Vacation in Delhi

My family came to visit.  We stayed mostly in Delhi but also visited Jaipur and Agra.  It was very hot-some days over 100 degrees.  These places are very popular with tourists so we were a bit overwhelmed with people who try to profit from tourists.  They can be very insistent.  My favorite place to visit in Delhi was Lodhi Garden because it was beautiful and peaceful.  Jaipur was a beautiful city and I would definitely recommend spending time there.

Delhi

Jama Masjid Mosque

Red Fort

Lodi Garden

 Humayun's Tomb

 Qutub Minar

Jaipur

City Palace

Agra

Taj Mahal

Tomb of Akbar the Great

Celebrating Holi, The Festival of Colors

Holi is a festival celebrated at the beginning of spring (according to the Hindu lunar calendar).  The festival has roots in Hindu mythology and celebrates the triumph of good over evil.  Holi is a multi-day event including family gatherings, music, humorous poetry, throwing of colored powder and water, bonfires, and eating special foods.

On the main event day of Holi, around 9 or 10am, women and children walk together and gather in fields to put colored powder on each other and dance.  Men gather too to socialize and drink.  This continues until about 2pm when everyone cleans up and eats.

We had a lovely time and people were very friendly.  They were very happy to have us join them in the celebration.

Apartment

 We are slowly working on getting the apartment to an acceptable state.  It is VERY dirty.  It's going to take a few days to get really clean.  There are also some quirky things to work out such as not having any gas for the stove so we bought an electric burner only to find out the one electrical outlet in the kitchen does not work.
Also, we bought a water purifier that connects to the sink but ours isn't quite the right size so we will have to find the right adapter.
There are quite a few lizards in the apartment on the walls.
We are also trying to figure out the taxi system to go to the market (found out today that they stop running around 5/6pm. (We had to pay $2 to hire a private taxi vs. the $0.40 we paid to tag along with other people in a taxi).
There was running water when we first arrived today, but after we got back from the market, there was no running water in the bathroom (but there is running water in the kitchen).
We have no fridge, hot water, couch, tv, AC, or towel rack.

 Bathroom

 Water heater-put this in a bucket to heat water for bathing

 Shower with only cold water-works well for summer

 My favorite-balcony with garden view

 Living room

 Living room

 Kitchen

Bedroom with closet

Air Travel in India

We took our first domestic flight in India and learned that there are some differences flying in India vs. the U.S.

1. You need a ticket or receipt to even enter the airport. (Airlines have booths outside).
2. You take your checked bags through security before checking the bags in.
3. At smaller airports, you don't go through security until it's close to boarding time.
4. Women and men are screened separately (women have a private cubicle area).
5. Airports are much smaller than in the US.
6. When you get on the plane, an officer checks to make sure your carry-on has an airline tag that was stamped when it went through security.
7. Most importantly: the people arriving and departing never mix (in many airports).  If you have transfer, you have to go through security again.  This was a surprise when we made a connection in Delhi.

Kochi, Kerala

Jason and I went to Kochi for a Fulbright Conference.

We went on a sight-seeing tour of the city with the other Fulbrighters (almost 200 of them)!

First we went to St. Francis Church built built by the Portuguese in 1503.  It was a Catholic church but it has been converted to an Anglican church.

Vasco de Gama was buried here

Then we went to see the Chinese fishing nets

Then we went to "Jew Town" to the synagogue and the Dutch Palace (sorry couldn't take pictures inside either).

We also saw a store called the Spice Market and saw a woman making a sari on a loom.

Earlier, we went to the mall in a rickshaw.

The hotel we stayed at was beautiful.

 This was our view from our room.

An Indian Wedding

I went to my first Indian wedding yesterday.  It was fun.  I liked getting all dressed up-I had bought a new outfit in Dehradun to wear to the wedding.  I wore as much sparkly jewelry as I could-including bangles, ankle bracelet, toe rings, a necklace, earrings, and rings.

Indian weddings are generally 3 days long on average.  Each day has different events.
At this wedding:
Day 1 was the henna painting (called Mehendi) and songs (the bride and groom are separately celebrating with their families at this point).  Day 2 morning was the Haldi Haath (a ceremony involving the family placing tumeric on the bride and groom (still separate at this point) and more music.
We went to Day 2 in the evening where the groom comes to the bride and there is a lot of dancing a music (and bagpipes).  There was a big buffet dinner.  The bride and groom place flower garlands on each other.  Later their would be a vow ceremony but we did not attend that (it was going to be at 2am).  Then Day 3 in the morning was the bride saying goodbye to her family.
I have greatly over simplified the wedding-if you want to read more about Indian weddings I suggest:
http://jessinsideindia.blogspot.in/2011/02/wedding-ceremony-feb-18.html

Traditional Garhwali music (2 bagpipes on the left and a dohl and damou drum on the right).
This is before the bride and groom and arrived.  They would later sit here and pose for pictures with family and friends.

 Bride and groom placing garlands of flowers on each other (ceremony called Jai Mala).

 We had several people come up to us and say they saw an article about us in the paper.  There also was a little girl (about 9 years old?) who spoke English and took great pleasure in staying with us the whole time and telling us what was going on.  This is a picture of her and her little brother.

 The wedding was a a hotel in a neighboring town called Maletha.

Dehradun

Today I find myself in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand.  It stands in stark contrast to the small city of Uttarkashi where I was yesterday.

Hotel in Uttarkashi: no heater, Indian toilet, one electrical outlet, power out most of the day, black and white tv with poor reception, no phone, no toilet paper, and one crappy towel.
Hotel in Dehradun: central heating, western toilet, 6 electrical outlets with continuous power, flat screen tv with great reception, phone, all the toilet paper we want, two very clean towels, laundry service, and lots of furniture.

In Dehradun we can go to the movies, eat McDonald's, Subway, and Pizza Hut. 

I can get a root canal from a dentist that speaks English with western style facilities.

While I enjoy the comforts here, I realize that there are some nice things about being in smaller towns.  In Uttarkashi and Srinagar we were treated very kindly.  They interviewed us for the local newspapers.  It is also easier to meet people.  We got to visit smaller villages and watch their ceremonies and festivals.

There are both good and bad things about big cities and small ones but I will enjoy the differences wherever I am.