Namaste!
Today we started work at 7 AM. There isn't much for us to do because the masons are doing work that actually needs skills haha. Not that we aren't skillful, but we're more like labour. Right now they are taking rocks we have collected and using cement to create a wall and then covering the top in more cement. It's crazy how they do it; it's like a puzzle. Then the sand that creates the trenches are pulled down to fill in either sides of the wall. So we split into halves and one group worked in the morning and one in the evening. Hopefully this won't persist; I really enjoy working. I have acquired my fifth bruise. I am pretty positive that this is the hardest I have ever worked in my life ha!
Things I like about India: I like how women ride sidesaddle on the motorcycles in their saris. I like how men hold hands when they're friends! It's adorable. They also sling their arms around each other. I like how Arun, Jerry, and Ronak hang out all the time. I like how the crew gets along so well. We have the same taste in music and clothes and boys and it's like a slumber party every night. I like how they use bamboo to hold things in place while working construction. I like how chapati is served with every meal and tea is served at four. I don't know how I will go without haha..
Things I don't like: Jerry is so the favourite of the ladies at Youth Touch. I'm jealous. And that's about it.
After work, Madan gave us a lesson on women and girls in India. It was really sad. The system of the dowry is still in place. It depends on the economic status of the family, but the dowry can include money, jewels, clothes, and even electronics. Rich families can spend millions. Families can save for ten years for the wedding. It's legitimately trying to buy a good life. If there are three girls or more, the family will end up really poor. Having a son is very important. If they have an ultrasound to check the sex of the baby, and find out it is a girl, they'll try to get an abortion. If it's too late, they may kill the child after birth. The parents give the best care to the boys. If a woman is widowed, she isn't allowed to wear henna or bangles or a bindhi; they aren't allowed to wear anything that make women beautiful here. Obviously, this doesn't begin to cover it, but these are just some things that stood out to me.
Priyanka (Madan's niece) and one of the wives (I will get her name!) did henna for us. We're so lucky. We're all just chillaxing before tea and round two of work.
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
A very Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there. Especially my mama - I love you to the moon and back. I can't wait to see you in twenty-seven days. I was missing my family hard this weekend, let me tell you that.
We left our hotel at 7 AM. We walked a little bit to the highway to hail a tuk tuk. We got one and six more followed right away. Madan got us a deal and off we went to the Amber Palace! It was the most beautiful drive, past a huge lake and through mountains of red and yellow sands. About fifteen minutes in, we started seeing elephants walking up the street! We also saw a parade; it was people protesting having more girls attend school! So awesome.
The Amber Palace is incredible. It's huge. I'm embarrassed because my description is going to be lame and will never do it justice. It was built by six thousand workers in one hundred and thirty-seven years. Crazy.
I am just quickly going to say my piece on the elephant rides. I don't want to offend anyone who chose to go on one, but I had to refuse. All day the animals just climb up to the palace in the heat carrying tourists. Men sit on their heads and beat them with bull hooks. The conditions were disgusting. I know what you are probably thinking: so what if you didn't go on one? If there was no demand for elephant rides, there would be no such thing. Which should be the case. While Roni, Jerry, Melissa, and I were climbing up to the palace, in place of getting taken by an elephant, we noticed we were the only white people. What I am saying is that the only people who take elephant rides are Westerners. Just something to think about :). Anyway, the elephants were very, very beautiful and it's the closest I have ever been to one. They fling snot at the tourists. Hilarious.
When we were waiting for the elephant riders in the courtyard, I got some henna on my hands.
All my friends know how scared I am of birds. Especially the ones at UVic because they are massive. Anyway, right before this picture was taken a bird crapped on me and I was so hot and sweaty and tired I didn't even care. No one else cared either haha... Just a day in the life.
There was no room for Jaipur to expand so the king created New Jaipur (where we were visiting yesterday) on the right of the palace. There were these secret passageways that the king used to visit certain wives, so the others would not get jealous. One king had twelve wives... Since the royal women were under strict observation, they would have to use a small window in a darkened room to watch everything going on in the courtyard. They had the most beautiful mirror rooms. Dancers in colourful saris would put on performances for the royal families and it would create a disco ball effect. Too cool. The Queen also had these sun rooms where she would get massages or have company over. Everything is made of sandstone and marble. All the paint is, again, made of different vegetables and gets a coat of oil every couple years.
We saw snake charmers. Classic.
We drove back into town for lunch. After, we went to Hawa Mahal, the Wind Palace. It is part of the City Palace we visited yesterday. It was built in 1799. It has almost a thousand windows. The royal family would go here "to get wind" when it was really hot out. Also, the women would watch the proceedings of the market from above because they weren't allowed to go outside.
After we saw the Wind Palace we did a little more shopping in the markets. There was a monkey sitting there, just chillin'.
We took the 3:30 bus home and got to Sikar at about 6:45. We took a tuk tuk from town and got to Youth Touch at about 7. We saw a wild peacock on the way home :). We ate dinner at 7:30 and had chai. Obsessed. We then all went to bed!
