I’m finally in India!!! J And I love it!
Monday Aug 30th Julie, Vegard and I met at the airport in Oslo and took the same flight down here. We had talked with each other beforehand and booked the same flight.
We arrived in Delhi Tuesday morning, 31th of August. Our first steps outside the airport and the extreme heat hit our faces. We were finally in INDIA!
Monday Aug 30th Julie, Vegard and I met at the airport in Oslo and took the same flight down here. We had talked with each other beforehand and booked the same flight.
We arrived in Delhi Tuesday morning, 31th of August. Our first steps outside the airport and the extreme heat hit our faces. We were finally in INDIA!
A guy from the organization, Idex (Indian Network for Development Exchange) met us at the airport and we took a taxi to a hotel in Delhi.
This first drive gave us the opportunity to see how the traffic system in India works. And let me tell you, it’s very different J They use the same driving system as in England where they drive on their left hand side. Everybody’s honking their horn, to other vehicles and pedestrians, pretty much ALL THE TIME!!! But it’s a nice way of honking, such as “Out of the way, here I come” or “I’m passing you, be aware”.
A guy in our group described it very well;
“Just use your horn and you can do whatever you want”
Denis
This first drive gave us the opportunity to see how the traffic system in India works. And let me tell you, it’s very different J They use the same driving system as in England where they drive on their left hand side. Everybody’s honking their horn, to other vehicles and pedestrians, pretty much ALL THE TIME!!! But it’s a nice way of honking, such as “Out of the way, here I come” or “I’m passing you, be aware”.
A guy in our group described it very well;
“Just use your horn and you can do whatever you want”
Denis
The city in general is very dirty. Garbage is everywhere. I tried to find a garbage can, but I couldn’t.
There are lots of people everywhere and everybody is staring at us. It’s curiosity. The Indian people are in general very nice and warm, and generous.
At the hotel we got to meet the other volunteers from different countries such as: The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, England, and a girl from USA (Pennsylvania). I like the variety of the group. There are almost 20 volunteers aging 18 – 28.
There are lots of people everywhere and everybody is staring at us. It’s curiosity. The Indian people are in general very nice and warm, and generous.
At the hotel we got to meet the other volunteers from different countries such as: The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, England, and a girl from USA (Pennsylvania). I like the variety of the group. There are almost 20 volunteers aging 18 – 28.
From the hotel we drove to Jaipur, a city almost 8 hours away.
The weather here is HOT! And humid! We’re walking everywhere covered in sweat all the time.
The weather here is HOT! And humid! We’re walking everywhere covered in sweat all the time.
Everything is so different and not as we are used to in Europe or USA. The streets are packed with people, cars, cows. Cows are considered as holy animals here, so people are not allowed to kill them. Therefore they are walking on the streets among cars and people.
When we got to Jaipur we met the Idex staff, they welcomed us and gave us some info about the 4 days ahead of us. We’re staying in Jaipur for 4 days and then going to Himachal Pradesh where we’re staying and working. After that we were divided into groups of 4 and sent to four different Indian host families. I was with 3 other girls from Germany, England and USA and we were sent to one family about 20 minutes from the Idex office. The family we stayed at had a beautiful big house. The family consisted of a husband and wife, 2 children (10 and 16) and the husband’s mom. The man used to work as a police officer, but is now working as a lawyer. The woman used to be a principal at a school, but is now a housewife.
They are very nice people and speak English well so communication was good.
I was very happy when I found out that we could take a shower every day. Some of the other host families had only water for 45 minutes every day. Baths and toilets are considered a luxury, and toilet paper is even more expensive than water.
They are very nice people and speak English well so communication was good.
I was very happy when I found out that we could take a shower every day. Some of the other host families had only water for 45 minutes every day. Baths and toilets are considered a luxury, and toilet paper is even more expensive than water.
The next 4 days we did a lot of things;
- Had hindi lesson class. We’ve learned a few hindi words and phrases. I think that some words are a bit similar to Iranian, so I can more easily remember them.
