August 6, 2010 & August 7, 2010

Friday, August 6- Four of us went to Shristhi which is an NGO that helps children learn English, Math, and other subjects. Most of the children are from the slums. The NGO has branches all over India. The one we went to in Delhi is near JNU. This one had three schools. The first one, which is the biggest had children from the ages of 6 and 12, the second one had children from the ages of four and six. The last one was in the actually slums. We got to see all three. The one in the slums was hardest for us to see but it was also nice to see the NGO reaching out to kids to teach them. The kids in the last school were very good at math, most of them were from West Bengal which means they did not know Hindi and had to learn Hindi as well as English and other subjects. After having lunch with German girl who worked at the NGO a previous year we left. I think I would like to work for the NGO. Three of us and another student, who was finishing her registration at JNU, went to Khan Market. We ate at a cafe and looked at a bookstore. We also looked at a dvd store and other stores.

Saturday August 7,

Eight of us went to Old Delhi. We were supposed to meet at the Metro Station however we did not know there were different gates for the Station we were meeting at, so we decided to meet at Chandni Chowk. After we all got together we went to the Red Fort or Lal Qila in Hindi. The Red Fort is in Shahjahanbad, which the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan named after himself. Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal built. Now, It is called Old Delhi since the part that the British built is called New Delhi. There was a lot of people at the Red Fort but it was really nice to see it. For Independence Day, August 15, they do a celebration at the Red Fort. After the Red Fort, we went to the Jama Masjid which is the biggest mosque in India. After the Jama Masjid we walked around the bazaar but since there were a lot of people and it was very hot we didn't stay long and decided to go back home.

August 3, 2010 & August 4, 2010

August 3- I did not have class until 11:30am so I was able to sleep in which was nice. However, the auto ride was an experience. The autowallah needed to stop and fill up which was fine since I left early to go the center (where most of my classes are). However, the gas station where he stopped at, was crowded because early that morning there was a murder so there was a lot of police officers and they had a lane blocked off. So instead of taking me about 35mins to get to the center it took me almost an hour. I think my India Since Independence class will be very interesting. We have three field trips, the first is to Nehru's house which is now a museum. Nehru was the first prime minster of India. The second field trip is to Indira Gandhi's house which is also a museum. Indira Gandhi was Nehru's daughter and a prime minister of India. I don't like her as much as I like Nehru. I like to call her the "Margaret Thatcher of India". The third trip is to the president's house. After India since Independence I went to a cafe near the center which had good food. After the cafe I went to my Cities of Delhi class which is about the history of Delhi. Almost every friday we go to different places of Dehli as well as one weekend we visit the Taj Mahal.

August 4- Today I did not have any classes so I was able to sleep in. I went to JNU to finish my registration, which took longer than I expected thanks to Indian bureaucracy. When I finally got back to my house I took a nap and then studied. Karissa and I went to the market and then we studied together. Tomorrow I have three classes. Friday some of us are going to an NGO. Then on Saturday a group of us are going to Chandni Chowk which is one of the biggest and busiest markets in Old Delhi. We are also going to visit Jama Masjid- which is the largest mosque in India and other places in Old Delhi.

August 1, 2010 & August 2, 2010

August 1- we had about three hours before our cars came. So five of us went to a Kali Temple and then to a Sikh Temple. I really liked going to the Sikh Temple because it was my first time and even though I didn't understand what they were saying it was nice to visit and the people were very nice. After the two temples we decided to go back to the hotel and rest before we had to leave. Most of us had a good South Indian meal, while some people went somewhere else to eat. Finally we got in the cars which would take us to the train which was three hours away. However, since it rained so much there was a mudslide which caused traffic. We were stuck in traffic for an hour, luckily we did not miss our train because we left almost 5 hours before our train left. We left so early because it takes three hours to get to Kalka where the train was. On the train most of us studied our Hindi and did our Hindi homework. I did most of my Hindi homework Thursday because i didn't want to do it on the train because i knew I would be too tired, so I helped other people. We got in the station around 10:15pm and I got back to my homestay around 11pm.

Monday August 2- In the morning we had two hours of Hindi. After Hindi me and Melody went to JNU to get our registration taking care of. We had a good, cheap lunch on the campus. However, because Indian bureaucracy is slow, we didn't finish, so we have to return. The good news is that it won't take long to finish and I know what class I am going to take. It's a politics class about modern India. The teacher is very renown and the time works well with my other classes at IES. I am also thinking of working for an NGO called Sshrishti. Each of the IES students get to pick an NGO that we want to work with, we get a credit and we can pick our hours. Sometime this week or next week me and two other students are going to visit Sshrishti to see if we like it and to work out hours that work with our schedules. After JNU, I came back to my homestay and studied until dinner.

July 31, 2010

Today we decided to walk to the IIAS which is the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. It's a research institute in Shimla. The walk took us about an hour but it was beautiful and it wasn't raining so we enjoyed the walk. The IIAS is home to many historic decisions regarding India's history. The Shimla Conference was held at the IIAS in 1945. The Simla Conference was about how India would rule after independence and how there would be equal representation for the Muslims and other minorities since India is mostly Hindu. Also, the decision to carve out Pakistan and East Pakistan from India was also decided at the IIAS in 1947. It was very moving for me to be in the same building that shaped India and to be in the same room as Gandhiji and Nehru (India's first prime minister). We had a very good lunch in the dinning hall of the IIAS. The IIAS is now the home of scholars who want to continue their work. One of our IES professor's wrote three books while she studied at IIAS and her son, another professor eventually wants to attend there as well when he is done getting his PHd in Economics.

After IIAS, some people went to the Hanuman Temple which was about a 40 minute walk in the mountains. They had to be careful because like all Hanuman Temples it's surrounded by monkeys, since Hanuman is the monkey god. I wanted to go but I heard stories of the monkeys attacking people, however the groups that went said it wasn't too bad. So, I think if I go to Shimla again, which I want to, I will go to the Hanuman Temple. I looked around with some people who didn't go to the Temple and I got a bag which I really like. After shopping we decided to relax and enjoy the view from our hotel. We ate dinner and relaxed in the hotel since it was raining.

July 30, 2010

We had to wake up early on Friday to catch the 7:00am train. It was a four hour train ride. It was not that packed so luckily the guy who was going to sit next to me was moved to an open seat so I was able to stretch out. I wanted to sleep but instead I made flash cards and studied my Hindi. When the train reached Kalka, we got off and went on two busses (there were 14 of us). The bus ride was three hours to Shimla. We stopped about an hour after we left Kalka to eat lunch. We ate a hotel which was used by the British. The food was great, as usual, and we had a pretty view of the Himalayas. We rested at the hotel for about an hour because we were enjoying the coolness. After another two hours, which most of slept through, we reached Shimla. It is beautiful. The town has hundreds of shops, as well as hotels, temples, restaurants. Then of course you have the Himalayas. Which are gorgeous, especially when there is no fog. We took two elevators and after the two elevators we walked a good distance to our hotel, which was very far up so we had a great view of the shops below. After we got settled in it was about 5pm, we went in groups to look around. My group wanted to look at the shops and then we ate dinner. When we were eating it was pouring rain so we waited for the rain to die down. All night it rained heavily.