Wed, Feb 25

We slept in a bit this morning because there wasn’t anywhere to be right away. Things here don’t seem to open until ten or eleven in the morning, which makes the entire day happen that much later. Thank goodness breakfast is good...I am counting on it staying like that for survival purposes!
Mom and dad hired a rickshaw driver for the day and they came to pick me up around 8:30 in order to go to our cooking class. It was pretty interesting – not like their class in Thailand, apparently, but I thought it was still okay. The most interesting part was the fact that it was located in this ladies’ home. It was an experience to see how the wealthy live. The home reminded me of a flat in France, actually – and was quite large and well decorated. She had several different hired helpers around, too.
The food itself wasn’t awesome. I am really not a fan of the Indian food. I always will try the dishes served at the meals, but it is difficult to do much more than one bite of each thing. Funnily enough, mom doesn’t seem to be a huge fan, either – I am just much more rude about it, I think! It isn’t worth it to eat something I can’t stand!! In any case...lots of the things we cooked were dishes we’d had over the past week at Sangam, so it was really interesting to see how they were made. An absurd amount of spices and butter is used in each dish. I think we went through an entire dish of salt in the process. They tend to deep fry a lot of their foods as well. I guess that works for fast cooking, as they seem to be eating all of the time. The women tend to do all of the housework, cooking, and childrearing, so they use pressure cookers to make the cooking process go that much faster.
We made a spinach soup – which actually taste like eating a spinach salad in liquid form. We made some if those potatoes with spices, deep fried spinach leaves, chicken, and a few other deep fried things. I pushed around the food on my plate for a good while, but didn’t really eat anything.
Afterwards, our rickshaw dude was waiting outside for us, and he took us to another emporium-like place. It was a little better than the CIE because the prices were cheaper and the people weren’t quite as smooth talking, so it was easier to get out of buying stuff! Mom and I spent a long time looking around at Punjabi suits and tunics and scarves. I had picked out a blue ‘silk’ scarf for 200 Rs when dad came and found me – and we went to go look at carpets. After a brief demonstration and all that jazz, I more or less decided that I needed to buy one! I can’t leave India without buying a carpet!!! And, the pattern that I liked was there, and it was much cheaper than what mom and dad paid for theirs...so I bought one! Definitely an expensive purchase, and the quality is always questionable, but I do like it – and I think it will be great at home in my family room area!! J
Because we were now carrying this expensive purchase around in the tuc-tuc, we asked our driver guy (still the same one from this morning) to head back to the hotel. We tried to find a supermarket, but he didn’t quite understand and took us to a couple of other random stalls in market areas instead. We were all tired and hungry by that point, so we just went back to the Park. We had a snack/lunch of pepsi and a Cadbury chocolate bar before heading out on our next Delhi adventure.
We decided to take the metro to Chandi Chowk – the area that we visited by cycle rickshaw yesterday. The metro was cheap and efficient and easy! It was only two stops to get to the centre of the market and it was pure madness when we got up to the street. The lanes were so narrow and yet managed to squeeze in about 4 lanes of rickshaw and pedestrian traffic. The area where we started off was the Home Depot section – and mom wasn’t too impressed. I suggested getting a cycle rickshaw to the shoe area, which I recalled to be near the entrance to the entire mess and close to the Red Fort. All three of us managed to pile into one rickshaw – I more or less did a wall-sit on the edge of the seat while mom held onto me from the middle. It was just a tad tight!! When we got out (near the shoe area) I could barely stand up!! My quads haven’t been that challenged in a while.
We looked up and down a couple of the more main streets as it was getting dark and we didn’t really want to get lost. It was a nice change from Connaught Place where there are touts and pushy salespeople in your face the entire time. Here, although there were tonnes of people, they all had places to go and people to see – and didn’t care too much that you were there! It was a nice break. The prices were better too, as the average Indian person shops in these stores, so the prices weren’t nuts for tourists. Mom found a Punjabi suit (material only) for PK that is really nice and I think we got a relatively good deal on it after I bargained for a bit. As well, there were jewellery stores that had nice, well crafted pieces that we stopped to look at a few times. Mom bought a chain that is quite intricate and was a very good price. Here, the gold is much yellower than at home because it is 22 KT!
Ummmm....I don’t know if I should admit this or not...but we went to McDonalds for dinner tonight! It is actually probably one of the safer places to eat, however, because beef products are not allowed!! Dad had a Tikki burger thing – a "burger" made out of potatoes with other veggies on the inside. (He isn’t sick today, either, which is a bonus!!) Mom and I weren’t really all up for the crazy, so we split fries and each had a chocolate Sunday. It was quite nice, really. (If you can call that dinner, at all)
We made our way to the Red Fort for the evening sound and light show. It was really well done, and provided a nice synopsis of the history of the fort and Delhi in general. The sound effects were done on speakers all around and the lights lit up the interesting architecture of the remaining palaces near where we were sitting. Dad had texted Scott, but Scott doesn’t seem able to get dad’s texts, so we didn’t connect with them before the show. However, as we were sitting there in the dark, both mom and I spotted the group. Definitely a benefit because then I was able to go back to the hotel with them instead of having mom and dad go all the way down to my place before heading back up to their hotel. I think this will be one of the few times (hopefully) where we are staying so far away from each other. A couple of times we are in the same hotel, which will definitely simplify things.
Tomorrow we are driving to Agra! Should be an interesting drive. I am definitely happy that we spread out the tour, however, so that we are not driving every day. It would be quite painful that way, I think!
-AJ

