Yuck.

It is sooo foggy (=smoggy) in Delhi right now. Something about the way the cold interacts with all the pollution in the air creates this super thick haze. My roommate, Sue, had her plane diverted to another city because it was so bad that they couldn't land yesterday morning. I'm wondering how long I can hold my breath... 

See my face in the mirror? haha

How great is this?

I've forgotten to mention until now that one of my favorite things about India is that you can have anything delivered. 

Around Delhi

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I definitely missed being in the U.S. for my favorite holiday, but we had a little party here. No traditional food due to our lack of an oven and several main ingredients, but we had fun explaining the holiday to friends who didn't know what it's for. In the process, it was revealed that Sue paid much more attention in US History than I did.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Hari, who I know from UW and is now living in Singapore, was in town for the weekend. We went to Jantar Mantar--a complex of large astronomical instruments built in the 1700's. Personally, I think it looks like a skatepark...

I recently spent a Sunday morning wandering around Lodhi Garden, a big park in the middle of Delhi. There are several tombs inside the park that are about 500 years old. It is definitely one of my favorite places in the city; maybe largely because it's an escape from traffic, but it is also really beautiful.

This past weekend, I went to Delhi Gay Pride--a parade and rally--but I got there late so I only saw the end. Compared to the one in Seattle, it was small, but still loud and energetic. I was happily surprised that there is even a Pride event here, since India is so conservative.

We saw these puppies on the street the other day. There are so many dogs everywhere that I want to pet, but I have to remind myself that I didn't shell out the $800 for rabies shots!

In a saree store--so hard to choose!

Road Trip + Wedding!

Over the long weekend, (yup, Monday was a holiday and Thursday is this week, too :) Hey--don't be too jealous, I get no Veteran's Day or Thanksgiving) I took a trip with some friends from work to a coworker's wedding. First, we went to Rishikesh, a town on the Ganges River that attracts a lot of people coming to worship and bathe in the Ganges, as well as a lot of yogis from around the world who come to study at one of the many yoga schools there. Apparently, the Beatles spent time in Rishikesh and wrote many of the songs for "The White Album" while there. Next, we drove on to Dehradun, where Rashmi's (the bride) family lives. The wedding ceremonies took place over the course of four days. Saturday was an engagement ceremony, which we weren't there in time for; Sunday, the bride and groom had separate events so we went to the bride's only--prayers and lunch at her house in the morning and then a dinner and dance party at night; Monday night, the big reception and wedding ceremony; and Tuesday, a ceremony where the bride leaves her parents' house and goes to her husband's, but which we also couldn't attend because we had to get back to work. It was all so beautiful and special--I can't believe that what I saw wasn't even all of it. Her family was incredibly sweet, dressing up was a lot of fun, the food was delicious, the music was great, and the six of us barely stopped laughing and smiling all weekend long. 

The Ganges River in Rishikesh:

At Rashmi's house. Everyone took a turn blessing her, which involved us all being smeared with 

tumeric powder:

All dressed up for the first party:

And the wedding/reception:

Vidya was the only one in our group who knows how to tie a saree and even she has only recently learned, plus we were in a rush, so she didn't have a chance to do all of ours properly. In the interest of time, I figured I'd just go for it myself. I literally just wrapped it around myself until about the right length was left over and threw it over my shoulder. I actually thought it looked semi-accurate. As we headed out to the wedding, we were all in varying states of correctness in our saree wearing. We walked in and immediately asked some older women to help us adjust our sarees, knowing we needed a little help. Apparently, I needed A LOT. This woman looks at me with the most hilarious expression that I wish I could show everyone, that basically said "Oh dear God, what? no no no. What is this?" She and her friend then went with us out into the parking lot and fixed us all up. It looked wayyy different and needless to say, much better, once they were done with us. Then we went back for our entrance, take two (see above). 

In the interest of giving a fully representative picture of my time in India, I thought I would share that there are occasionally big roaches in our bathroom and I am sick again, having to drink nasty Oral Rehydration Salts. Taking the good with the bad...

Happy weekend everyone!

Uncle (landlord) has decided to make it his goal to find me a boyfriend. Here he is adding "BF for Kris" (his spelling) to his board of to-do lists. 

"Seema: bridegroom" is another item on the board. Seema is their cook. 

Uncle has been retired for a couple of years--guess matchmaking is one of his new hobbies...we'll see how it goes... haha

Happy Diwali!

Yesterday was Diwali, which is "like Christmas for us", to quote my boss. It is the biggest holiday of the year here, celebrating the triumph of good over evil, the new business year, the Goddess of Wealth's visit, and a festival of lights, among other things, from what I've understood. Not bad timing for getting to India :) Everyone decorates with lots of lights and flowers; visits their family and friends and takes one another sweets, nuts, and dried fruits; and lights off fireworks...LOTS of fireworks. I've wondered if this is what it sounds like to live in a war zone? Last night was definitely the peak but they've been going off for the past few days and apparently will continue on into the weekend. So loud. It's also customary to wear new clothes on the day, so since we had the day off work, I went shopping and got my first Indian outfit. This stuff is comfortable! Long, loose tops, scarves, and pants ranging from tights to super-baggy. Come the heat next summer, I am going to live in these cool, flowy clothes. 

