September 17, 2010

Friday September 17, our group went on another Cities of Delhi field trip. This time it was to Shajahanabad, Old Delhi. This was my fourth time, and even though I have been here four times I love Old Delhi. I love the business of the city and the fact that there are religious sites for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Jains and probably other religions. Me, Everly, Harold, and Karissa took the Metro while the rest of the group took taxis. I love taking the metro because I have been on subways and metros in D.C. and New York so taking the metro wasn't new for me. We walked around for a little bit and then we met our group. We walked around and had really good food. The aloo puri was so good but nothing beat the jalebi which was amazing. I love jalebi and having it for breakfast made it all the better. The street where we ate has many of the dhaba which are fast food stands. There are all over India and I like eating at them more than restaurants because you can usually get real spicy food for a good price.

After eating breakfast we went to a Jain temple. It was small but really pretty and peaceful. I've been to a Jain temple in Rajasthan but that was much bigger and not in the middle of a city. After the Jain temple we went to a man's house who lives in a haveli that goes back 200 years. An haveli would have a big courtyard surrounded on four sides by spacious rooms and often another walled courtyard around the exterior as well. The man was nice of us to show us his haveli. Our teacher has taken past students to his house. We tried flying one of our kites however there wasn't much wind. Many houses in Old Delhi are so close together that you can jump from one rooftop to the next. Many children play cricket on the rooftops and fly kites. We had tea at his house and he talked about the house and his family.

After that we looked around and some people got parathas, which are unleavened flat-breads made by pan frying whole-weat flour. They are usually stuffed with some kind of vegetables like potatoes or onions. They are good and usually served for breakfast. After that we went to the spice market. We went on the roof overlooking the Fatehpuri Masjid so we could see the Spice Market better as well as other parts of Old Delhi. We could see Chandni Chowk which is the main bazaar in Old Delhi. After spending some time on the roof we went home. I think I am going to do my Cities of Delhi final assignment on Old Delhi because I really like the area.