Tues, Feb 24

We got up for breakfast at 7:30 this morning to find that some of the English ladies were also staying here!! We had a nice chat with them regarding what they have seen thus far and what their future plans were for the trip. They are on a shorter and faster tour than we are and were leaving later today for Agra. We leave for Agra on the 26th. It was funny to run into them!
Our driver guy came to pick us up at 8:30 before heading more centrally to get mom and dad from their hotel. It is a very nice hotel in which they are staying, with a gym, pool, restaurant, and all those western hotel standards that we are used to. Their hotel served as kind of a regrouping spot several times later in the day, which was also nice. It seems as though they have adjusted well – I mean, a time difference is a time difference, I suppose! It was probably a shocking first day, however, because we really did get into the thick of things.
We first drove by India gate, which kind of looks like the Arc deTriomphe, but has INDIA on the top of the arch, instead!! I don’t really recall much of the history surrounding that. There were many government buildings and centres pointed out along the way including the central secretariat and parliamentary buildings. Buildings are hard to get a good view of most of the time because of the enormity of them as well as the fact that all of the really important ones are behind gates.
We drove past the red fort. The Mughals originally built this huge fort in 1638 when they were in power in India. It was looted and parts destroyed by various other groups and the English used it for an army base when they occupied India. We didn’t actually go inside, because it is now a World Heritage Site and the last remaining buildings inside the fort are inaccessible.
We then drove down to Old Delhi. The road ways are very convoluted and busy with hundreds of electrical wires crossing over and under each other overhead. It was an amazing experience. The area called Chandni Chowk is located near the red fort and has many kiosks selling everything from bangles, to shoes, to cloth, to food. We explored this area through cycle-rickshaws, which was also a very interesting experience. I definitely like them better than I like the auto-rickshaws, because they go a little more slowly and are easier to see out of! We are going back there tomorrow because our quick ride though the area didn’t do justice! And, besides, we want to shop!!
At the other end of the market area is Jama Masjid which is a Muslim mosque. Mosques are open in the middle here, so it kind of looks like the Plaza St Marcs (sp!) in Venice. This open courtyard can hold 25,000 people and was, at one time, covered in beautiful carpets. The mosque was started in 1644. It always baffles me how long ago these structures were made. We barely have anything that is 100 years old! Anyway...Muslims don’t believe in idol worship, so the mosque was simple, but elegant red sandstone with white and black marble inlays. It was very interesting. And, because of its higher location, we were able to get a good view of the red fort, as well.
We drove back across the city to go see Humayun’s Tomb. It is a beautiful structure build in red sandstone by the Mughals during their reign in India. The senior wife of the second emperor Humayun is buried here. From afar it looks like the Taj Mahal because the latter’s construction was inspired by this building! The building is a perfect square, with all four sides exactly the same. The grounds are also square and are divided into quarters by small aqueducts that lead into the central building. Within each quarter, there is another division into four parts. The grounds were very peaceful and green. It was an interesting contrast to the bustling Old Delhi.
Back through town again, we visited Gandhi Smriti, a museum that has been created where Gandhi lived and was assassinated. He was killed on January 30, 1948. There was lots of information around the site, however, our guide was in a hurry, so we didn’t get too much time to read all of it. It is interesting because, here, they say they have Gandhi’s few remaining possessions, and in Pune, they say that they have Gandhi’s few possessions in that historic site – I think several places have all shared a few of Gandhi’s possessions!!
Our last site visit was to Qutb Minar. It dates back to the onset of Islamic rule in India. The Minar itself was constructed over many years, by several different people and has different architecture at each level. It stands a total of 73 meters high and is only 2.5m in diameter at the top. Again, it is sponsored by UNESCO and is a world heritage site, so we were not allowed to climb up to the top. The tower is actually leaning, because of the water seepage in the ground!! Within the grounds, there are the remains of the first mosque to be built in India. The original mosque was built on the foundation of a Hindu temple and the Hindu stones were used in their construction. However, because the Muslims don’t believe in idols, the idol carvings in the stones were all defaced. In the courtyard there is an iron pillar that dates back to AD times. "A six-line Sanskrit inscription indicates that it was initially erected outside a Vishnu temple, possibly in Bihar, and was raised in memory of Chandragupta II, who ruled from AD 375 to 413" (Lonely Planet, India). And, the weird thing about the pole is that after over 2000 years it hasn’t rusted – and scientists don’t really know why!!
Our last stop was to a Cotton Industries Emporium – a government run store, where they are try to swoon you with tea and biscuits and a demonstration of carpets and other products. By this time we were very hungry, so the two tea biscuits were wonderful, and the tea was pretty good too! The carpets were lovely, but it is impossible to know here what you are actually buying – even in a more established store. They do this big show and dance over their silk carpets and moving them around and all of that...but you have to remember that it is a show and nothing more than that. Even though we spent a long time in the store, we didn’t buy anything. Mom and dad bought a carpet yesterday from a similar store, but our driver said that there is no way that it is silk. However, realistically, would they ever really spend what it costs to purchase a real silk one? These (fake) ones look awesome, anyway...and it came from here, which is the main thing.
By the time we got back to mom and dad’s hotel, we were all starving and grumpy because of the low sugar levels and spending all day together. We all decided on going to the restaurant that mom and dad went to the night previous because it seemed to be cheap enough and food that everyone could handle. It was fine – I had pizza, and it was actually quite good. I miss my milk, however! J
Well, after that, we walked back to the Park. En route, we found a market and had some fun there. There were bindi’s and bangles and good stuff like that. Mom bought a few larger glass bangles that are quite pretty and I bought some pink and blue ones for Sparks. Hopefully, they will all get home in one piece!
We managed to get a taxi from the Park to our hotel for only 200 Rs (way too much, I am sure, but we were kind of done with negotiating) and found our place without too much trouble.
Night
-Allison

Mon, Feb 23

Today was our last day in Pune! We woke up early again so the other two could go to yoga and me to go for a swim. I couldn’t really do another yoga routine again! The swim was nice, however – the water is really cold, and I’ll think Kinsman has warm water when I get back!
It was a rather uneventful morning, despite people leaving all over the place. We had a session about the various jobs and positions available at the different world centres, as well as this session of laughter yoga. The latter didn’t go so well, because the guy was much more concerned with making a movie of his session rather than teaching us about laughter yoga! And...it was hot...and there were ants...and all that good stuff!! It was fine, I suppose, but nothing too spectacular.
The staff were obviously done with catering to us, because they all kind of vanished after lunch when a few of us were still kicking around waiting to leave. There were no huge farewells or anything. We hopped in two rickshaws and headed for the airport.
The airport was an interesting experience. It was attached to the military base and so the security was probably more interesting than other domestic Indian airports. We had several various security points for both checked baggage and hand baggage. They even zip-tied our checked baggage upon entering the airport so we could add anything to it! Other than those few differences, it was pretty much a standard airport with nothing too weird or different. Some things never change, really.
We had an uneventful flight and arrived in Delhi around 8:30pm. A guy from Perfect Travels was at the baggage claim waiting for us and everything, which was pretty impressive! He spoke English fluently, which was also quite reassuring and comforting.
It was a short ride to the hotel where we met Scott (Caroline’s significant other) and signed into our rooms. It is a beautiful home where we are staying. Beautiful, castle-like lobby and dining room area and the rooms are plain but clean. I certainly have no complaints!!!
Mom and dad are staying at a fancy hotel – they wanted to pay more for their tour than the rest of us did...so we will see them tomorrow and see their location and amenities! Should be interesting.
Night
-AJ

