 3 generations of fathers there, which I thought was kind of cool. We went to Hotel Oberoy for lunch, and ordered the Dim Sum Lunch. The Lambas seem to be very into Dim Sum – I don’t blame them. Lunch was incredible, and once again I was pushed to my limit of fullness by the ever-more famous Indian hospitality, “Benny, I thought you said you could eat a lot! Have a few more Dim Sum. Oh and you have to try these green beans. And of course the coconut ice cream, its divine here!”. (Insert Indian accent). They really take care of you, it’s very generous.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Taipei
The 14 hour flight here wasn't bad at all. I sat next to a Vietnamese woman named Fuh, who spoke almost no english, so our limited interactions consisted mainly of pointing, smiling, thumbs up, and grimaces (she didn't like her meals, so i ate them).
So many hours later and a beautiful pacific ocean sunrise later, i'm sitting here, in Taipei International AIrport. My 6 hour flight to Delhi boards in 10 minutes -next update: Delhi
So many hours later and a beautiful pacific ocean sunrise later, i'm sitting here, in Taipei International AIrport. My 6 hour flight to Delhi boards in 10 minutes -next update: Delhi
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Background
I still have another 30 minutes until my flight boards, so i thought i'd give you a bit of background on my family's connection to India. My grandpa was stationed in New Delhi during the 2nd world war, doing meat-inspection for the US troops. He met and befriended two indian men, Ikbal Guy, and Pashori Lamba, who had a hand-crank ice cream machine, just trying to get by. When it was time for him to leave, my Grandpa told these men, "if you're ever in New York, you're more than welcome to stay with us, we'll take care of you". And that's exactly what happened. They came to New York, stayed with my family, and my grandpa helped them get into the Cornell school of hotel management, one of the best programs in the country. They ended up going to college, going back to India, and then founding the largest ice cream company in all of India.
Incredible, right? Well ever since that our families have been intertwined. My Dad went to India in the 70's to celebrate the wedding of Pashori's son, which is the beginning point of his 9-month adventure around the world. Also a few years ago while we were in Israel, we were invited to another wedding of the Lambas, and got to go to India for 10 days. When i get to India (in 21 hours), i am blessed to be subject to the hospitality of the Lambas once again, while i wait the extra day until my program starts.
Incredible, right? Well ever since that our families have been intertwined. My Dad went to India in the 70's to celebrate the wedding of Pashori's son, which is the beginning point of his 9-month adventure around the world. Also a few years ago while we were in Israel, we were invited to another wedding of the Lambas, and got to go to India for 10 days. When i get to India (in 21 hours), i am blessed to be subject to the hospitality of the Lambas once again, while i wait the extra day until my program starts.
Pre-Poned
In our extensive pre-trip meeting, along with talking with friends, i have heard that in India, it is possible for a train to be not only postponed, but also pre-poned, this meaning that the trail will actually leave before its scheduled time. Little did I know that about 4 months ago, i had accidentally pre-poned my flight to India. This shocking realization came to fruition at about 5:00 pm tonight when, after a bike ride with my brother, he looked over my confirmation email from Orbitz, and told me that my flight was supposed to leave tonight, rather than tomorrow night as i had planned. After a frenzied double check, I realized that this was true, and that i had booked my flight an hour early. What ensued can only be described as organized chaos.
I thought that my flight was the same as the organized group flight on which most of the EAP students were flying, so i would get a chance to hang out with the few people i do know on the trip, as well as meet others. I had been telling people this entire 4 months that i was leaving on the night of the 18th, a fact that increased my level of disbelief and shock when my original plans were shattered. In effect, i screwed myself over. However luckily, this entire week i had been slowly packing and gathering the things needed for my trip, so that my packing process wasn't too bad.
