Namaste from Delhi! I’m home now after the most wonderful 7 day excursion and elated (yet a bit sad now) from a superb albeit brief three-day visit from my very own pita-ji (father)! It would be hard to describe either set of events in full detail but suffice it to say that I am supremely happy and thoroughly worn out.

I believe a brief description of excursion is in order, although my hundreds (yes, hundreds) of pictures taken on my journey will do more poetic/visual justice than any old blog posting. Seven days of travel took us through the states of Madhya Pradesh as well as Uttar Pradesh, south and south east of Delhi, respectively. We traversed through our archeological site visits in semi-chronological order, first stopping in Gwalior in order to see the spectacular fort which perches precariously atop an extremely high plateau. Our second stop had us arriving in Orchha, but with a brief layover in Datia in order to see the Escher-esque fort there (Escher in the sense that the 12^th century architects designed it so that the entirety of the complex structure can never be pictured in a single frame), I should say that this may have been my favorite stop. Orchha was our next picturesque locale, featuring forts, palaces and temples from the 12^th and 13^th centuries. I must say, however that one of the highlights of our time in Orchha was our quirky hotel, built during the Raj next to the Betwa River and featuring a beautiful garden as well as a pool (!). Next we drove to Khajuraho, famous for its nearly innumerable 8^th century temples (at its height there were probably 90+ temples, unfortunately only about 20 have withstood the often unbearable weather). Unfortunately Khajuraho has now gained a tourist reputation because of its “naughty” temples, which depict young lovers in quite extravagant, erotic poses. Interestingly, the extreme minority of temple images depict such scenes (in fact, the inclusion of these images suggests a darker past to the temples, sorts of Tantric elements which were extremely marginalized in the contemporary society), whilst the majority feature intricately carved human figures as well as anthropomorphized god figures (SAT word of the day). Khajuraho lead us to Agra and the Taj Mahal (at sunrise). Words cannot describe my experience there, but hopefully my pictures will. Scampering around Agra we visited the tomb of Akbar as well as the extraordinarily lovely tomb which Nur Jahan (a Mughal empress) built for her parents (more on Nur Jahan soon as I will be researching her for my Independent Study Project). From Agra we drove the short distance to Bharatpur in order to visit the incredible bird sanctuary and then back to Fatepur Sikri to tour the Mughal city complex built entirely from red sandstone. Needless to say, I had an astounding and awe-inspiring few days.

Visiting with my father in his old stomping grounds was so wonderful. He was lucky enough to find a bed and breakfast in his old neighborhood, Defense Colony, which conveniently enough, is located right across the highway from my own neighborhood. We were even able to find his first house in Delhi, which stands exactly as he remembers it. It was a really fantastic experience being able introduce my father to my host family and sharing a few meals with one another. I think I can certainly speak for both parties and say that they were sufficiently taken with one another. I wish he could’ve stayed for a least another week, but he is at least looking forward to an exciting business trip in Thailand and Cambodia, so I can only be a little sad.

I am looking forward to a family filled, celebratory week, as the holiday of Diwali arrives on Saturday. A pleasant mix of Christmas and New Years, Diwali presents a time for families to gather, eat, and look towards the successes which the coming months will offer. I must say, I cannot wait for all the special foods which we are preparing as well as the mehendi (henna) which we are getting in the market tomorrow evening. I will be sure to send holiday cheer and love from everyone at home and will take many pictures of this firecracker-filled holiday (I’ve got my ear plugs handy).

Sending all my love, I miss you all dearly,

Anna

12:11 am  •  14 October 2009

Two posts in a day?! Better believe it. Here are a few photos of my neighborhood, Lajpat Nagar.

4:53 am  •  1 October 2009

Happy Virawar (Thursday)! I hope this post finds everyone well and enjoying the lovely weather in the states (I won’t tell you the temperature here). Here are a few photos from the Hindu holiday Dushera which is a celebration of the final event of the epic,  Ramayana. The effigies you see in the photos are the evil demon/king Ravan and his three brothers who are responsible for kidnapping the beautiful Sita (wife of lord Ram). The holiday celebrates the destruction of Ravan by the monkey/human form Hanuman, a much beloved character in Hindu mythology. It’s hard to describe the evening, which featured the creation and destruction of the effigies (which were filled with firecrackers and bottle rockets), but excitement is the closest I’ve gotten thus far. I’m heading out for a week long excursion Saturday morning but will be sure to take plenty of pictures and collect memories to share once I return.