Sunday, Feb 22

Today was a packed day! We ended up getting up super early so that we could take a bus to hike up Pavroti hill. A large number of people went, so we had a bigger bus, but thankfully, they had resolved the issue of the bus size and we had one that could actually go on the majority of the roads! However, the driver didn’t really know where we were going and we took a little longer getting there than anticipated – including a couple of turns the wrong way on one-way streets! We did get there, however, and it was a nice, short hike up to the top. There were some really nice temples at the top of the park area...and it was kind of cool because we were above the smog, so the air was great! Makes me wonder what I am breathing when I am here the rest of the time!
We got back about half an hour late for breakfast, but because there was such a large group of us, we were still able to eat! Soon afterwards, we started our sessions of ‘teach and learn’. Honestly, they were not the highlight of the trip thus far! I did learn how to make these really cool 3D snowflakes, though...I think they may be too hard for Sparks to do, but they look awesome!
The three of us bailed on the second half of the morning in order to go to Pune Central – a department store with a grocery store at the top. It was a great trip, and I am really happy that we decided to go. There are sales on right now, so we all did a little damage! Caroline managed to buy 5 tunics for the price of 2 – and she wears things like that at home, so it is worth it! Allison bought some coloured bangles that she had been looking for. I bought two gold plated bangles – they were 50% off...and were less than 20$, so I couldn’t resist! My hands are exceptionally fat here, however, so I have to use a plastic bag to get them on and off, but I am happy with my purchase! More useful than another Punjabi suit or tunics for me, I think.
We went to the supermarket in the shopping centre and looked around for various things. It was good to see what is available in terms of ‘survival’ food! We bought a few cookies and a pop-like drink that were on sale. We also bought these interesting chips. They are Lay’s Chips – India’s Mint Mischief. They taste like India!! They are mint, peppers, and cilantro. It is definitely a surprise for the taste buds!
We made it back for 2pm and the tailor’s arrival. He brought back all of our suits, so we ran around camp for the remainder of the day in them. They are pretty amazing, actually. There are none that are the same. The tailor made all of the neck lines different as well! I have a simple blue and teal suit with a v-neck. I like it because it isn’t too blingy at all – although this is definitely the place to get away with excessive sparkles and such! They are pretty much the most comfortable things ever! I think I’ll be able to wear the pants as PJ pants when I get home.
Some locals came and taught us how to do Rangoli – the artistic drawings made by sprinkling chalk in various designs that are found outside their homes normally. It was amazing to watch because they are done so quickly and are so detailed. We got to practice a bit, but my flower design that I made was nothing like the example! I guess she’s probably been doing it for many years!
The locals also did mendi or hena for us! I think this was my favourite part because it looks sooooo cool once it is done! It is like my sun tattoos – more than temporary tattoos, but not permanent! I have two on my left hand at the moment. Hopefully they will last a while. I’ve heard anywhere from 3-6 weeks, but I guess it depends on how often you wash your hands. We shall see.
Dinner was awesome. It was a typical Maharastian (sp) dinner – the area where we are located at the moment. We all dressed in either our saris or Punjabi suits and sat on the floor to eat. There were no utensils and we got to eat with our hand – right hand! Apparently, no one in the city tends to eat like this any more...it is more of a rural event, or if there are many people for a wedding or something. It was pretty fun, in any case!
After dinner was our Thinking Day celebrations. We listened to a couple of interesting quotes, and then walked around the grounds to read different quotes by candlelight. It was nice. Considering how we don’t really do too much for thinking day at home (I guess it would typically fall on a week day, which inhibits huge celebrations), I think this one will be the most memorable!!
Tomorrow is only a ½ day before packing and traveling starts again! Most of my clothes are at the Dhobi man, so I can’t pack this evening! As well, after the session ends tomorrow, we are going over to the store with Aruna to find out what she puts in the chai tea and the mesala tea. I figure it could be good presents and things – and her recipe is quite good.
Night
-Allison