- We went to see a Bollywood movie one day… A 3 hour movie in Hindi, without English subtitles. But we understood a lot anyway! J Some drama, lots of clichès and a fantastic love story on top of it all… A typical Bollywood movie in other words J
- We went to a place called Amber Fort where we rode the elephants and afterwards had a guided tour inside Amber Fort Palace. I wasn’t sure whether to ride the elephants or not, but eventually I did. I wasn’t sure about the way they were treated and didn’t want to support their bad treatment. But since it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I decided to try it. We talked with the guide afterwards and he said that it was a non-governmental organization from Australia (or maybe it was Austria?) that made sure that they were treated in a good way and didn’t have to work every day.
When I sat on the elephant I was actually more scared than enjoying it, and just wanted to come off. They are such big animals and you can’t really see down from so high up. And I am a bit scared of heights so… I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could watch them walking as free animals on a big area rather than seeing them work.
When I sat on the elephant I was actually more scared than enjoying it, and just wanted to come off. They are such big animals and you can’t really see down from so high up. And I am a bit scared of heights so… I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could watch them walking as free animals on a big area rather than seeing them work.
- We drove to a place and had our Indian clothes tailor made. There were several women that took our measurements and sewed the clothes for us in just two days. It was very cheap, I think I paid 20 dollars for my clothes. I wanted a whole suit (dress and pants) and one more dress. I really liked the clothes =) They’re comfortable to wear.
When we were done ordering our clothes we saw a whole bunch of school kids and they were so excited to see us, wanted to shake our hands and ask about our names, take pictures and have our signature/autograph. It was overwhelming. We felt like celebrities because of the massive attention.
When we were done ordering our clothes we saw a whole bunch of school kids and they were so excited to see us, wanted to shake our hands and ask about our names, take pictures and have our signature/autograph. It was overwhelming. We felt like celebrities because of the massive attention.
After 4 days we drove to a place called Agra. We slept overnight at a hotel and went to Taj Mahal the next day. Taj means crown and Mahal means Palace. The place is just amazing. Indescribable. It’s a huge Palace and the attention to detail is amazing. The king who ruled 400 years ago wanted to build a palace in honor of his favorite wife, the 4th wife, who died in childbirth. She had given birth to 14 kids. The palace was built by 20,000 workers, and it took 22 years to finish. We took many nice pictures, and you can see some of them on my blog; www.sirvejiindia.blogspot.com
We drove back to Delhi and took an overnight train to Himachal Pradesh. The train station was very big and people were everywhere, sitting, eating and sleeping. It was a big train, and we were in the “sleep wagon”. It was sleeping benches there, three benches on top of each other and people were sleeping on almost all of them. I slept the whole way, I was so tired. I had slept for just 1 hour the night before because Ida (a girl from Norway) and I shared hotel room and we were talking the whole night. Had so much to talk about J She was an exchange student in America last year so we were talking about our year and so on.
When we came to Himachal Pradesh two Idex staff came and picked us up and drove us for 5 hours to the Camp where we’re staying .
When we came to Himachal Pradesh two Idex staff came and picked us up and drove us for 5 hours to the Camp where we’re staying .
The place is called Palampur, a beautiful and quiet place. It’s not so warm here, and not as dirty as in Jaipur and Delhi. Right now it’s the monsoon season so it rains a lot here. We live in a big house. I share room with 3 other girls, two from Norway; Julie and Ida and one from Germany; Sabine.
We have two projects that we are working on Monday – Friday. We have the weekends off, and can go to different trips and excursions if we want to.
The first project is from 09.45 AM – 12.30 and the second one is from 15.30 – 17.25
I work with mentally challenged children on the first project and on the second one we teach an English class for girls. We have only been working with them for 1 week now, but I like it. It’s a lot to prepare for the classes, but we learn a lot too.
The first project is from 09.45 AM – 12.30 and the second one is from 15.30 – 17.25
I work with mentally challenged children on the first project and on the second one we teach an English class for girls. We have only been working with them for 1 week now, but I like it. It’s a lot to prepare for the classes, but we learn a lot too.
I really like it here in India. Everything is different, but remember; it’s not right, it’s not wrong, it’s just different J