12:30 am  •  1 October 2009

This title is deliberately misleading, as I am rarely hungry in India, a country which seems to take nearly as much pride in its cuisine as it does its films. Having finished yet another sumptuous and sleep-inducing lunch at the program center, the topic of food in India is fresh in my mind (and stomach).

While the most common denominator of an Indian meal is without doubt roti (in hindi, bread, of any form) the second most common denominator for myself is certainly the emotion of surprise. While the Indian food I’ve had in restaurants in the US can certainly be delicious it is not representative of the day-to-day diets of many North Indians. Important to consider are the religious characteristics which effect many people’s daily diets. For example, in Delhi, a city with an extremely vast Hindu majority, serving or selling beef is illegal. Additionally, while pork is available, in Muslim-majority areas, like Old Delhi, pork is nearly impossible to find. I’ll give you a typical day of meals as an example (typical for my homestay, I should say):

Breakfast is very light, consisting of toast with butter (thank you England), cornflakes with hot milk (milk is often not pasteurized, so it must be boiled for a solid ten minutes), and chai.

Lunch, at least for us students, is certainly the heaviest meal of the day. I should say that we are incredibly spoiled at the program center, our cook, Kuldeep, is excellent and never bores us. For example, today we had a greek salad, a fruit salad, a light yoghurt sauce, a paneer (cheese) salad dish (mixed with veggies), butter chicken, dal makhni (a creamy brown lentil dish featuring cilantro) and chawal (rice). We are rarely failed by dessert, whether it is fresh mango in vanilla icecream, brownies or jalebi (an intensely sweet, orange, funnel-cake resembling dish).

Dinner generally consists of two dishes, one dal and one sabzi (vegetable) based. The dal is more soupy and eaten with chapati (a type of roti, which is wheat flour based, rolled and quickly fired over a gas range, until it puffs with air). The vegetable dish varies, though is commonly based with aloo (potato) or okra, known as ladies fingers in India (thanks again England). The dishes, while cooked with curry aren’t sauce based, at least for the time being. Weather heavily effects diet currently, as during a 95 degree evening, the last thing one wants to be doing is consuming a heavy cream based curry, let alone think about slaving for 3 hours to prepare said curry.

I mention surprise as a common thread of my experience with food here not as a means to appear overly dramatic or ungrateful, but simply because sometimes, the food is very unexpected. Take for example the breakfast sandwich my host mother prepared this morning. One slice of buttered bread and one spread with a mayo-esque substance surrounding sliced tomato and cucumber sprinkled with salt and pepper, doused in a sweet yet spicy ketchup-like sauce, and then grilled. It appears that the term sandwich has been lost in translation in India, the term “breakfast sandwich” in particular. Of course I finished it (thanks Mom!) and decided that one morning I’d make them all pancakes.

I hope everyone is well and the thought of the weekend is an exciting prospect for all. I’ve written so many words already, so I’ll finish up and end this blog with just one more. The Hindi word for the day: chakahari (vegetarian).

6:20 am  •  18 September 2009

The Golden Temple (and me!)

5:43 am  •  16 September 2009

Hello all! I promise I’m alive and well and that my internet absence is due to exciting events and travels and not a lack of desire to share my experiences with everyone. With that said,

I’m back at school for a full week after a brief but extremely memorable visit to Amritsar, the capital city of the Indian state of Punjab. While known for its incredibly rich (we’re talking BUTTER) and delicious cuisine, its main attraction is without doubt the Harmandir Sahib or Golden Temple. The (literally) shining beacon of the Sikh (pronounced sick) faith serves not only as a place of daily worship for local followers but also as a pilgrimage site, a short-term home for wayward travelers and a communal kitchen capable of feeding the thousands of visitors the gurdwara (a place of worship for Sikh followers) receives daily. I usually find that visiting any site, religious or non, with such a vast and at times stormy history is an extremely emotional adventure for myself, and the same was certainly true for visiting the Harmandir Sahib.

