Canada?

Well, so much for the reading packet. I lied there is one boy in our small group of 11 pseudo-Indians. But alas he fits right into the little colony of Americans. I have been here approximately a week and two days, but in all honesty it feels like it’s been a month. And I think I’m comfortable in saying that that’s a good thing, the feeling I mean. So much has happened since I stepped off the plane into the ganja/dust-filled Indian air. I guess I’ll try to pick out a few things to say and comment on so this blog biz doesn’t get too long and boring.

I say India! You say…Young Women’s Christian Association? Leave it to the American program to find the YWCA, in a country where 82% is Hindi, 12% is Muslim and finally a whoping 2% is Christian (hey who said this blog can’t be a little educational? the rest is other). This is where we ended up staying for our first two nights in Delhi before traveling to what would be our home for the next 2 months, Jaipur. It was a decent place, nothing special or extraordinary. Next to our beloved YWCA, where you could enroll in ‘soft toy stuffing,’ and ‘gift wrapping,’ classes among other assortments of random activities, was a Sikh temple. For those of you who may not know a Sikhism is a religion, look it up it’s pretty cool. It was absolutely beautiful. Anywho… I felt like such a tourist. We’re supposed to take our shoes off? Where? Will a boy steal them like in the movies I’ve seen? Is this all some sort of scam to take my shoes? Finally a guy saw our wandering selves (Gretchen, Claire and Anne) looking confused and led us to a place where we could place our shoes. We dipped our feet in the water before entering. Apparently this is supposed to help keep the temple ‘clean’ and to respect the religion. However, after hearing about 10,000 people visit that temple every day meaning 20,000 dusty, cracked, and probably some putrid feet have been ‘dipped’ in that water did nothing to comfort me. But it’s India right? So dipped I did. And the dipping was totally worth it.

The temple was so beautiful and serene. The walls and floor were made of white marble, swirled with silver-gray. I truly did feel at peace.

As we were gazing and strolling an old man squatting on a rolled up shredded red carpet motioned for us to come over. “Where are you from,” he asked. Having previous bad experiences with being known as an American from Euro-trip experiences, I said, “Canadian.”

“Ooooo Canada is nice place,” he said.

“Yep, yep. Sure is.” And we continued walking in the peaceful Indian air night. We rounded the large pool of water that centered the temple and saw the self-claimed ‘night watchmen,’ with our friend Anne but this time he was pointing at us.

“Cheater! Cheater! You are a cheater,” he exclaimed. Confused, we walked up the steps toward Anne. “You from America, not Canada. You cheater.” Anne spilled the beans. “Cheater, cheater, cheater.”

“I am from Canada. My friends are from America, but not me. I am from Canada.” I continued to persist that I was NOT lying in order to save my dignity (if I had any at that point). After much denial of my ‘American-hood,’ I gave in. My lie, that didn’t even matter (because- hey! people actually like Americans here), was foiled. Embarrassment for my lie and myself caught on, and my comfort and serenity in the temple quickly left my body. Welcome to India.

Another day in Delhi and we were off to Jaipur, the ‘Pink City.’ The population is about 2.5 million compared to Delhi’s 13 million. Jaipur is called the Pink City because good ole king Maharaja Ram Singh back in 1867 ordered the city to be painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales as pink is a color of hospitality. The 5-hour car ride wasn’t too bad with frequent stops and lots of observing. The program directors had us stop at McDonald’s to eat where the menu is significantly different than America, in a good way I think. As you could guess…the idea of beef does not go over well here. I had a tasty veggie burger, quite yummy. I think they should add it to the American menu. As we passed the golden array of mustard and lentil fields swaying in the dusty, hot air, I had plenty of time to anticipate what my host family would be like.