Sat, Feb 21

This morning was an earlier morning because we had to be at the scouts and guides place by 9am...and things happen quite slowly around here! I had a wonderful sleep, however, which was awesome! I am sure the evening Bollywood dancing probably helped with that.
Getting to the Guiding ceremony was an interesting experience. The bus that was ordered to pick us up was larger than anticipated, which meant that it couldn’t go in many areas of the city! There are size limits to these things, which most definitely created problems! We ended up going a very roundabout way to cross the river and then the bus stopped on the bridge! We sat there, until a smaller bus came to pick us up and get us to the ceremony! If this had been happening at home, I would have pretty much lost my mind, but I am getting better at understanding an accepting the Indian time concept...so I survived!
We all got there at different times, and quite late, unfortunately, because the Thinking Day ceremonies had already started. And, because we were the guests of honour, our seats were in the front. It was slightly awkward. I felt bad because they all had so much to show us and were so organized and well dressed, it was unfair to them that we were so late.
The ceremony was nice. It was done in both Hindi (or the local dialect) and English so we could understand what was going on. There was a prayer said and awards presented. A girl band gave a small performance as well. After all of that was finished, we were assigned to groups of guides/scouts where we spent about an hour. They blessed us and put the red and yellow spices on our heads and taught us games. We also taught them games – none that we had planned, and none that were relevant to the HIV/AIDS theme! As predicted, the language barrier was a definite issue there! The kids really liked us, though, and you could see that it was a special day for them because we were there. It made the ceremony, that I have been a part of for 17 or 18 years now quite a bit more meaningful!!
Getting home was (thankfully) easier than it was getting there! Lunch was uneventful and we had a good game of WAGGGS millionaire afterwards. My team won, which made me pretty happy!! I definitely got into it, and I also had a great team, which helped out. My speedy (not to mention absolutely illegible) writing was also of use because some teams didn’t get points ‘cause they couldn’t write the answers fast enough. Made me happy to be of use.
Tonight was international night. Everyone did a presentation and had a little table set up with things from their country. We put together a puppet show, which went over quite well, I think. We were the only group that didn’t teach a dance, which was really great – especially ‘cause I had initially wanted to teach line dancing! We put out cookies and extra traders and Canadian stuff on the table for people to take too. Everyone had food from their country and a bunch of stuff to see and give away. I think I ended up coming away with more stuff than I went with! It always seems to be like that. I also got a couple of really cute teddy bears...and now I am going to have to carry them around India with me! It’s okay, I guess, ‘cause after Monday’s flight, I’ll start expanding into my second suitcase, so I’ll have room!
You can tell things are winding down because there is more free time and getting rid of junk and all that stuff!! We had a meeting to learn what to eat and how much to tip and useful tips like that for all of us carrying on after the session is over. All good things. Tomorrow will be exciting because we get our Punjabi suits back and have henna (Mendi) done before our big dinner celebration! It will be awesome, I am sure!
-Allison

Friday, February 20

We went to Deep Griha (which means Lighthouse in Hindi) as our ‘outing’ for the day today. It was a very interesting experience. It is an organization that was started by a female doctor - I don’t remember how many years ago – and it is now a large organization that has three different locations in three different slums in Pune. The organization caters to women in need primarily; however, it is open to men as well. Because of the fact that women have a more difficult time getting educated and being heard in general, there are more female clients than male. The presentation about the organization was slightly sales-pitch-y because they are looking for sponsors for children in order to send them to school, pay for their uniforms, feed them, and provide them with medical support. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it may be which was nice. It was an informative presentation, actually.
Because the WAGGGS event of this year focuses on HIV/AIDS we mostly focused on this aspect of their organization, however they also work to provide continuing education courses. They offer computer, literacy and numeracy, and tailoring classes that provide the individuals with employable skills. And, apparently 100% of funds raised for each individual child goes towards that child’s needs – which is pretty rare in our neck of the woods, I think! In any case, it was interesting to learn about the program.
We then went out with two ladies that volunteer at the centre to visit the slums in which the organization is located. That was the highlight for me – as odd as that may sound. Obviously, it isn’t possible to visit the slums alone or only with westerners, so this was pretty much a unique opportunity. I knew that the slums were well organized from reading stories and stuff, but it was amazing to actually see just how friendly and efficient the area seemed to be. This is the India that you see in the movies – where the kids are all around saying "hello", "picture", etc. They never touched us or were uncomfortably close at all, either. Although there were 40 000 people in the small area, the air was cleaner than where Sangam is located in Pune – probably because less people can afford vehicles. Cleanliness is a big thing here in general, and everyone was well dressed and clean! Everyone was excited to see us and the photo opportunities were endless. It was very cool.
Back at Sangam, after a late lunch, we had a session on advocacy. No one would volunteer for the activity, so I ended up (along with another lady) volunteering. We had a debate about whether or not testing for HIV should be obligatory or not. I got the side that said that we should not have the right to choose to be tested for HIV. It was very interesting because then the group could either go to my side or the opposite side while we were both shouting out our points! I really do love debating things!! It makes me happy...anyway, the results meant nothing because the group had prior instruction cards of which side to go to in the end...but it is an interesting debate. I wonder if obligatory HIV testing would help to get the disease under control? Here, the biggest issue is the stigma associated with the disease – they kept saying that we don’t have that stigma in the Western world, but I am not so sure I’d agree. I think that people that are infected with HIV/AIDS still discriminated against at home as well. Perhaps we talk about it more than here because we are more open about sexuality in general, but I don’t think those that are infected/affected are treated the same as those who are not.
We had an awesome session with one of the Indian locals that works at Sangam. It was a simple question/answer period. But, it was very informative because so many random questions were asked and answers brought to light. For example, arranged marriages still exist. However, legally, they girl must be over 18 years of age and the guy over 21. The biggest differences seem to be between rural and urban areas. Child marriages may still exist in the rural areas – but can not necessarily be announced, because they are technically illegal. When a couple gets married, they go and live with the husband’s parents because the inheritance is traditionally handed down through the son. The key word there is traditional because wills have been commonplace for about the past 2 generations, however, because all girls go and live with and are taken care of by their husband’s parents; they have no need for their legal/willed inheritance when their parents die. This may change over time as things evolve and as girls become more independent, I guess.
Another subject was housing. It seems like it is just like it has been done at home. There are rentals and there are owners. They can get a mortgage, etc. Makes sense, really. What else? Holding hands. Guys around here hold hands all the time – not exactly something that is seen around home too often. Holding hands with the same sex is considered a sign of friendship and nothing more. Girls can hold girls’ hands and guys can hold guys’ hands. However, a guy and a girl can’t hold hands! It isn’t correct for the opposite sex to hold hands! Apparently it’ll start rumours about affairs and scandals!
After dinner we had a guy come teach Bollywood dancing! It was hilarious! He was really funny, and learning all of the completely cheesy and awful moves was entertaining. We spent an hour learning different steps and choreographing a dance...it was great! Very warm, but totally awesome.
Tomorrow is our big WAGGGS celebration activity thing with the local scouts and guides. We are playing games and ‘discussing’ HIV/AIDS with them. Discussing being in quotations because there is a slight language barrier present!!! It should be interesting. Thankfully it is in the morning so that we will be out of the sun when it is really hot!
Night
-AJ