In addition to visiting the Golden Temple our group was extremely privileged to be invited to Khalsa College to hear a lecture on the basic tenents of Sikkism. An aside, though one I feel particularly proud to share: our group of 14 students is quite diverse in terms of institutions represented (Ellie and I being the only pair of students from the same school) and during the introduction to our lecturer, a Khalsa college official welcomed the “dignitaries from various institutions in the United States including Skidmore and The College of William and Mary”. I nearly jumped out of my seat with a “Go Tribe!” exclamation. That being said, the lecture was informative and stressed the incredible openness which Sikkism holds as one of its most fundamental tenents. Without doubt, the highlight of our visit to the college came after the lecture, when we were led into their main hall and presented with two folk dances and a folk song, all performed by current students (read between the lines: BHANGRA!). Words in a blog post cannot describe the difficulty which I had in my attempts to stay respectfully seated during the dance. I had a perma-grin for the rest of the evening and somehow managed to contain myself from attempting to stage a bhangra dance party on the bus on our way out. Our evening ended with a visit to the Indo-Pakistan border in order to watch the changing of the guard. The predominately pomp filled fest was another reminder of the remants which you can find of British political culture in India and was at times quite silly, but an undertone of real national pride and identity certainly edged its way over the more antiquarian aspects.

Well I hope I’ve been brief yet descriptive enough. If my rambles aren’t clear please email! I would love to hear from people and get updates in turn! India is wonderful but my heart of course lies in Virginia (and Fla. and Rhode Island and Argentina and Ithaca, etc.) with all of you. Look forward to pictures soon! This week is going to be another busy one but luckily one with much to look forward to, including Bollywood dance classes and morning yoga!

Sending my love,

Anna

4:25 am  •  15 September 2009

Hello from Delhi! Quick computer break at school before lunch on the roof (!) and shopping for more appropriate, traditional Indian suits this afternoon. Delhi is wonderful and wonderfully hot. Our program house (aka school) is located in South Delhi, in Lado Sarai (yes, google maps works) and is in an odd neighborhood which contains such juxtapositions as architects offices and fashion designers in flats above  tire shops and chemists (shops akin to CVS). Currently we’re all living in Sri Aurobindo Ashram in south Delhi and will be moving into our homestays on Monday. My family lives in the densely populated neighborhood of Lajpat Nagar which features textiles shops and even a coffee shop (!). I am thinking of you all constantly and wishing I could share every moment. More is certainly to come but until then, the hindi word for the day, Dhanyavad. Or thanks!

3:02 am  •  3 September 2009

Today! I have a 15 hour plane ride. I will be sure to spend at least 8 minutes thinking of each of you (well that and learning Hindi).

Love to all!

11:04 am  •  30 August 2009

Visualization of current level of excitement

5:01 pm  •  16 August 2009

On the bookshelf facing my bed is a book which title reads, “India File”. Staring me down all summer, its title serves as a constant reminder not only of the trip I will embark on in 19 days, but the somehow former me which purchased the book early in my freshman year of college. The Bob Marley calendar hanging in my room is firmly tacked to the month of July, I haven’t yet found the courage to flip the page to the month of August (or maybe I’m just reveling in the fact that my birthday month proves me no longer a teenager). To cut to the chase,

I will be studying abroad in the both enormously populated and ever-sprawling city of Delhi, India. I’ll arrive in the city on August 31st and spend the next three and a half months living, learning and speaking (hindi eventually, I hope!) with 20 other students from the states and the 15.9 million or so residents of Delhi. Our first six weeks in the city will include intensive hindi study and national identity coursework while residing with a local family. In addition to traditional classwork we’ll be traveling to various historical and religious sites in the north and northeast. I wont deny that my inner nerd jumps with excitement at the thought of the final month and a half of the program which allows me to travel through India researching an independent study project of my own design (I’ll leave an entire blog post to its subject once I have more concrete details).

With so little time left before I leave my trip has started to feel increasingly a reality instead of a long imagined and desired dream. While I know I will long for the familiar faces, classrooms and less extreme environs of Williamsburg and William and Mary itself I am decidely excited about the fall. I will attempt to update this blog (which, by the way, is thanks to Tom MacWright and his incredible design skills) as often as possible and would strongly encourage and appreciate suggestions of topics/events/ideas about which I could blog or consider (amyoung11@gmail). Thanks in advance for reading, I can’t tell you how much it will mean for me to be able to share my experiences with you all.

4:56 pm  •  16 August 2009