When my mom got home, my brother took out his iphone and began recording a video to document her response to the news. I explained how i had messed up and i was actually leaving tonight. Naturally, she freaked out, and then a beautiful thing happened, the Zimmerman's buckled down. I immediately went to the garage to rifle through the boxes from school, to see if there was anything else from them that i needed in india. Josh got on the phone, calling the credit card company to notify them that i would be in india, so they shouldn't freeze my credit card when there was foreign activity on it. He also registered me with the US embassy, and called our indian friends to tell them I was coming. Josh also figured out where i was staying the extra night in Delhi, and how i was getting there from the airport. Mom took my notebook, and grilled me on my packing list, making sure that i didn't forget anything. Dad went to Darrow's house, where i had forgotten my jacket, and then picked up dinner for us.
Before i knew it, it was 930, and time to leave for the airport. So here i am, 1 packed duffel bag and backpack later, sitting at gate 104 in the china airways terminal, waiting for my 14 hour flight to Taipei. I also recently just learned that there aren't any chargers on the plane, so I'll have to make the most of my electronics while i can.
And so my adventure begins...
I thought that my flight was the same as the organized group flight on which most of the EAP students were flying, so i would get a chance to hang out with the few people i do know on the trip, as well as meet others. I had been telling people this entire 4 months that i was leaving on the night of the 18th, a fact that increased my level of disbelief and shock when my original plans were shattered. In effect, i screwed myself over. However luckily, this entire week i had been slowly packing and gathering the things needed for my trip, so that my packing process wasn't too bad.
When my mom got home, my brother took out his iphone and began recording a video to document her response to the news. I explained how i had messed up and i was actually leaving tonight. Naturally, she freaked out, and then a beautiful thing happened, the Zimmerman's buckled down. I immediately went to the garage to rifle through the boxes from school, to see if there was anything else from them that i needed in india. Josh got on the phone, calling the credit card company to notify them that i would be in india, so they shouldn't freeze my credit card when there was foreign activity on it. He also registered me with the US embassy, and called our indian friends to tell them I was coming. Josh also figured out where i was staying the extra night in Delhi, and how i was getting there from the airport. Mom took my notebook, and grilled me on my packing list, making sure that i didn't forget anything. Dad went to Darrow's house, where i had forgotten my jacket, and then picked up dinner for us.
Before i knew it, it was 930, and time to leave for the airport. So here i am, 1 packed duffel bag and backpack later, sitting at gate 104 in the china airways terminal, waiting for my 14 hour flight to Taipei. I also recently just learned that there aren't any chargers on the plane, so I'll have to make the most of my electronics while i can.
And so my adventure begins...
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Almost
Sometime last week i realized that my answer to the question "when do you leave for India" had changed from "I have to be in India by June 20th", to "next friday". Both answers mean the same thing, however my new answer emphasizes the extreme closeness of my departure. I will be in India in 6 days.
On Thursday, June 10th, at around 6:30 pm i said goodbye to all those close to me from Santa Cruz and with my car packed to the brim with all of my possessions, i ordered sushi to go, set up a podcast of NPR's This American Life, and was on the road to LA. After about 6 hours of driving i found myself in front of my house in LA, knocked on the door, and was greeted by my poppa, who welcomed me warmly. I walked into my parents bedroom where my mom was, and was exclaimed at by my mother, "What happened to your hair!?". She was referring to my recently buzzed head, a precaution i took against the 115 degree weather of Delhi during the summer.
Yesterday was a day of friends. Darrow, back from his 2-month excursion in the wilderness, invited me over to his house in the morning for omelettes. After a hearty breakfast and some catching up, we decided to ride our respective bikes to the beach, considering how beautiful a day it was. On the way down to the ocean we met up with one of my best friends Jordan Ross, whom i havent seen for many months. Us three stopped at a random japanese market, and were delighted by the delicacies and the deliciously decent-priced meals we found there. Having successfully lost our motivation to go to the beach, Darrow and I parted from Jordan Ross and biked back to his house, where he taught me some tai-chi like exercises, and played with his baby brother and sister. The night ended in my dad's favorite 007 movie, Sean Connery's Dr. No.