Thursday, February 19

I decided to go swimming this morning instead of yoga. I know that yoga is all Indian and such, but it is the same routine every morning! I figure I have got my 50 Rs out of it! J Swimming was great, however – the pool is about 21m long, so interesting calculations, but I ended up doing about 2.5km, which worked pretty well for me, I think!
We spent the morning learning about WAGGGS and the centenary of Guiding that will happen over the next three years. It seems as though at home, GGC doesn’t encompass enough or many of the WAGGGS initiatives, which is kind of disappointing. WAGGGS has some excellent goals in order to promote the program and promote the ways in which girls/females are heard and viewed worldwide. It becomes more of the responsibility of each individual guider to therefore seek out the WAGGGS information and materials in order to incorporate theses messages into the GGC program. It is something that I think I am going to have to work on at home...
The Centenary event happens over three years (2010, 2011,2012) because different countries will have their 100 year anniversary at different times over these three years. The UK seems to have done a lot already in preparation for this, whereas I didn’t even know that we were celebrating the 100 years of guiding. I feel like I have some research to be done...not that my being interested is going to make too much of a difference...it seems as though we are slightly behind in enrolment and in getting things done. Although...I don’t really know...so don’t quote me on that! It was interesting information to ponder, in any case.
After lunch we went back to Aga Khan Palace where Gandhi was imprisoned for a while. His wife and secretary actually both died there. It is a beautiful place, however. Like most tourist sites everywhere, the locals get to pay a lot less than the tourists. Here, they only pay 5 Rs in comparison to the tourist 100 Rs! I thought that was a great initiative to encourage people to go and visit! I wish I could pay 15 cents to visit the zoo!! There was supposed to be a woman’s cooperative there selling things, however, it was kind of a holiday yesterday, so no one was there, unfortunately.
We went back to Sangam and discussed what we saw...the poverty...the idea that one person can make a difference in the world. One of the slogans around WAGGGS and guiding is "I am one in ten million", which also reflects the same concept...It was an interesting discussion.
Both lunch and dinner were scary...I think I ate a total of one chapatti, three tomato pieces, and two noodles all day!! Thankfully, I think that there is lots of edible food out there, so when I am not having pre-cooked meals, I’ll be fine!! Anyway, it was a good thing that we had free time because the three of us, plus Sarah (the Aussi that is here from Our Chalet), went down to MG road and tried to do some shopping!!
The shopping trip was more educational than productive. I learned a lot about which scarves do what and which ones are made from what, and all that good stuff! If mom thought carpets were difficult, she is going to go nuts with the scarves! The stores located on MG road were actual stores, like the Bombay Store and the Fabric Emporium. They were very helpful in explaining what and demonstrating the uses of the different scarves. The useful thing there was that it was possible to compare textures and styles and price points because they were all available. I think I will probably buy an expensive, quality scarf from someplace like that before I leave because then I know what I am getting. Having Allison along is also a bonus because she knows fabrics really well and can tell what they are made of from the feel. Mom will probably be very useful with that as well. That is the problem in the markets – it could be a good deal, or it could be a complete rip-off!! In any case, they are cheaper here than at home, and the assortment is amazing!! Thousands in one store to choose from....not one that looks like another! No wonder I can’t make any decisions!!
We also stopped at an ice-cream place (thankfully) because I actually thought I was going to pass out from not really eating all day. It was good ice cream too!!
Taking the tuc-tucs at night was sure fun! They don’t use their street lights, so it is dark – with all of the headlights pointing straight at us! It was funny!!
Anyway.....
Night
-Allison

Februry 18 cont...

Back again...I wish we could have spent more time in the market because it wasn’t really long enough to look around, never mind many any decisions. It just has made me really excited for all of the other markets yet to come!
We then went to the sari shop! It was a very cool experience. All of the Punjabi suits are pre-cut and put into packages with all three pieces, and there were thousands to choose from! No two looked alike, either, which made it all the more difficult! The price ranges were extreme as well, which made it even more challenging. I found this beautiful, hand printed, cotton, red and black one that was about 900 Rs, but that is really on the high end of things. It was more stressful than it probably needed to be because we had already stopped at the bangle store and picked bangles...and I kind of wanted my bangles to match! After much deliberation, I ended up deciding on a blue and teal suit that has a matching scarf thing (that isn’t really a scarf, but I always forget the name). It only cost me 320 Rs for the material! That is about 10$ for an entire outfit!! My bangles aren’t the same colour any more, but I think they will look fine together, anyway!
We got back to lunch late because our driver definitely went the LONG way home...and didn’t really know where he was going. We did get there eventually, though. The auto-rickshaws aren’t exactly stressful any more...you kind of just have to hope that they will actually admit if they don’t know where they are going so you can get another one! And, even if they do take you a roundabout route instead of a direct route, it ends up being about a 25 cent difference in the end. I’m sure I’ll get over it.
In the afternoon we had our session on Wali art or Indian embroidery. It was painful!! About a 1-hour session could have/would have sufficed, but instead, they dragged it out into a 3-hour session! I was originally scheduled to be in the embroidery session, but too many people signed up, so I ended up switching to the Wali art thing. Again, interesting, but not for three hours! I can colour in triangles like a pro now, however!
Dinner was pretty much beef stroganoff – except chicken instead of the beef! Thank goodness something that was normal-ish that I liked eating, because, well, I have a feeling my pants are going to be falling down soon – and I didn’t bring a belt!
After dinner we had campfire. We only have one the entire time we are here, which is probably a good thing because wearing long pants and long shirt to sit by a fire in 25°C heat was kind of odd!! It was fun, though. Everyone knows such different songs from their guiding background – or at least, different versions of the same song!
Night.
-AJ

