India is sweeeeeet. Here's an update.
I'm half done with my time in Delhi before I go off for a month to study bird sanctuaries in Southern India in November. Here's a run through of my life in the city. My homestay is quiet and peaceful—a massive relief to the chaos of the city. Instead of the large and loud Indian family I expected, I am living just with one other girl from my program and an older woman, Sonita. I've come to seriously appreciate the quiet and privacy at home, 'cause as soon as I step out of our sleepy neighborhood the pace of life increases by gazillions. Our house is in a more spacious and lush area of the city, and the window above my bed looks out over a little park with beautiful trees!
A normal day for me: Hindi, art history, and anthropology class from 9-1, feast at the program center from 1-2, study (mostly nap or goof around) from 2-3, then free time in the city until dinner at home at 8. A couple days a week I am taking a painting class in the Madhubani folk style. My teacher has painted the walls around the stairs over her apartment, and every wall of every room is covered in her artwork. The porch looks over a huge tree who is home to many hundreds of green parrots. Spending hours learning the forms of the art and experimenting with the color is the most relaxing thing in the entire world. Also, she plays a Bollywood radio station almost non-stop and so I am being thoroughly educated in the ways of Indian pop music (awesome).
Last weekend I got out of Delhi for the first time since flying in on the plane. It was amazing to get out of the city and experience a slower, cleaner, and more laid back town vibe. We traveled the 8 hours by train to Amritsar in NW India on the Pakistan border. Amritsar is the home of the Golden Temple, the number one Sikh pilgrimage site in the world--so people were generally very happy, generous, and in good spirits. We met lots of people who were genuinely curious about why we were in India, and we spent some good time practicing our Hindi with them.
Then... to Pakistan! We decided to go to the changing of the guard on the India/Pakistan border, which is famous for its pep rally-like atmosphere and ceremonious guard "dances." This is a safe and peaceful area of Pakistan, but we still felt like crazy people being so close to that particular country. We could have literally stuck our arms through the border fence and touched Pakistani soil, but decided that would have been a negative life decision. Observe! The intricacy of the guard dancing and the event's similarities with a college basketball game:
Hindustan and Pakistan pride.
Amritsar is a beautiful place, and the Golden Temple exudes an intense aura of peacefulness. Our first night there, we slept on site at the temple. Even though we got in after midnight, there were people everywhere--praying, sleeping on the floor, bathing in the waters, and watching the stars. We slept in our own room just off of a large square full of sleeping Sikh families, and I slept very peacefully in the presence of all the pilgrims. We woke up early in the morning to participate in sunrise prayers, and the whole complex was incredibly beautiful in the early light. Once again, people were everywhere even at 5am.
I'm about to leave for about three weeks on excursion throughout central India, so I'll try to stay in touch as much as I can but it will most likely be sparse. One last thing--(in case you want to know what is going on in India at the moment that is directly impacting my life) if you don't know the Ayodhya decision by the Indian Supreme Court and want to immerse yourself in world news--read up on it. I am currently not allowed to be out on the streets because the threat of rioting. (I promise I'm safe!)
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