First day in India

Saturday January 5th was my first full day in India. I woke up early, had some Masala Chai (tea with wonderful spices like ginger and clove) and then set out with a few other volunteers from the home. The drive in a van from Delhi was a kiddie park ride compared to a drive in an autorickshaw. An autorickshaw is essentially a three-wheeled scooter cab. The rider sits in the back on a bench, there is a roof but no windows or doors. You zoom along and dodge pedestrians and other cars and motorcycles and bicycles and all sorts of livestock. It was a harrowing experience.

View from inside a rickshaw (next to a bus)

We went to City Bazaar, which is one of the multitude of bazaars in Jaipur. It is exactly what you would imagine: a street lined with stalls, all selling more or less the same things. Men come out and say things like "Come look!" "Buy a kurti!" "You want this" "Very Very Very cheap prices madam" Hellllllooo". Mostly I just shook my head and kept walking. When I did find one place that interested me, I haggled with the man for a shirt and bag. I got the price down from 750 rupees to 450, and even that is a little overpriced for the items, but I enjoyed haggling. You have to be careful though because if you express interest but then decide not to buy, the seller will literally follow you down the street and for blocks.

After shopping we made our way to City Palace, one of the main sights in Jaipur. City Palace used to be the home of Maharaja (ruler of Jaipur). It was a beautiful structure with ornate carvings and arches. We saw courtyards and toured the textile museum and the armory. Below are some pictures of City Palace.

We returned back to the volunteer home and had the afternoon to ourselves. The house is very well set-up. It is well protected behind a gate and another gate. The first floor holds the kitchen and Purnima's (the cook) room as well as a general meeting area. The second floor has a big common space where we take our meals, and three bedrooms each with 2 sets of bunk beds where we sleep. Each bedroom has it's own bathroom. The house has 9 volunteers here right now: I have three roommates! Everyone is lovely (More about them in my next post).  The third floor has a recreational room with a tv and lots of movies, and more bedrooms, and then there is a roof which is a great place for observing Jaipur. Sunsrises there are particularly stunning.

Common Area

My bedroom (I sleep on the bottom left!)

Sunrise on the roof