February 18

I decided I needed to go early to yoga this morning in order to do some abs before the class started! I worked so hard on them after Christmas and now there will be a lack of use of them...I will be all sad when I get back in March! Oh well....if that is my biggest issue, I think I will be fine!
Oh – and the yoga lady is so funny...she speaks English very well, and I don’t have any right to correct her because I can’t speak one word on Hindi! In any case, however, she says “another arm” instead of saying “other arm”, which pretty much makes me laugh every time!
On a different note...all of the Guiding ceremonies and rituals started this morning as well. We got to march out to the flag pole and each country brought something to represent themselves. We brought a bison!! Then we had a discussion about what we did the day before and all that good stuff! We also had a little session regarding what we needed to look for in the sari shops for when we went to Laxmi Road market.
We all got into our Tuc-Tucs and went to the market. It was a fun morning, however the leaders didn’t really let us loose to shop, unfortunately. The whole insane amount of people thing is getting a lot more normal. It isn’t a big deal, actually – when there are more people around, actually, they seem to pay less attention to us as a whole, which is kind of a bonus! Anyway...we went to Bangle Alley to start. It was shops and shops that only sold bangles! It was really difficult to chose, especially because they had a very wide variety of different styles to choose from. I ended up getting some redish-gold ones, which may or may not match my salwar kameeze (Punjabi suit) fabric that I chose later on in the morning. I did my best to bargain as well, but they are tough in these tourist-y areas and having the leaders looking over my shoulder as I did that, did not help the situation either. I managed to get him down from 80 Rs to 65 Rs for 12 bangles. I can deal with that, I suppose!
We then went to a fruit and veggie market. It was really fun because we had a challenge. Each group was given 5Rs and we were told to get as many different veggies as possible with it. This is where my bargaining really came in handy!! We managed to get 18 different items for 5Rs!! That is like 9 cents cdn or so! Pretty cool. And the vendors all knew what we were up to, which made it all the more fun!
We then walked down to the market area – and it was soo cool! Definitely crowded, but they are all there for the same reason – to buy stuff, so it is all good! ...to be continued!

February 17

I actually slept until a normal time this morning. I seem to be completely on normal time at the moment, which is great! I am hungry, however – dinner was interesting, to say the least, so I ate little. Thankfully, there was a serving of ice cream and chocolate sauce (home made) for dessert!
This morning started with Yoga. It wasn’t very hard-core at all, I had been hoping that it would be harder than it was! It was more or less what we find at home, except that it is normally harder! Breakfast was great – I am definitely a fan of that meal...
After that, the three of us walked across the street (which is always interesting...I didn’t run when the other two ran, so I ended up staying on the opposite side for much too long! In any case, it was an excellent outing because a lot was accomplished. Yesterday, when I was out with the English people, they weren’t too interested in peaking into the little shops, so today we managed to do that a bit. We went into a few of the little convenience stores along the way to the internet café. One was really interesting and I managed to buy some face-soap – Dove – for 40 Rs! And in the same shop there were all kinds of cleaning supplies, toothpaste, food, etc. It was a pretty cool little place! Then, we went and used the internet, which works so surprisingly well!
We hung out by the pool until lunch...already I am getting so much better at doing nothing. It is different when everyone around me is also doing nothing and the temperatures are nutty. We’ve guessed that it was about 30 degrees, but the humidity is higher than what I am used to, so it definitely seems like more than that.
The program started after lunch. We had a get-to-know-you session in the hall where we were introduced to all of the staff on-site, Indian and International. There are a lot of family relations that work at the centre. We did a scavenger hunt around the grounds of Sangam. I also learned that the land was given to Girl Guides by the government and that it is 7.5 acres in total. Next door, there is a ‘community’ (it was re-vamped from a slum to a community when Queen Elizabeth visited about ten years ago or so) that has 10 000 people living on the same quantity of land.
After tea break (there are three of these breaks during the day!) we went on a group tour around the community. It was more or less the same route that I had done yesterday, however, with the staff from Sangam showing us around, it was a little more informative. We first went into the temple where people go to worship Gnash. He is the elephant-man. He was created from the following story: Shiva and Vishnu were married. Shiva went away to meditate (for 2 years) and just after he left, Vishnu realized she was pregnant. When Shiva came back, there was a young boy guarding the door to his home while Vishnu took a bath. When the young boy wouldn’t let Shiva enter the home (because he didn’t know his dad), Shiva decapitated the young boy. When Vishnu saw this, she was very upset. She demanded that Shiva fix the situation or else she would never speak to him again. So, Shiva found an elephant that was sleeping in the wrong position (Hindi believe that they need their heads to be facing North and their feet to be facing South) and killed it. He put the head on his son and his life was restored.
We then went into the temple of Parvati, the god with many arms. She was created in order to fight a demon that was causing chaos. The first class gods and the second class gods all got together and meditated. In doing so, a light was projected from their eyes, which created the form of a woman. She has many arms and is holding various weapons and tools that she used to destroy the demon. She is the goddess of wealth and has something to do with fertility and pregnancy.
En route we also saw a Christian church, and an orphanage being constructed. One of the ladies got her shoe stolen by a dog! I was worried about people stealing my shoes, but I hadn`t really thought about dogs! We also made a brief stop into a Buddhist temple. Buddhism started here in India, but a few of the Hindu Maharajas banned the religion and made Hindu be the only religion of the time. There are a few Buddhists around, but it isn’t very popular. Originally, it became popular among the lower castes because the religion makes all people equal, therefore providing the opportunity for those with lower social standing to move up the ladder. All of these temples and churches are within one block and everyone lives very peacefully in this middle-class neighbourhood.
We visited the home of a previous employee of Sangam. She is 79 years old and had worked here for 39 years! Her house was immaculate and kept going further and further back from the street. She had a temple in her home and her kitchen was amazing! Metal pots all organized on the wall. It was pretty cool. Before we left her home, she blessed us and put the spices between our eyebrows. It was fun!!
The last temple that we visited was for another god. It is like the trinity – ie it has three gods rolled into one. I believe they are Shiva, Vishnu, and Krishna and it is called Rama. This was an interesting visit because there was a ceremony happening while we were there that included candles and dancing. Interestingly enough, one of the dancers was transvestite – he was very tall, but dressed in a sari. Here, they are respected and feared and are called upon for luck in ceremonies. They tend to abuse their power, however, and will demand money if they meet you and can cast a curse if you don’t do as they demand.
I caught two girls getting ready for bed/home as we were leaving the temple. One was brushing her teeth with her finger and the other was brushing her hair! I got all excited about the tooth-brushing picture, and they were nice enough to let me take a picture.
After dinner we had opening ceremonies. It was a very official Indian welcome. We all marched in to the hall in a circle and then were blessed by putting a couple of spices on our forehead between our eyes and moving around a betel nut and a candle around our heads. They also sprinkled rice on our hair and gave us a necklace of marigolds. It was pretty neat. There was an official photographer as we were not allowed to take our own pictures, so we will see how that will work!
And now it is bedtime! Tomorrow we are going shopping!! We get to purchase the material to make saris and tunics and the tailor is coming in the afternoon to fit us! I am pretty excited...
Night.
-AJ

