I've arrived...

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Hello everyone,

Well I've arrived here in India... journey out here was actually quite good though my bags almost didn't arrive no thanks to British bloody airways flight from to Heathrow but the flight to Delhi was fantastic. Jet Airways were amazing... the flight was only like 8 hours ands had a great selection of movies (both hollywood and bollywood!!) good food and I slept lots so arrived in no time. I was travelling with one of the guys from the project so it was good to have someone there for ait of moral support though looking back on it I have no idea why I was so nervous!!

Delhi airport was surprisingly easy to negotiate... it was very quiet and not particularly busy so we made it through customs and were met by Arun who works for Idex. Then came our introduction to India... as soon as we left the air conditioned arrivals hall nwe were met with a wall of sticky heat that had us sewating buckets within seconds!! We were also met by a few cows, lots of rickshaws, lots of dust and hundreds of indians.... people literally are everywhere you turn!!

Our drive to the hotel was a good intodurction to India... driving in particular is not a strong point over here! There are no road rules and to be honest people just drive wherever there is space to. Some things i've noticed so far are that:

- when approaching roundabouts or junctions it is not necessary to slow down, in fact it is desirable to maintain speed and pull out in front of anything coming your way
- tooting of the horn is essential and should be used whenever it is possible, even in the so called quiet zones!!!

It is just crazy but kinda cool... mind you we've had a few near misses! It's not unusual to pull up at traffic lights (if tyhe driver actually feels like stopping) an have a cow sauntering up beside you!

One of the biggest things you notice on arrival besides the crazy traffic is the poverty... everywhere there are lots of kids on the street begging for their meagre existance, it's really heartbeaking especially as they come up toi you and whisper chapati!! It's one of the hardest things so far but it's all part of the experience I guess!

In delhi 4 of us got an auto rickshaw from our hotyel into Connaught Place, the main shopping area where luckily we met a nice guy who helped me sort out a sim card for my phone. Lucky too, as it turned out to be a nightmare to set one up... they needed passport photos and photocopies of my passport and visa... just a typical example of indian beauracracy!!!! But i'm all sorte now so you can get me on 009910449329 I think... if that doesnt work then try [phone].

After Delhi we travelled by bus down to Jaipur to the main office of the volunteer company... the bus journey was only 6 hours but would ahve taken much less time if the driver had left 3rd gear for any part of the journey!! It was good though, we saw lots of wonderful sights out the window... India is so colourful and full of life I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Jaipur we stayed with an Indian family for 3 days... one of the best parts sofar. I stayed with a woman called Neeta and her husband, it was a great insigt into life in India, especially as a woman. She was not allowed to work or leave her house on her own so she was faily lonely but she was so friendly alsways making conversation, finding out about our lives and chatting about her grown of children, one of whom lives in London! Her cooking was just fantastic... everything was made from scratch especially for us. She even made us frash mango lassis for brekkie and she gave us treats like mango and ice cream for desert. The food was very typically indian and vegetarian in fact I haven't eaten meat since I arrived butI don't miss it! In fact to be hoinest most of the time I'm not exactly sure what I've been eating but noting has tasted too bad so far! :D Most of it has been very tasty - a favourite so far has been some sort of spicy potato thing!

Whilst in Jaipur we were giving lots of orientation lessons into the culture, the projects, the area we were living, hinduism, hindi lessons and about the status of women in india. They were all very interesting and I think will be useful!!

In Jaipur we also had time to visit the Amber fort... an old fort situated out of town on a hill and it was fantastic... we even got an elephant ride up there which was cool! The amber fort was out firast experience of the street hawkers and I actually enjoyed bartering with them as they tried to ply us with everything from batteries to painting to water to puppets!!! To give them their dues they were persistant to say the least... alot of people got annoye with the constant hassle but it's easy to drown out after a while!!! We also went to the main bazaar in the centre of Jaipur and now I understand why it's called the "pink city". All the building in the old part are washed in pink and it's so beautiful! The market was amazing... it's difficult to spend money out here - alreay I've bought lots of colourful bracelets and bags and even some Indian clothes which are suprisingly cool and lightweight!!! Though there are lots of street kids that will follow you for miles begging for money, it's so had just to ignore them as some of them are so cute you just wanna scoop them up plop them in a bath then give them a big hug and take them home with you lol!

We also had out first Bollywood movie experience...it was amazing! The cinema itself was more like a theatre very ornately decorated and it was mobbed mainly with indian guys! We saw a maoivie called Naqaab (which means mask) which was so over the top and cheesey it was good. The audience were really loud clapping and cheering at points through the movie it was a good experience mind you I felt like we were in a goldfish bowl at times as we often found ourselves surrounded completely by lots of staring indian guys... circle of friends 😉 it doesn't biother me though i'm kinda usewd to it by now as everywehre we go we draw alot of attention!

We left Jaipur for the project on Friday and caught an overnight train up to Punjb where we were met by a bus to take us to Himachal Pradesh. I lvoed the train but I do like long train jouirneys... the indian train experience is amazing - we were luckil travelling forst class as all the lower classses had millions of people squeezed into the carriages with arms legs hanging out of windows, people hanging out of the doors and people sitting on the roof! We were then taken by bus to Palampur here in Himachal Pradesh where I'll be based for the next 7 weeks. The driuve was spectacular as we are uphere in the foothills of the Himalayas... it's very lush and green with lots of brightly coloured houses dotted among the countryside. There are lots of rice paddys, tea plantations and weed grows freely everywhere. It officially is illegal here but people smoke it anyways!!

Our camp is nice...we ahve everything we need although the bunk beds are rickety!! But I'm comfortable! I'm shaing a room with a couple of americans and an english girl and we all get on well! Palampur itself is bigger than I expected and I think I will like it here. You don't get the same hassle as in the cities and it's a nice walk from camp into town. People are very friendly and you can't walk ten feet without some saying hello and smiling at you 😊

The project work starts tomorrow (Monday) and I'm quite excited about that. This has been quite a long entry but lots has been happening the past few days but to sum it all up:

India is loud, interesting, dirty, colourful, energetic and I love it so far! I haven't been sick (yet - touchwood) the other volunteers are cool and I have only a couple of mossie bites - happy days!

Anyways I better go,

keep in touch,

much love,
Ali xxxxxxxxxx

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