Monsoon Wading

Stranded in the Mall for an Hour

My first Indian Camel

Yesterday, just after lunch Ece, Amanda and I finished eating lunch the rains began. The place we eat lunch is in a covered mall about a 10 minute walk from work and the rain was so heavy we had to stay inside. We stayed inside playing “I have never ever” before the storm abated and we could walk back to work. Or I should say wade back from work. The water is so deep in places that it came over half way up to our knees (we tried not to think too much about what was in the water). In some ways this was the most Indian experience I’ve had to date- the street children dumping water onto their heads, motorcycles plowing through tire high water, a man sitting on a camel drawn cart, and arriving back to work with the power out- all within 10 minutes. 

The night before was just incredible. I took a bus (by myself!) into the Pink City to the Ajmeri Gate where I met the driver of a local couch surfer, Lokesh. As we drove to meet Lokesh we bonded over the Bollywood movie, I am Kahn, and sang some Bollywood songs together that came on the radio (mine is more like unintelligible syllables because my Hindi is pretty nonexistent). After arriving at Lokesh’s work, I met Lokesh and his brother, and then we drove to meet up with Lokesh’s cousin, cousin’s wife and sister and drove up to the Tiger Fort that overlooks the entire city. I had been there over the weekend but during the day time and just to a regular café but last night we were at an even higher point with almost 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding hils. I really enjoyed the company of Lokesh and his family staring at the city lights and having drinks. They were also the first sarcastic Indians I had met, and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. Seriously, do couch surfing!

Ece and Amanda on the flooded road to work

More girl interns arrived yesterday from Switzerland, Vietnam and China and it was great to meet them and have more girls in the house. I look forward to spending more time with them in future. Seeing them arrive for the first time I am reminded of how far I have come in the last week from when I first arrived. I can barter, take public transportation, and speak very limited Hindi. My work is still discouraging in many ways and at times I still feel overwhelmed by all the hardship that I see around me, I can now look at this summer with hope and excitement. 

Thank you for all your support reading my blog, sending me emails, and chatting with me on facebook and gchat. It means more than I can properly express here. Lastly, here is a song for a special someone who also loves storms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iQRXuAo6Eg

My Contact Information

I now have my Indian cell phone and I know my home address. If you would like my contact info please email me at chocoharmony@gmail.com or comment on this post with your email and I'll send it to you.

Look Both Ways Before Crossing a One Way Street

View of street from Vikram's Car 

The title of this post describes much of my experience in India so far. Even when things should be expected or straightforward there tends to be a catch, unspoken rule, or surprise to my expectations. I'm now used to Indians driving on the left side of the road, except that Indians don't always follow this rule, with some also driving on the right side. Hence even in the most basic street crossing I have to check at least 2 directions to make sure a stray rickshaw or scooter won't surprise me.

A lot has happened since my last post. My first adventure, heading to meet a couch surfer in the city on my own, went fantastically. I was unsure about my rickshaw skills and so I was relieved with Anjeli (one of the India sisters who live above) offered to take me along with her to the market in the city with her and two of her friends. We took my first Indian bus trip (an experience all in itself) into the city where I ended up buying several more Indian dresses and two beautiful single sheets (my first indulgence since I didn't really have any good clothes with me). I really enjoyed finally getting into the city. I could stand in one spot for over 30 minutes just observing that goes on, and all the pink sandstone in the old city truly lived up to its name.

Saris in the National Handloom

The Wind Palace in the Pink City

From shopping Anjeli hired me a bike rickshaw to take me to Mall 21 next to the Raj Mindal where I met up with Vikram. My 60 second walk was very illustrative of the more difficult parts of India for me: navigating filthy pools and garbage on the street, having a guy ask me to get onto his motorcycle with me, and a mother and small child come up with me and tapping my arm ask for "pooki" (food). I was extremely relieved when I heard Vikram call my name and I could get off the street. This reminded me of a friend of mine who went to Uganda last summer and was asked by a man there if he liked the country, when he said yes the man said that my friend only liked it because he was able to leave. If someone comes to India only for the beautiful clothes , markets, old castles, and delicious food they can come see those elements and leave, and only encounter mild discomfort. While I hope to engage more than that I still find it difficult to refuse the advances of children who grab at arm wanting pooki as we pass a small slum-like settlement next to my work every morning. Do I only enjoy India because I can choose to live in comfort (plenty of water, food, and safe living arrangements) and not have to experience the suffering of those who live here? And all too soon I will be back into my comfortable college existence, but I want to leave having in some way helped or loved those I meet in a meaningful way.