Monday, Feb 16

Monday, February 16, 2009

I am currently sitting inside the walls of Sangam! It is actually quite nice here at the moment – about 25°C at nine-thirty in the morning. I haven’t been out of the site yet, so I don’t really know what is going on in the real world, but it is pleasant in here.
Actually, we arrived in Mumbai around 1am this morning. All of our bags arrived – which was quite excellent because as we were standing there waiting for them, I realized I had thrown out my baggage claim ticket! Not really the place that I needed to be doing that! The airport was pretty standard with nothing too exciting or different to be worrisome at all. I think that Caroline was a little bit out of her element, but we all did well, overall!
We found our bus driver without any problems, another relief. I actually found the meeting place to be a lot less overwhelming than when I was in Guatemala. They were quite calm this morning at 1am! It was a rather uneventful drive to Pune, as well. I don’t really know how long it took because I slept here and there throughout the ride...but I was hungry. The food on the plane (in first class) was not good....it sounds like the food back in the normal seats was a lot better....I don’t think I can really complain, however – the flight was awesome!
We arrived at Sangam at 4:30am and had to fill out some paperwork before we could go to bed. Apparently, the police have to know we are here and we have to be registered within 24 hours of arrival. That was all fine....and the rooms are good too . I didn’t find the extra blanket until this morning when I woke up, so I was a little cold. I seem to always forget that it gets cold in these hot places at night.
I only managed to sleep until 7ish because of being cold, primarily, as well as all of the random noises happening all around me. There is an ammunition factory, a mosque, and an army training centre all nearby – all of which are quite loud! I sat there this morning listening to the random bird noises along with the “left, right, left, right” of either the factory workers or the soldiers, and the air horn that indicates shift change at the factory. I think ear plugs will be a must tonight! I wonder why I never did that to deal with the annoying roosters in Guatemala?! Apparently, I do learn a bit as I go!
I am slightly annoyed with myself! I seem to have left my little travel bottle of face-soap in Toronto! I never lose anything, so I don’t really know how I managed to leave it there. I figure, however, that it is a good thing that is all I left there because I was so cold when I was re-packing to leave the hotel that I couldn’t even think straight...better soap than my passport or computer or something! I guess it gives me a mission today in Pune – to go locate something that resembles some kind of face soap thing!
Breakfast is served at 8:30am...which is pretty late for me! I woke up soooo hungry that I decided it was better to be tired at this point! I think I ate a grand total of 2 tea biscuits and 3 shrimp yesterday in the plane! It was a normal/English breakfast. It is going to be all about the bananas here again! No wonder I can never stomach them at home...I have to save up for when survival matters!
The other two are still sleeping and want to sleep until noon. I sat with a bunch of people from the UK at breakfast, and tried to see what they were going to be doing this morning....and actually...one of them just invited me to go on a ride around Pune with them now! So, off I go!!
Alrighty...so I went walking around the nearby streets with some of the UK ladies this morning after breakfast. It was already getting hotter, but not as bad as it got later on today! We went and saw the ‘mall’...we were a little confused by it, because there didn’t really seem to be any entry into the building. There were only little shops around the perimeter. There wasn’t really too much to see in the shopping area, it is the people that are the most interesting. The girls are all dressed so beautifully and elegantly. The little kids didn’t harass us too badly at all. One little girl that I took a picture of asked to see it afterwards, but she didn’t ask for money or anything. I am still finding that the most challenging part of being a tourist at the moment – figuring out when it is okay to take pictures and when to not take pictures. For the most part, the people seem pretty excited to have pictures taken of them!
We got back to Sangam and I had an hour nap before lunch because it was past my Canadian bed time and the fatigue was starting to kick in!! Lunch was interesting, but pretty good. It was chapattis, rice, potatoes, and some other random Indian veggies. Lunches are always served Indian, here and dinners are Western. I have a feeling I am definitely going to OD on bananas!!
We walked around the field behind the dorms that overlook the river. It is mostly dry with large trees lining the walking area. In the back of the field there is a campfire pit. The session actually starts tomorrow at noon, so things will get more interesting then, and I am sure we’ll be having campfires and all that good stuff!!
At 2pm about 12 of us took a few auto-rickshaws or tuc-tucs and went on this very long, hot, and exhausting tour of Pune. Three of us fit into the back of one of them (it was quite snug!), but Sangam negociated a rate of 350Rs for the entire tour!! That ends up being about 10$ total! ***the exchange rate for Cdn dollars to Indian Rupees is much better here than what I got at the bank at home!*** We went and saw a lot of the sites, however the exhaust from the traffic and the heat was a little overwhelming. The people here are wonderful. Apparently, Pune is kind of an ‘up and coming’ city, so there aren’t beggars, street people, or venders in your face at all, which is nice!
We saw the Pune university, the Ghandi museum and Aga Khan Palace, a fort called Shaniwarwada, a military cemetery, the Chaturshringi Temple, and a park called Sarasbaug. The university was neat. They were working on refurbishing a building that had been built by the English and was used as the Governer’s house. It is on campus and was supposed to be used for the administration building on campus...not going to lie, it looks as though they have a ways to go!
We visited the Aga Khan palace last and only briefly stopped because we think we get to visit it later on this week. It was very stunning and clean feeling, when compared to everything else we’d seen today. I think that the three of us will go back to visit it, even if we don’t go with Sangam because there is weaving and a craft teaching program for women and seems to be kind of interesting.
The fort was a hot stop, and we were there for about 2 seconds because another group told us it wasn’t worth the 100 Rs to get into the monument. It looked cool from the outside, however!
The Chaturshringi Temple was cool because it was my first temple visit! We all took off our shoes and hiked up a bunch of steps in order to look at an elephant goddess. She is the one people go to ask for special prayers like having a child (apparently).
The park was nice as well...it used to be a lake and was then filled in to make it a park. In the middle, however, there is a temple surrounded by a moat. It was really, really, really, hot at this point, so I didn’t really appreciate this stop! It was nice, but a little too warm to enjoy!
And now, I am killing time in order to go to bed at a more normal hour. It seems like this time change has been easier than just going to Europe because it is the complete opposite hours and not only a shift in the time. Beats me, really – but so far so good!
Tomorrow morning we have a yoga class and then a free morning before the session starts.

