I am writing this from India, I am quite tired as I went straight from NLDC to my flight to a mini bus to a wedding. I am finally get a chance to sleep, but am still working on getting internet access (I can do offline work with my laptop)
(I will post about NLDC in the other blog)
I had 2 hours to pack & thus don't have everything with me, such as a digital camera (so there won't be pictures for a little bit)
Packing does not take too long, but I was more concerned with having my documentation & my AIESEC things
The flight went from Toronto, Canada to Newark, New Jersey to Delhi, India
My first flight was fine since it was quick, I was sitting next to this little asian girl (couldn't be more than 5) who started copying me by pretending to read the magazine & flipping pages when I did. I have never taken a plane to the US before so it was interesting being on the American side of the airport, the best part was the moving walkways. I called some people from the airport as I waited to board (there was no disposable cameras available)
Close to when I landed, they made an announcement about my flight, so I ran towards my the gate, it was on the other side of the terminal so it was a far run, I got there & all the did was check to see if I had a visa & then asked me to wait to board, there was NO rush as they were checking people up until the time of boarding. Anyways, so I got my seat, there were SO many people on the flight, I sat beside no one & this american girl who knew english! I actually wanted to watch an Indian movie on the flight & started to but it was horrible, I don't know the name of it but it was about a shy girl who goes to a party, sees some nice dancing, one of the dancers get pregnate & the shy girl learns how to dance form the other one, that's all I saw because it was SO bad! So I was watching Glory Road instead but it wasn't a clear picture, so I slept. In flight food wasn't great, but wasn't too bad either, it was a mix of things you could get in America & India. I slept for most of the flight. Something I found interesting was waiting to take off & waiting to land, I don't get how you could keep circling the airport as opposed to taking off at different altitudes, but then again there are A LOT of flights.
When I landed I went straight to business, wanted to get my bags & then to the next step of the journey. I waited a while for the bag, I ended up only bringing 2 of the 3 shown in the picture on the previous post. When all the bags were out & I still didn't see I started getting worried about it being lost, but then I saw it in this other pile. The american girl (whose name I don't remember) went ahead even though we were going on the same bus (btw, yes I did talk about AIESEC with her). When trying to go through security clearance I was asked to put my bag through the scanner, it was fine, but no one else was asked to have their bags scanned. Any way, I got out of security clearance & the wave of heat hit me, it was about 35 degress, which is supposedly cool, there were also SO many people around, all speaking a language which I understand but can only speak to a certain point. So I had to call my dad, this was a call to another city, so I found the place where I could make the call, we talked for about a minute, I had some rupees on me, the call cost about 10 rupees ($1 CAD = 37 Indian rupees)
I had to get more rupees & then get on the bus. So I got $100 USD worth of rupees ($1 USD = 44 Indian rupees) & then went to a place which may have been where I needed to go (but wasn't!) again I was surprised by the number of people & the heat, I wasn't too surprised by the fact that there were armed people there. So someone asked me if I wanted a taxi & I explained how I had a bus ticket, that person took me to where I needed to be. I took a jeep to the bus. In the jeep was another american who spoke english, but this time it was a man who was probably in his thirties. Since we were both running on EST we talked about a whole bunch of things from the three countries (Canada, US, India) to what we are doing, I slept a little on the way. We stopped for snacks on the way, it was a 7 hour bus ride, filled with random stops, with about 15 passengers. I got a 1 litre bottle of water & a bag of chips (indian masala flavour) for 40 rupees. The guy from america got off a stop or so before mine so when I got off I wasn't too sure if it was my stop. I got off & didn't see my dad so I asked to use a phone (good thing I knew a little hindi/punjabi) I was picked up by my uncle & rode on a scooter, my bags came on a rikshaw.
So, I got to my uncles place & talked to my aunt & uncle, eventually my dad got home & then I tried to sleep but it was already time to get ready for the wedding. We did some shopping & I can't believe the low prices, i'm seriously thinking about doing all my shopping from here. This is also where I saw the crowded places however still people driving cars/scooters/bikes through the small streets as well as the poor living condition. I've done A LOT of reflecting on this & other things already & will continue to do so but i've also realized that the reflection I do is mostly negative when I think about myself (I don't think about things i've done well or my strengths) I guess it's harder to believe things when they are just words or when they are describing something in the past. My grandfather would tell me about times when we had so little that he couldn't afford to get himself new shoes. Things haven't gotten much better for some of the family who i've visited, this has really made me think about sustainable development & the role corporations & governments should play. It's interesting how those 2 plus religion play the biggest role in society. I recently went to a couple of temples & thought it was somewhat hypocritical of me just being there. I know more then I thought I did of my religion, but do not consider myself to be too religious, I practice hinduism to some degree, but believe more in the underlying principles & values as opposed to the things that are on the surface. I am not one to pray much, I think whoever you are praying to would probably already know your thoughts/desires before you repreat them & I also see them being quite selfish at times.
Anyways, the wedding was good but went late. I am surprised with how much I have adjusted to the heat, but am still shocked at the poverty & the amount of insects. Being on the guys side is totally more fun than being on the girls side. We had to do a lot of walking/dancing, one of the first songs that was played was Kajra Re, which made me think of when Sheryl started singing it on campus recently. There was sadly no elephant at the wedding. The wedding lasted until about 4am & was quite traditional. I have a little cold, but no one understands why I wouldn't want the A/C so high.
I went around Punjab quite a bit, visiting family/friends of my dad, it was pretty much the same thing at each household, we get there, sometimes they recognize my dad, my dad says who I am, people say how my face has gotten so skinny (in 17 yrs, all they notice is a skinner face??? i'm a little taller than I use to be!) we are given (not offered) something to drink, & then we leave despite requests to stay for a meal. Sometimes people try to give money when we leave, I try not to accept, sometimes I end up having it, it is somewhere between 100 & 500 rupees. The really sad thing about Jalandhar is that not only was I born there (I saw the hospital) but I still have family/friends living there. It is VERY crowded, very dusty, there are SO many stray dogs & even they are dying of hunger. It really made me think of impact.
The next part of my trip was in Chandigarh or Ambola, both of which were really nice cities with really nice houses (parts of the cities also had poverty conditions) where I stayed was definately with family in India which are part of the middle upper class or upper class. It felt very odd to let a servant do things for me. Oh, by the way, I have a driver who takes me where I need to go when I need to go. It is SO different being "rich" (in quotations because you can define rich in many ways, right now I mean financially) Firstly, & thankfully, proper shower system! I'm not even going to begin to describe how it's like going into the bathroom, seeing a cockaroach the size of your fist & then having to shower with cold water then comes out if/when it feels like it (btw, don't mess with things that can survive a nuclear attack) I also found that the richer people all the lazier they are. This came to my favour in terms of meals as we went out & I finally got to eat some meat! I saw 3 of the country clubs they have here, what's nice about them is not only the service but that the prices are low!
By now a lot of things have been forgotten but I have done A LOT of reflecting on everything & am definately having a life changing experience
