One of the most memorable things about any trip, I think, is the people you come into contact with. I think that is what I will miss the most and for me, these relationships have made my time in India what it was. So, let me describe a little bit about these people who I have come to love and appreciate very much.
At school, I have two teachers that I am close to. The first is Vijay who is a nice man who in his 40s. I am supposed to go to his house next week and meet his wife who will cook for us all. I'm pretty excited any time food is involved. The other teacher is Jamila who I am considerably more close too. She might be one of the sweetest, most understanding people I've ever met. I have been over to her house multiple times and have met both of her kids (Alifiya is 13 and Mustafa is 20 and both are genuinely wonderful people. And they are super fluent in English which is nice.)
As for my fellow foreigners, I usually hang out with a combination of three people. Hisa is one of my housemates who will be here for about two months. She is working on a project for the rural villages to raise awareness about preventable diseases. Her and her group have made signs to hang in houses in the village about how to help prevent pneumonia (which is one of the leading causes of death in the villages.) She is from Hawaii and I have really enjoyed being around her recently. Also, it's nice to have her around not just for her company, but because she has studied Hindi for two years. You can find out a lot about people when they don't think you understand what they are saying. It's made for some pretty interesting situations.
Jeselene is an intern for ProWorld, so I've been with her since the beginning. She is from Boston and is a super hard worker with an unexpected sense of humor that will catch you off guard. She is who I am going to Agra/Delhi with, and I know that it's gonna be super fun just cause I'm with her. Between us I think we have a pretty good sense of direction/independence so we can survive this "big girl" trip. Her project here has been with an organization called Jetan, which is about women's health. She has liked it but I think the program itself has been a little frustrating and slow to start. That might also be an understatement. Anyway, I count myself really really lucky to have a friend like her here. :)
The third is Alyssa. She is 28 and from Michigan and, no joke, might be one of the coolest people I've ever met. She did the peace core in Mali, Africa for two years and is all about women's empowerment. I absolutely love being around her and meting her has definitely been one of my favorite things about coming to India. Her project has been working at a huge NGO in Udaipur called Sava Mandir (where I would also love to intern at someday) and she works in the public health section. I think her project mainly focused on women's health, but she has also been editing a manual for foreign volunteers to help them during their time ine India. And she knows famous people. Just throwing that out. Yea, she's really impressive.
So, these are the people that have been written into my story of India and I count myself lucky to know every single one. I really am going to miss them when I'm gone. I am happy to go home in a week, don't get me wrong. However, I know I will miss these people greatly. I mean, I plan on visiting them all anyway but it still sucks that I leave first. So, moving on from the people, I would just like to announce some new talents I have picked up since coming to India. First of all, I have become a lethal assassin. It might be the fact that I'm more aware now, or maybe just that there so many here, but if any mosquito comes within arms length of me in my room, it's a goner. Seriously, I feel like I'm single handedly eradicating the malaria problem in India. Okay, maybe not, but I've killed like 30.
Secondly, I can tie a sari by myself. Not well (3 different people insisted on re-wrapping me throughout the course of the day) but enough to function. I also feel like I get a little bit of leniency from the Indian women because I am a white girl... let's be honest. At least I'm trying. And I'm not in shorts. Another fun little thing I've picked up on is how barter. Alyssa has taught me well. If you ever come to India and need a rickshaw, I'm just going to tell you, NEVER pay more than 50 rupees for any ride within the city. Seriously. Most rickshaw wallas, if they are jerks, will say 100 as a starting price. Once I got a man down from 100 to 35. In one of my less finer moments I almost made a rickshaw driver cry because he was trying to rip me off... And show us off to his friends. I may have been a little mean to him. Also, depending on the situation, I know how to say "I don't speak hindi." This is useful when someone annoying is trying to talk to you. I can usually understand them a little, but it's better to just go ahead and say you cant understand them. The other useful phrase is "I can understand you." Usually, this is a lie. But sometimes it catches people off guard because they are obviously talking about me and I want them to stop. Then when they try to talk to u more, u can ignore them. They won't talk about u any more. I am better, on the whole, with preparing for the unexpected. I always carry hand sanitizer, a plastic bag in case is rains and I don't want my bag wet, paper soap and my water bottle. Oh, and toilet paper. That's a fun thing about India. They don't use it. They have other methods. I won't elaborate. You can google it. Anyway, today I am packing to go to Agra. Our sleeper train leaves at 10:20 tonight. We will arrive in Agra 12 hours later, spend the day at the Taj. That night we will get a hotel, then board a train early in the morning for Delhi. Sunday we will spend in Delhi, then head home on the 7 pm train. It is going to be a busy weekend, but I think it'll be worth it. Until then
As for my fellow foreigners, I usually hang out with a combination of three people. Hisa is one of my housemates who will be here for about two months. She is working on a project for the rural villages to raise awareness about preventable diseases. Her and her group have made signs to hang in houses in the village about how to help prevent pneumonia (which is one of the leading causes of death in the villages.) She is from Hawaii and I have really enjoyed being around her recently. Also, it's nice to have her around not just for her company, but because she has studied Hindi for two years. You can find out a lot about people when they don't think you understand what they are saying. It's made for some pretty interesting situations. 
