Just a quick note: people keep mistaking me for a teenager!!! How great is that!?!? The Buddhist priest thought I was Vineeta's students. Ha! Next time I'm not going to correct them... yes i'm 16 :)

January 29, 2008

We left Dehli today... off to Benaras. Benaras is a holy city for Hindus. Apparently Benaras is the world's oldest living city. I haven't been to the holy Hindu sites yet, but I did go to Saranath. Saranath is where Buddha gave his first sermon after enlightenment... so it's a holy site for Buddhists. We met the head Buddhist priest for the monastery. Buddhists are so peaceful, this man seemed like he's never been angry a day in his life. The priest is from a village in Sri Lanka where each family gives away one of their children to the Buddhist temple. He left his home when he was 8 years old. 

The priest gave us a tour of the temple, then took us to the front altar. We stood in front of the filled temple and were blessed by the priest. The priest introduced us the room (~150 people) devotees. I was so honored and so not deserving of this type of introduction. I wasn't sure what to do... the room was full of Sri Lankans that were on a pilgrimage to Saranath to listen to this priest. The people sitting on the floor looked so poor, I wonder how they travelled that long distance. This was one of those moments I will always talk about.

Benaras is full of tourists by the way. In Saranath we saw many Japanese, Tibetans, and Chinese people. In the main areas you see people of all nationalities... world's oldest living city. Everyone is trying to make sense of the madness. There are so many people, and they are all on the go... I just wonder where they are going...

On another note: I'm currently sick :( and trying to recover quickly. We are going to the Bihar in two days. I need to have my health up and ready fast!!!!

January 28th, 2008

We spent all of yesterday roadtripping back to Dehli. The traffic can get pretty bad on parts of the road. I do not have much to add, because I slept almost the entire time! I must say the people that I have met at this conference are the most amazing people. They are so accomplished and humble... that's a rare combination. I was actually sad saying bye to them. Hopefully we will keep in touch. We had a photographer with us on the entire journey... I hope I get digital images of the photos so I can download them here. I have been pretty unsuccessful at downloading photos on this blog, hopefully things will change when I get constant internet connection.
At the end of the night, four of us were having dinner at a restaurant in the hotel, and we ran into Rev. Jesse Jackson :) What are the chances? He's here to give a speech for Gandhi's death anniversary!
So the real work begins today! We'll be heading over to Varanasi in about two hours...

The Elephant and the Camel

Today we toured Jaipur, the Pink City. In the Jaipur/Rajasthani culture pink is the color for riches. The Maharaja at the time painted the entire city pink for this reason. When India won Independence the government took over the palaces, so the Maharaja emptied these massive palaces right before independence day. These palaces are pretty amazing. They remind me a lot of the Alhambra in Spain and the Red Fort in Agra. Very similar. You know how palaces go, you see one, you've seen them all :)

At some point the Maharaja wanted to build a summer home for his family, so he dug out a lake and built a little palace that's over the water. This lake was built 200 years ago, it puts Lake Elizabeth to shame... I guess most lakes put Lake Elizabeth to shame... but really!! This lake is massive. I can't imagine the amount of man power it took. No machinery, hundreds of men and women with shovels...

The Pink City probably shouldn't be pink, I must say. The poverty here is pretty bad. I haven't seen anyone that looks even semi-middle class. The city is really dusty and old. All the people have dusty hair and such ominous stares. It's actually a spooky place. The city is hundreds of years old, you can feel the age here. It smells very very old. There are 2 million people that live in this small city... I wonder what they all do. There are parts of this city that remind me of Bihar, so out of touch from the rest of the world. When we were driving over here, there was an elephant on the road next to our bus... that's never happened to me in California :)

Speaking of elephants... Did you know the Siwan district of Bihar is where most of the elephants of Jaipur came from... most of the elephant drivers are also from there... I took an elephant ride up to the Amber Fort. The driver filled me in on the who's who of elephants...

The Jaipur Tour is part of the NRI society event... I've met the coolest people through this event. It's great to meet Indian people from all the continents of the world.

Oh I also took a camel ride today :) The order of the day was: camel ride, elephant ride, palace #1, palace #2, and dinner with the governor. Can't say I ever had a day like that in California...

Vineeta next to the Jaipur dolls.

Day 2

Today was a very exciting day. In the morning we got to see the India Republic Day Parade. This parade was the most spectacular event I have ever seen. I guess you guys are reading about how Nicolas Swarkowsky was in India for the event... one-fourth of France's people followed him out here. In the section we were sitting in there were more French people than Indian people. I didn't see Swarkowsky, but I did see his Mercedes limo pass through in the parade. 

There was a float for all the states of India. These floats were AMAZING! Bihar's had a Buddhist theme. The parade was also a display of India's army's strength. They had tanks, missiles launchers, fighter jets, and lots of army personnel. That part of the parade was interesting. Vineeta and I were trying to think of the American equivalent... I don't think America has something like this? The helicopters that flew overhead shot marigolds on the crowd. There were also elephants in the parade!!!! Sorry folks, no cameras allowed. I didn't get a single picture of the amazing ceremony. 

There were thousands and thousands of people at this event. Walking back to our tourist bus was an experience. Imagine the India Day Parade in Fremont for miles and miles: that's India. The sheer amount of people everywhere is mind boggling. I'm amazed at how small Indians from India are. They are the tiniest people. At one point I was walking next to a group of women. All of the women were wearing saris and sweaters, and had their head covered. They had really parched skin and very large nose rings. I was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. I just wanted to know what was happening in their day, today. I saw a couple of them double take at me. One of them said I was "foreign"... :)

Right now I'm in Jaipur. We're going to be sightseeing for the next two days. I'm getting ready to pass out, here!

I'll have pics tomorrow, when I can take my camera. I was so excited to videotape the parade... The amount of army personnel roaming around Dehli is actually scary. There are army guards on every corner standing with huge rifles. It doesn't really make you feel safe... 

Day 1

So we just finished Day 1. I gotta say travelling to India is... taxing. You spend about 24 hours in airports/airplanes... and as we all have experienced sitting on a plane for 10 hour stretches is exhausting. Getting through customs at the airport was another "fun" moment: 1 hour. Catching a a prepaid taxi was another ordeal: another hour... We got to the Ashoka Hotel at 4:30 AM... Safe and not sound.

Vineeta won the Hind Rattan Award from the NRI Welfare Society - 27th International Congress of NRIs. She won the award for her outstanding services, achievements and contributions in Neurology. 

This NRI event is actually a pretty big deal, I was not expecting that. There are about 400 NRI's from all over the world. It is amazing. We've met people from everywhere. Vineeta gave a great speech about Rural Self Reliance. She talked about her school as the model. The speech generated a lot of interest. People were coming up to us the entire night, asking questions.

I should mention that I feel asleep during some of the boring speeches. hahaah! That is so me. It was the jet lag ;)

So tomorrow is the India Day Parade and road tripping to Jaipur. 

My pictures are not downloading. I'll upload to my picasa!

I'm leaving for India in a couple of hours. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. I can't believe the amount of clothing and gift people have given me to give away. I am carrying two suitcases worth of gifts! That's amazing. Next year I will think about doing a clothing drive before I leave. In my personal suitcase I am bringing: five salwaar kameezes, two saris, and a pair of pants. This is going to be interesting :)

This blog will be about my 2008 India trip. The trip will cover visiting schools and holding a health camp in different areas of Bihar. I'll be traveling with Vineeta Singh. I will try my best to update this blog daily with pictures and stories.

Cheers!