Today was a loooong day. I woke up at the crack of 6:30 am to be in Santa Monica by 7 for REI's used gear sale. For those of you who don't know about this gem of an event, every month or so, REI takes all of its returned gear (usually returned for small and insignificant issues), and sells it for 60% off or more. After making a few friends in line, and waiting for about an hour (the line went all the way down the block) I was finally chosen to be the next to go into the store, where there was a roped off section, with gear loosely sorted on tables, boxes, or racks. Top of the line Osprey backpacks were down from 500 bucks to 150, and tents were being sold at a price I would feel guilty taking advantage of. I ended up getting two pairs of good wool socks (usually priced at $15), for 93 cents each! One of the socks has a tiny hole around my shin, which seems to be an unspeakable offense to my mother, because she hasn't let me live it down yet. Personally, i don't care about the hole at all - why worry about a tiny hole over my leg when it's my foot that matters? Anyway, i also got this cool hat, a good thermos for $4, and a really nice timex trail watch for 25 bucks, marked down from $125. The reason this watch was returned? The previous owner didn't like that the watch strap was velcro!
Finally getting back home around 930, my old camp friend Rachel Wolman calls me and says she's in town, and invites me to go hang out with her and another friend of ours, Jamie. They pick me up from my place and we go...guess where? the third street-promenade, which happens to be about 2 blocks from REI where i has JUST come from. After a little parking adventure, us three walk into the Santa Monica farmers market, where I buy a sourdough loaf and block of garlic cheddar cheese as lunch. Like the jews we are, we wandered - eventually going down to the Santa Monica pier, and then back up to REI to get a camelbak bladder for me.
By 230 i was home again, and instead of taking the well-needed nap that i wanted, i was persuaded by my mother to help her prepare for the Kahnnas arrival. The Kahnnas are some of our family-friends from Delhi, and were coincidentally in LA this week. Given this great opportunity to hang out with them, my family invited them (Rishi, his wife Divya, their 7 year old son Jay, and their 2 year old son Veer) to dinner at our place. In preparation for their arrival, i went to a toy store and tried to get some presents for the boys. After realizing that i totally forgot what i liked when i was 7, I befriended some kids in the toy store who were 8, and enlisted their help to find some cool toys that Jay and Veer would like. Turns out these kids were Israeli, so i had fun practicing my Hebrew, while simultaneously re-connecting with my 7-year old self. I ended up getting Jay a grabber (the long pole with a lever on one end, and a claw-thing on the other), where the grabbing part was a dinosaur head, and a toy ferrari. I got Veer a little lion stuffed-animal, and a green silicon spherical man with tentacles coming out and a drawstring that, when pulled made him vibrate. Finally coming home, i was thrown into the mix of preparing for the Kahnnas arrival and making dinner. Around 6:30 they came over, and we had a very nice dinner - it was nice to get to know Rishi, Divya, Jay and Veer better. For dessert Jay helped me make chocolate strawberries, and then we watched some OLD (1940) videos that my grandpa took when he was in Delhi working for the army.
This week looks like it's shaping up to be very busy between seeing old friends, getting things ready for my 6-month adventure and spending time with the family. I can't believe that I am actually going to India for 6 months, and am leaving so soon! 6 days from now my blogs will actually be about my adventure in the east, instead of about my preparation for it. Soon i'll figure out a way of uploading photos/video so that you will have access to my blog, my map, and my photos.
On Thursday, June 10th, at around 6:30 pm i said goodbye to all those close to me from Santa Cruz and with my car packed to the brim with all of my possessions, i ordered sushi to go, set up a podcast of NPR's This American Life, and was on the road to LA. After about 6 hours of driving i found myself in front of my house in LA, knocked on the door, and was greeted by my poppa, who welcomed me warmly. I walked into my parents bedroom where my mom was, and was exclaimed at by my mother, "What happened to your hair!?". She was referring to my recently buzzed head, a precaution i took against the 115 degree weather of Delhi during the summer.