Jeselene is an intern for ProWorld, so I've been with her since the beginning. She is from Boston and is a super hard worker with an unexpected sense of humor that will catch you off guard. She is who I am going to Agra/Delhi with, and I know that it's gonna be super fun just cause I'm with her. Between us I think we have a pretty good sense of direction/independence so we can survive this "big girl" trip. Her project here has been with an organization called Jetan, which is about women's health. She has liked it but I think the program itself has been a little frustrating and slow to start. That might also be an understatement. Anyway, I count myself really really lucky to have a friend like her here. :)
The third is Alyssa. She is 28 and from Michigan and, no joke, might be one of the coolest people I've ever met. She did the peace core in Mali, Africa for two years and is all about women's empowerment. I absolutely love being around her and meting her has definitely been one of my favorite things about coming to India. Her project has been working at a huge NGO in Udaipur called Sava Mandir (where I would also love to intern at someday) and she works in the public health section. I think her project mainly focused on women's health, but she has also been editing a manual for foreign volunteers to help them during their time ine India. And she knows famous people. Just throwing that out. Yea, she's really impressive.
So, these are the people that have been written into my story of India and I count myself lucky to know every single one. I really am going to miss them when I'm gone. I am happy to go home in a week, don't get me wrong. However, I know I will miss these people greatly. I mean, I plan on visiting them all anyway but it still sucks that I leave first. So, moving on from the people, I would just like to announce some new talents I have picked up since coming to India. First of all, I have become a lethal assassin. It might be the fact that I'm more aware now, or maybe just that there so many here, but if any mosquito comes within arms length of me in my room, it's a goner. Seriously, I feel like I'm single handedly eradicating the malaria problem in India. Okay, maybe not, but I've killed like 30.
Secondly, I can tie a sari by myself. Not well (3 different people insisted on re-wrapping me throughout the course of the day) but enough to function. I also feel like I get a little bit of leniency from the Indian women because I am a white girl... let's be honest. At least I'm trying. And I'm not in shorts. Another fun little thing I've picked up on is how barter. Alyssa has taught me well. If you ever come to India and need a rickshaw, I'm just going to tell you, NEVER pay more than 50 rupees for any ride within the city. Seriously. Most rickshaw wallas, if they are jerks, will say 100 as a starting price. Once I got a man down from 100 to 35. In one of my less finer moments I almost made a rickshaw driver cry because he was trying to rip me off... And show us off to his friends. I may have been a little mean to him. Also, depending on the situation, I know how to say "I don't speak hindi." This is useful when someone annoying is trying to talk to you. I can usually understand them a little, but it's better to just go ahead and say you cant understand them. The other useful phrase is "I can understand you." Usually, this is a lie. But sometimes it catches people off guard because they are obviously talking about me and I want them to stop. Then when they try to talk to u more, u can ignore them. They won't talk about u any more. I am better, on the whole, with preparing for the unexpected. I always carry hand sanitizer, a plastic bag in case is rains and I don't want my bag wet, paper soap and my water bottle. Oh, and toilet paper. That's a fun thing about India. They don't use it. They have other methods. I won't elaborate. You can google it. Anyway, today I am packing to go to Agra. Our sleeper train leaves at 10:20 tonight. We will arrive in Agra 12 hours later, spend the day at the Taj. That night we will get a hotel, then board a train early in the morning for Delhi. Sunday we will spend in Delhi, then head home on the 7 pm train. It is going to be a busy weekend, but I think it'll be worth it. Until then
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