Meeting a stranger in the middle of a city I was unfamiliar with was definitely a calculated risk but one that I'm glad that I took. Vikram was a complete gentlemen and so hospitable. I almost started giggling when he told me that he planned to take me up into the hills overlooking the city- just the day before I was longingly staring up at those same distant hills- it felt like God answered a prayer of my heart that I didn't even ask for. So after picking up another Chinese girl couch surfer we drove up to the Nahargar Fort and had drinks looking at the stunning vista. Along the way we got in an intense discussion about Hinduism versus Atheism and listened to Bollywood love songs. After being in the house for so long, it was exhilarating to be up in the hills and observe this wildly beautiful city.

Nahargar Fort

Bollywood love songs and beautiful vistas

 After dropping off the other couch surfer Vikram drove me to a mall close to my house in the south of the city where I could get a new cell phone (mine doesn't work with an Indian sim) and then he dropped me back off at the house. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, except for playing some more with Nanu and she taught me some of an Indian dance, until the other three interns returned form their Lion Safari. It was amazing to have company again and all four of us are sleeping in a room together (my room undergoing some cleaning).

Monday was my first day of work. I came in so worried about bringing up that I would be taking next week off, asking for Saturdays off (there was an expectation for 6 days a week even though it wasn't in my contract), and feeling awkward about asking my supervisor to fill out a internship expectation sheet from the Summer Internship Grant Program from Northwestern. When my supervisor, Mahitosh, came in, he shook my hand and then headed into his office and didn't speak with us for 4 hours. But when I finally talked with him later in the afternoon none of the above ended up being an issue at all. AIESEC actually told him that I wouldn't be starting until 1 July so he was actually relieved to find out I would be gone next week. He signed the internship grant, agreed to let me take saturdays off, and I found out that I will definitely be doing at least one field visit (so not just solid office work, yay!). The work day actually went by pretty quickly because I work in the same room as Ece and Amanda, and I researched funding for the NGO, and helped to edit some previous written work of one of the girls (I LOVE editing, haha).

After work is where the real fun begins. Ece, Amanda and I took a bus up to the old city where we met up with the other intern Parisa and went shopping for some more pants. I didn't think that I would like bartering but I've totally fallen in love with trying to get the lowest possible price. I'm probably still getting charged too much, but to bring somebody down to almost half the original price is incredibly satifying. So here is my picture of me in Indian clothes that I'm wearing and purchased without paying way too much (reference to previous blog):

Ali Baba Pants!

Amanda (left), Parisa and Me at Dinner

After bargaining the four of us went to an AMAZING restaurant across the street. I was starving for the first time in almost a week, and ate probably the most amazing meal of my life. The whole thing (below) was only $7 for all four of us. It was great to share a communal and just talk about all sorts of things. Amanda, Ece and Parisa are all so interesting, kind, and well traveled- too many hilarious stories to recount. We walked back to the bus stop afterwards and waited for 20 minutes until realizing the buses don't run after 9 and then hired an auto rickshaw (with two drivers sitting in one seat, haha) to get back to the house. We spent a few more hours talking and getting ready for bed before falling asleep.

That brings us (finally!) up today. Here are good things about today: conversation with Adam in the early morning, wearing really comfy pants all day, hanging out the door of a very crowded bus up to work, awesome lunch, and the best part- my first monsoon rain. Things that I take for granted back in the states have become such gifts here: the kind help from a stranger on the bus, a cold glass of water in the summer heat, a hug from Nana, or when a revolving fan blows air onto my face.

As a final note, reading the bible here, in some ways is identical to the states and also very different in others. I notice and appreciate different things than I do back home. As I read through Ezekial and Pslams I am reminded that I need to not forget. Israel forgot God's faithfulness bringing them out of Egypt and hence fell into confusion and away from the protection and love of God. Similarly, I so quickly forget God's faithfulness to me, and fall into fear and loneliness. Instead I must reflect on His incredible kindness in my life and humbly submit to both His gifts and His discipline.

