Busy days in Delhi

On Saturday I arrived in New Delhi, India, to begin my volunteer program with Cross Cultural Solutions. I was excited to begin meeting the other volunteers and to switch out of tourist mode.

I was picked up at the airport by a CCS staff member, and when I climbed into the van I met the first other volunteer – Kathleen, a retired teach from, of all places, Portland. It turns out we live about two miles from each other, but had to travel all the way to India to meet.

The next two days were spent in a whirlwind of sightseeing and training. Mostly we saw sights I had already seen on my last trip to Delhi, but the Humayan Tomb was new to me, and beautiful. It actually was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, and apparently the only significant difference between them is their color.

We also visited the Lotus Temple, which I had been to before, but this time we went inside to attend a prayer ceremony that happens four times a day. The ceremony included two songs, which were hauntingly beautiful, especially given the temple’s unusual, echoing acoustics. The down side was having to walk there barefoot, over dirty and trash-filled sidewalks (you can't wear shoes inside, and the CCS folks didn't want our expensive shoes to be stolen).

Over the course of those two days, I also got to know all of the Dharamsala volunteers a bit, and many of the volunteers staying in Delhi as well. There were some great people in Delhi that we were sad to leave behind (including Kara, who took this photo of me, which I actually liked), but I was very pleased with the group of 10 going north. It’s a fun, intelligent and thoughtful group, ranging from a 17-year-old (who is wise beyond her years) to a grandmother.

Monday night we boarded a bus for the 11-hour, treacherous ride north to Dharamsala. Most of us got little to no sleep that night, as the road was often bumpy, or seemingly nonexistent. Nevertheless, we were all excited to arrive in our new home (for the next six weeks, anyway) and get started on our volunteer work.

More on Dharamsala and my volunteer job later – now it’s time for lunch, and the food is so great here, I can’t bear to be late!

Comments

[karaalison]

Back home in the states now, Barbara, and just getting the chance to check in your wonderful blogsite. Loving it already, and so glad you like the picture I took of you at Humayan's Tomb. You look beautiful. I'll be catching up belatedly on your trip north... you can catch some of the happenings from Delhi on my site if you want. Cheers! More soon...