Most people spend the day visiting relatives and friends, and at night everyone gathers with their family for "puja", or prayer. We went downstairs to our landlord's apartment, did the puja with them--full of tradition and ceremony--and then ordered Domino's! To paraphrase Gurcharan Das, in India Unbound, "India is rapidly becoming a capitalist society, while preserving its cultural heritage and way of life." 

From left to right: our landlord ("Uncle"), yours truly in her new Indian get-up, the landlord's son Anand, and my roommate Sue.

Obligatory cow pic. Thought it was about time. 

Uncle's mother, who is 91. She is sitting in front of the shrine prepared for puja.

Anand putting new flowers on his grandfather's photo.

Storefront decoration.

The Griswalds?

At a Diwali bazaar we went to over the weekend. 

Everyone gets blessed with a mark of red chalk-like substance on their forehead. 

More pics!

It's fun buying fresh produce out in the street. They use super-old balance scales, where they add metal weights to one side to figure out how much you've got.



I was surprised that Delhi has a subway system. Really nice. Note the pink sign hanging down from the ceiling, indicating the place to get on the "Ladies Only" cars. Boys are gross. :)



India Gate at night. It's in the middle of the city, dedicated to Indian soldiers who died in one of the world wars. Not sure which one, need to check the Wikipedia page.



The kids here are so adorable. "How are you?", they like to ask.



The balcony, my favorite place to sit. I feel like I'm in the jungle.

Ok, all for now. I have to go get my $2 one-hour massage. Did I mention she's coming to my apartment, so I don't even have to go anywhere? Sigh... :)

Words of wisdom for the day:

Blah Blah Blah

Enough talking. Pictures!


This is the street I live on. My apartment is just through the gates on the right.



Just a little something I saw on my way to work.



Saturday was a holiday, so a lot of women were getting henna done.



A street with lots of shops. This is what I mean when I say "overstimulation."



A temple.



Lol. Get it?

I got a phone! From the US, the number is +91 95602 76331. I can call you for super cheap and I think international texting isn't too bad no matter what plan you're on--but don't bill me for that statement! Text me if you want to talk! Kindly mind the 12.5 hour time difference from U.S. Pacific time :)

Banana Republic linen pants are my new jeans. Must order more.

TGIF!

I decided the end of my first week is the right time for an initial likes/dislikes list.

Likes:
1. Being able to sit outside on the balcony in the mornings and evenings. Definitely not missing gray Seattle weather right now.
2. Having someone come and clean twice a week for $2.
3. A laundry machine in the apartment!
4. A more relaxed pace of life.
5. Indian food every day.

Dislikes:
1. Am concerned if there are lead and/or asbestos in my building. Don't even know if regulations on that type of thing exist here?
2. Feeling like pretty much everything I own is too revealing to wear. I didn't think I dressed so scandalously? Already have a suitcase repacked of clothes that are going straight back home cause they are just never gonna happen here.
3. Caffeine withdrawals. Where is my grande Americano?
4. Excessive bureaucratic and security measures: I needed 9 passport photos for the visa app, 4 to register at the foreigners agency, 1 to sign my lease, 1 to get a cell phone.... I had to have my camera inspected by a security guard in order to enter the grocery store, so they could make sure it wasn't an explosive.... After purchasing a cell phone, I had to show my receipt to two more people just to leave the store with it. This wasn't a big store.
5. Indian food every day.

First days of work.

Well after that little delay, I did make it to work the past two days. The drive there isn't actually that bad--the traffic is less crazy than it was in Jakarta and an auto rickshaw is by no means the smallest or slowest thing on the road--motorcycles, bikes, cows...The office is definitely a change from Seattle. Everyone clears out by 530pm, which is really refreshing! But I am going to miss my ergonomic office chair. No, but really, the people are all very friendly, my boss is nice, and I am excited about the project I'm working on. We are trying to estimate child and adult mortality at the district level in India. I have a lot to learn since this will use methods and a statistics programming language that I'm not familiar with, but I think being busy will help with my transition. Annnnd, I get lunch for $1 every day!

This is really happening.

Well my first 24 hours in Delhi have been a shock. People say that India assaults all your senses and it's definitely true. I think part of it too, though, is that it finally hit me that I live here. After a month of traveling it kind of felt like this was just another trip until I actually got in the apartment. I'm living with Sue, my friend and old coworker from Seattle, who moved here a year ago. I am so so lucky that she is here. I would be completely overwhelmed without her. People in Delhi do speak English, but the rickshaw drivers generally speak very little and furthermore, an address alone isn't usually sufficient to communicate where we live, so I need to learn enough Hindi words and be familiar with the nearby streets before I can venture out without her. So that's a little frustrating. I also found out that us "carpooling" to work means sharing an auto rickshaw and those things scare me a bit cause they're kind of flimsy and the traffic is nuts. Our one outing yesterday was to a nearby market to buy some linens and other stuff I need for my room. I was ready to get started with work today, but then spent the entire night vomiting every last drop of the contents of my stomach, so now I'm missing my first day, which really bums me out. I promise this post is not intended to get pity; I expected challenges at the start, but this is going to be hard for awhile. I'm glad to see Sue feel so comfortable and happy here--that gives me confidence that in time I will, too. I miss you guys.

"That's the biggest one I've ever seen"

...And I'm off! Checked what the Air France representative declared as the largest bag he's ever seen. Thank you very much. Next post from Delhi!