Safe and Sound

Had a great day and am back safe and sound. Will post more details after a nap :P

My First Big Adventure

After basically hiding in the house for the last two days it is time to venture out on my own! I made a profile on couch surfing and joined the Jaipur group. I received several emails within a couple hours asking to take me out to coffee and show me around the city. I took up the offer of Vikram, a 33 year old business many living in Jaipur. He has been doing couch surfing for quite a while and has over 40 positive references, many from single women. Ideally I wish I could be bringing someone else on this venture but no one else is able to go with me, so I will be heading out on my own. Because he has so many good reviews over a long period of time I believe that I can trust him. Originally I proposed him coming to pick me up at the house, but he said it would be too suggestive and that we should meet in the main city in a public place, so I seem to be in good hands.

The plan is to meet at Mall 21, where he will pick me up in his large blue car and then he will show me around the city for the next few hours, and then I'll be coming back around 5pm to go shopping with the two indian girls who live above me at the house. I will be leaving in a couple hours and should return by 5pm. I'll send out a blogpost after that to let everyone know that I am safe. The two difficult things about this will be getting a rickshaw that won't charge me more than 100 rupees and the original meeting up.

I'll post again soon!

In the Distance

As I stood on the fourth floor of the intern house later this afternoon I caught a glimpse of the surrounding hills around Jaipur. These are the hills that I saw in all the pictures on google of the city, and I have looked forward to seeing them for the last couple months. But from where I am right now they are very far away. My house is on the opposite side of Jaipur from the Old City, where all the beautiful bazaars and old temples are located. The last couple days I have literally spent in the house as I don't how to take the bus into the city and haven't had anyone to go with as the three interns that are staying here have been on a lion safari. The hills are in the distance but I hope to bring them closer soon.

I feel like many things are in the distance. In the future I will be more independent, able to take public transportation, speak a bit of Hindi, and barter at the markets. I will know my job description and whether or not it's okay that I'm going to take about 5 days off of work to travel with Rachel. Soon I plan to post pictures of me close to the mountains and one in the middle of a bazaar (in an outfit that I bartered for without getting ripped off). I know that these things that seem so hard now will work out and I'm excited for the day when I am able to navigate this intense and beautiful place on my own.

Some highlights from the last couple days:

• Driving in my first Rickshaw and buying my first set of Indian clothes (more to follow tomorrow)
• The cheerful "hello bibi" (bibi as derived from Bethany) by the young daughter, Nanu, of the live-in servant. We played lots of cards together though it is difficult to explain the rules of card game without speaking the same language.
• Drinking Chai tea and talking with the two Indian girls who live upstairs
• Showing pictures of Chicago, Seattle, Bellingham and Vancouver B.C. to my host family
• Eating delicious home cooked Indian food
• Watching fireworks and lightning from the fourth floor of the house in the cooler air of the evening
• Noticing the Winnie-the-Pooh sticker on the refrigerator
• Getting my internet back tonight and receiving encouragement from friends back home

Riding in my first rickshaw, with fellow intern Parisa from Sweden.

View from my room

Me and Nanu

Indian Sky

Arrival

I've been in Jaipur less than 24 hours and already it feels like I have been here for days, or maybe even longer. Probably one of the first things to strike me as my plane touched down in Delhi was how normal everything looked from above. There were little towns surrounded by fields and then the bigger city came into view. There was a road bordering the airport and as the plane landed I could see some cars and buses moving along. I thought about the people in those vehicles and how they are simply living their lives from day to day the same way I am. India is exotic but the individuals who live here enjoy good food, like to laugh, and raise their families. This might seem trite but it's important for me to keep in mind.

If you're interested here are the details of my travels: arriving at my gate in O'Hare I could see India already beginning. The gate was jammed with people, almost all India, in a noisy and colorful crowd. Every single seat on the plane was full so I was happy to find that I sat only one seat from the window, next to an India woman with kind eyes who didn't speak any english. The 14 hour flight was not that bad, I read a fantasy book about a princess saving her country (courtesy of Veronica), read up more on my Lonely Planet, journaled, and napped some (though it was difficult to fall asleep for long). Probably one of my first shocks in India was seeing many guards in the aiport all carrying pretty large guns on their back- while it wasn't surprising it definitely isn't something that I would see in the United States. Customs could have been tricky because I didn't have an exact address for my house but I remembered something about Raja Park neighborhood  in Jaipur, and wrote it down and the customs officer was fine. (I found out later that a couple girls tried to get through without addresses and the customs officers through their passports back at them, so they had to make something up, so it was a blessing that things went so smoothly for me). Another way that God provided for me was by a man who ended up sitting next to me while we waited for the plane to Jaipur. He spoke excellent English because he taught economics at the University of Madison for several years, and was really easy to talk to. We 'happened' to have our seats next to each other on the plane, which made me feel much safer, and then he made sure that I reached Mohit, my aiesec contact, safely before leaving the airport. Mohit was right there to pick me up and we got a taxi back to the intern house within 15 minutes. I had arrived.