Night!
-AJ

February 13-15

February 13-15, 2009
You’ll never guess where I am at the moment! Nope, not India, yet! I am sitting in seat 17B. That would be in business class, in the chairs that turn into beds! For some strange reason, Allison and I both got upgraded when we boarded! Talk about perfect timing for such an event! I was so tired, because I didn’t sleep much flying from Toronto to London because the hours weren’t really conducive to it! However, after waiting in the Heathrow airport for 4 hours, wandering from shop to shop in attempts to stay awake, getting a bed to sleep in en route to Mumbai has been totally awesome.
On Friday after I left work, I walked up to the hotel on campus to catch the shuttle bus. It was kind of random because one was just leaving, even though I was quite early...so I ran to go get it. Always a nice way to start things off! What actually happened was that there were too many people for the regularly scheduled bus, so they had to put on an extra one. In any case, I got to the airport quite early. It was probably a good thing, however, because security was interesting because they seemed to have the metal detectors up quite high and were having fun searching pretty much everyone. It appeared as though they were being evaluated; there were men with clipboards and red lanyards everywhere. I didn’t actually get beeped, but a lot of people did!
I ate my lunch in the sun/fog. It was kind of a weird day in Edmonton, actually. A lot of flights had been delyed because of the weather. Ours was only 15 minutes delayed, however. I met Caroline and Scott while waiting at the gate. It was nice to have finally met all members of the group at this point! I have already met Allison F because she lives in Victoria. So, when I was there last summer I met up with her.
The flight to Toronto was uneventful. We got free alcohol due to the 15 minute delay! I am learning to take advantage of these situations – thankfully I am drinking now!! It took me the entire flight to drink the little bottle of white wine I got, but I did!!
Allison arrived in Toronto earlier in the day and was kind enough to meet us at the airport. We called for the shuttle bus and called Melissa to confirm plans for Saturday morning. Melissa is the other trip participant from Toronto that was going to be coming with us, but was unable to due to work. I believe she is going in the fall instead.
That all went well. Upon arrival at the hotel, we managed to use their wireless to get seats for the remaining flights. That was a definite bonus. Then, it was bed because it was late – ummmm 2am, about – and we were supposed to be downtown at 10am! ( Nice beds in the hotel...it was wonderful)
We had pretty much the entire day in Toronto because we only had to be at the airport at 3pm ish. We ended up not meeting Melissa at all because she lives about 40 minutes from the airport and even longer from downtown, so she suggested that we see Toronto instead of doing breakfast. I think we all appreciated that, for the walking alone, if nothing else!
The buses and subways were simple to get downtown, but it was so cold. No gloves or hat – only a microfleece and the red Girl Guide windbreaker thing. I was absolutely hypothermic for the entire day. It took until about an hour into the flight for me to finally thaw out. In any case, we went down to Bloore and Yonge streets (if that is, in fact, how you spell them!) and wandered around through all of the trendy parts of Toronto. We saw the U of T campus, walked all the way down to Front street and saw the CBC and Much Music studios. We went to the bottom of the CN tower, but didn’t bother going up because all of us girls have already gone up, and Scott didn’t really seem to care much. We then made our way to the St Lawrence Market. It was probably the best part. It seemed as though the entire city of Toronto was inside, but they had some neat stuff. If I hadn’t been en route to India, I would have probably bought this really nice wool jacket thing...it just didn’t make any sense to haul it all the way to India and back!
We got through security and everything no problem. You could most definitely tell that it was reading week from looking at the airport demographics! There were many groups in matching shirts and already drinking! I wondered what Kendra was up to in the Calgary airport!! J
As I mentioned before, I didn’t do too much sleeping between Toronto and London because it was actually a pretty short flight – less than 7 hours! I was sitting next to an armrest hog too, which was annoying....but I lived. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone read a newspaper quite so thoroughly before! Yah, no highlights I can think of from that flight to speak of!!
We had a good four hours in Heathrow before getting on our last flight. Allison and I walked the entire time. I refused to sit down, because the last flight was going to be 8.5 hours and I didn’t want to fall asleep before I got on!! There wasn’t really any exciting shopping to do, however because it was just a tad expensive. I (asked) took a picture of a nice dress that I may try to have a knock-off made in India, however! Seemed like 200£ was just a little nuts to pay for a dress! We will see!!
Yah, so now I am sitting/lounging in the business/first class area! It is sooooo great! I don’t know how I will go back to the economy seats after this, not going to lie! We went back to go say “hi” to Caroline and Scott and it sure looked cosy back there! I don’t want to hope too much, but it would sure be nice to have this happen again on the way home! Totally worth it – only for the sleeping, though. The food sucks. Seems like normal food is easier to replicate on a plane than fancy food!
This flight lands in another two hours or so. Then, we will (hopefully) have someone at the airport to meet us and take us to Pune. So, I still have another 4 hours of driving on Indian roads to get through before the travels are over for a bit! Pune is actually only about 150Km away from Mumbai, but because of the shape of their roads, it takes 4 hours! Should be interesting!!!
Later!

I'm here!

This is short because I only just found an internet cafe and don't have my computer here or anything! It is warm and nice here...and the photo opportunities are amazing! It is tough to know if I am allowed to be taking pictures or not sometimes, but at the moment that is the biggest problem, so that is a good thing!

I have a group of English GG waiting outside of the cafe for me, so that is it for now. I'll have to make it back here later to update more about the craziness of 20h of flying and all that good stuff!!

Later!

India Trip 2009

I have just over 48 hours until I leave for India...and now that my plumbing issues have been resolved, I am actually starting to get excited. It also helps that I actually finalized my packing situation: Everything fits into my 30L pack and one carry-on. I will never be able to replicate this intense packing system ever again!

For now, however, I really need to sleep.

Night!