Yesterday was a day of friends. Darrow, back from his 2-month excursion in the wilderness, invited me over to his house in the morning for omelettes. After a hearty breakfast and some catching up, we decided to ride our respective bikes to the beach, considering how beautiful a day it was. On the way down to the ocean we met up with one of my best friends Jordan Ross, whom i havent seen for many months. Us three stopped at a random japanese market, and were delighted by the delicacies and the deliciously decent-priced meals we found there. Having successfully lost our motivation to go to the beach, Darrow and I parted from Jordan Ross and biked back to his house, where he taught me some tai-chi like exercises, and played with his baby brother and sister. The night ended in my dad's favorite 007 movie, Sean Connery's Dr. No.
Today was a loooong day. I woke up at the crack of 6:30 am to be in Santa Monica by 7 for REI's used gear sale. For those of you who don't know about this gem of an event, every month or so, REI takes all of its returned gear (usually returned for small and insignificant issues), and sells it for 60% off or more. After making a few friends in line, and waiting for about an hour (the line went all the way down the block) I was finally chosen to be the next to go into the store, where there was a roped off section, with gear loosely sorted on tables, boxes, or racks. Top of the line Osprey backpacks were down from 500 bucks to 150, and tents were being sold at a price I would feel guilty taking advantage of. I ended up getting two pairs of good wool socks (usually priced at $15), for 93 cents each! One of the socks has a tiny hole around my shin, which seems to be an unspeakable offense to my mother, because she hasn't let me live it down yet. Personally, i don't care about the hole at all - why worry about a tiny hole over my leg when it's my foot that matters? Anyway, i also got this cool hat, a good thermos for $4, and a really nice timex trail watch for 25 bucks, marked down from $125. The reason this watch was returned? The previous owner didn't like that the watch strap was velcro!
Finally getting back home around 930, my old camp friend Rachel Wolman calls me and says she's in town, and invites me to go hang out with her and another friend of ours, Jamie. They pick me up from my place and we go...guess where? the third street-promenade, which happens to be about 2 blocks from REI where i has JUST come from. After a little parking adventure, us three walk into the Santa Monica farmers market, where I buy a sourdough loaf and block of garlic cheddar cheese as lunch. Like the jews we are, we wandered - eventually going down to the Santa Monica pier, and then back up to REI to get a camelbak bladder for me.
By 230 i was home again, and instead of taking the well-needed nap that i wanted, i was persuaded by my mother to help her prepare for the Kahnnas arrival. The Kahnnas are some of our family-friends from Delhi, and were coincidentally in LA this week. Given this great opportunity to hang out with them, my family invited them (Rishi, his wife Divya, their 7 year old son Jay, and their 2 year old son Veer) to dinner at our place. In preparation for their arrival, i went to a toy store and tried to get some presents for the boys. After realizing that i totally forgot what i liked when i was 7, I befriended some kids in the toy store who were 8, and enlisted their help to find some cool toys that Jay and Veer would like. Turns out these kids were Israeli, so i had fun practicing my Hebrew, while simultaneously re-connecting with my 7-year old self. I ended up getting Jay a grabber (the long pole with a lever on one end, and a claw-thing on the other), where the grabbing part was a dinosaur head, and a toy ferrari. I got Veer a little lion stuffed-animal, and a green silicon spherical man with tentacles coming out and a drawstring that, when pulled made him vibrate. Finally coming home, i was thrown into the mix of preparing for the Kahnnas arrival and making dinner. Around 6:30 they came over, and we had a very nice dinner - it was nice to get to know Rishi, Divya, Jay and Veer better. For dessert Jay helped me make chocolate strawberries, and then we watched some OLD (1940) videos that my grandpa took when he was in Delhi working for the army.
This week looks like it's shaping up to be very busy between seeing old friends, getting things ready for my 6-month adventure and spending time with the family. I can't believe that I am actually going to India for 6 months, and am leaving so soon! 6 days from now my blogs will actually be about my adventure in the east, instead of about my preparation for it. Soon i'll figure out a way of uploading photos/video so that you will have access to my blog, my map, and my photos.
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