The house is much nicer than I had expected. As we pulled up in the taxi I expected the taxi to keep going on to some more shabby houses later down but it stopped at this 4 story looking villa, which is where I'm at now. My room has a thin mattress on the floor with only one pillow on it and now sheets, but next door to me there are three other intern girls, with 2 beds. One of them will be leaving on Monday so I will be able to sleep in a bit nicer location. Nonetheless we have a yummy breakfast provided every morning (for only a dollar), and a water cooler with purified water at our disposal. Simple things, but that make life a lot less complicated.

The other three interns, a Persian girl from Sweden, a girl from Canada and a girl from Turkey are really fun and nice. It was so helpful to get a run down of different things about work (2 are working with me at HEDCON) and other advice for living here in Jaipur. A couple of them had the experiences that I feared- no other interns when they first showed up, no one to pick them up from the aiport, and no one at work to show them the ropes. I have had all those things, though I will be going into work tomorrow, and will see how the first day goes.

(If you're still reading, sorry this is getting so long). Last night I was proud of myself for falling asleep almost right away, but when I woke up it was only 3am. I spent the rest of the night pretty restless, between worrying, thinking about and prayer. But I still think I managed to sleep around 5 hours. In the morning I had breakfast with the 3 other intern girls, before 2 of them headed off to work at HEDCON. I took the day to go with the Persian girl to get her eyebrows threaded and got to see more of the residential area around me. We then waitied around until we could meet up with Mohit at a nearby mall where we got rupees, sim card, mcdonalds and my first indian outfit. It doesn't seem like a very full day, but everything feels like an ordeal here. I think I'll get more used to but for now I'm pretty tired out but I'm trying not to sleep too much before tonight so that I can adjust.

Before this starts to sound like a pity party, I am so thankful to be here, where I am right now. God provided me with safe travels, 3 great girls as friends, a safe and comfortable home and a supportive AIESECer to help me get my feet. I feel so above my head in everything but I'm confident that I'll be learning to swim soon even if at the moment I'm gulping in a bit of water. Please pray that my love would abound for the other interns, the family and servants that we live with, and those I meet at HEDCON tomorrow. A friend reminded me today that perfect love casts out fear and I long to have that sort of love. My Father has not abandoned me, but being in India does make me feel distant from the Christian community of RUF that has been supporting me for so long, so prayer that I would find a community would also be much appreciated.

Well I think that's all for this evening. Thanks for reading and for all your support! I hope to post pictures soon.

Seek First His Kingdom

It's currently 4:32am as I sit in a comfy armchair- safe, warm, and loved in the comfortable Chicago suburbs. Where I'm heading is nothing like here. I just finished packing my baggage and now I just need to pick up some gatorade and charcoal tablets and I'll be all done.

I was so excited to sign up to go to India two months ago when I decided to do an AIESEC internship. Jaipur, the Pink City, sounded beautiful and exotic with it's ancient palaces and other beautiful sites. Yet as the months turned to weeks, to days, and now to hours I struggle with a load of nerves. As of right now I don't know where exactly I'll be living or what my job description is. I'm going with my expectations and my sights wide open- trying to be ready to embrace whatever comes. The unknown both exhilarates and terrifies me at the same time. 

In the midst of my fears the same verse that has comforted me this whole quarter reminds me of where my security lies. In Matthew 6:33-34 Jesus says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I am learning to seek God above all else in my life and am beginning to realize this is my ultimate purpose in Jaipur. Though all else may be uncertain- my community, my friends, my living arrangements- God is steadfast and unchanging. Nothing that has happened or will happen can surprise Him. My only purpose is to serve and love Him and put His kingdom above my own. 

This summer will change me in more ways than I sure I can possibly see right now but I am ready to take these changes and challenges on as I head onto the plane with the love and support of my family and friends, but most of all the faithfulness of my God.