Hope you had a fab Mother's Day! :)
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
I woke up at 5 AM like it was no big deal. The moon was still up! We left for Jaipur at 6. We then took a tuk tuk to the bus station in Sikar. Jaipur is the first planned city of India. It is surrounded by walls, just like Sikar is. The bus was crazytown. It was seriously like a roller coaster; we would be going over the uneven gravel of the road at top speed. We even did a little off roading haha. All the cities and villages we passed were really impoverished. I was pretty shocked; Banjara Basti is definitely not the only place that needs volunteer aid. I totally understand the statistics now (ie. around half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day). Most buildings are falling apart. I have to say, one huge change I would want to create is a recycling program. Is that ethnocentric of me? There is just garbage and plastic everywhere - all of the cities and on the side of the roads. The cows and stray dogs eat it.
The bus doesn't stop to pick anyone up or drop anyone off; it slows slightly and people jump on and off. I like when we drive and see all these older men hanging out on the side of the road. I've seen multiple of what I think are "gentleman's clubs." It looks like they are gossiping like teenage girls :). I also like the camel carts. Everyone here is so nonchalant about it. But come on, you've got this massive camel pulling your cart! It's the coolest thing.
We went through the beautiful gates of Jaipur; they are huge and pink with white detail. (Hence the nickname the Pink City.) The driving is of course nuts; I will never ever be scared to drive in any country again. I rocked the money belt all day! The first place we visited was the City Palace. Part of it is a museum, but the royal family still lives there. It was built from 1729-1732. We first took a tour through the Mubarak Mahal which had linens and costumes of the old royal families. They were beautiful. The most interesting one was of Sawai Madhosing I; his inseam of his pants were four feet. Like the space between his legs was over a meter wide... it was unbelievable. This was also the first day we saw other travelers.
All the paints on the buildings are made from vegetables and is the original paint. They use oil every couple years to keep the rich colour.
The second place we went to in the City Palace was Chandra Mahal where most rulers lived. It has four gates representing the four seasons. It also has the tower where the current royal family lives.
We then went to Bhadra Chowk that houses the largest silver urns in the world.
We then went to Diwan-I-Aam which was a meeting place for the king and the public.There were really cool paintings of all the previous kings. We climbed the stairs to the Queen's chambers (Maharani Palace) which is now a museum for old firearms and other weaponry. We saw Bhaggi Khana which housed old carriages that the Indians adopted from the Europeans.
We then went to the observatory across the street, Jantar Mantar. It was absolutely incredible. It is the largest in the world. Maharaja Jai Singh II had it built for him when he ruled. It has fourteen structures that measure time, astrology, and astronomy.
Samrat Yantra is the largest sundial in the observatory. It measures the time with the accuracy of two seconds. It was so crazy. The shadow moves six centimeters a minute.
Madan dropped Victoria, Melissa, Alex, and I off at McDonald's for lunch while the rest went to another more traditional restaurant. I am embarrassed at how happy we were. And there goes my vegetarian diet. Everyone wanted to take our pictures. Like people would come up to us and just want to pose with us. So funny, but kind of weird haha. What are you gonna do with that photo?!
Most of us cautiously walked to the market by ourselves. One of the tuk tuks was blasting "Barbie Girl" and we all sung along. It earned us a lot of staring. At one point we had to cross the street. Legitimately it was the funniest thing of my life. All of us were huddled in a group, scared for our lives. It was like out of movie; all of us clutching each other like the biggest tourists. Obviously we made across safely. After that one time, we walk around like locals :)...almost.
Everything is so busy all the time. Some participants in the group were trying out haggling for the first time. People laugh at us everywhere we go haha. After we shopped for awhile we went back to our hotel. While on the tuk tuk, Madan pointed out the temples in the middle of the road. There were lots of them. Very cool. We all showered up and then went for dinner down the street. It was on top of a roof and we saw the fireworks of a wedding. It was yummy. I had paneer dosa. We were all so tired; we just went straight to bed! We all were homesick for Sikar.
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
Today we finished our first week of work. It feels good! There are more iron poles up, placed on the borders of the foundation creating the framework. There was no work for us to do this evening, but the women are going to give us a cooking lesson! We came home from work, showered and ate lunch and now are just hanging out. Some girls have tanned and done laundry. I fell asleep for like three hours. Whoops! I woke up just in time for tea.
Tomorrow morning we leave for the weekend to go to Jaipur. It is the capital (and the largest!) city of beautiful Rajasthan. We'll be going on elephant rides, shopping in markets as well as visiting monuments and temples. Madan is accompanying us.
I'm really digging the vegetarian diet here. I am going to see how long I can keep it up :)
Learning how to cook was so much fun! I loved it. First we took cut potatoes, chives, salt, and chili powder and mixed them together. Then we took bread and dipped it in water and pressed it down in our palms. We put the potato mixture in the middle of the bread and folded it up to make a ball. We then cooked those in boiling oil. They were so yum. We also watched how chapati was made. They don't have an oven, but use like stove top burners that we would take camping and just toss it on the fire!
After Madan sat us down and told us about our weekend. He says we can wear our "funny clothes." We stay pretty covered up here at camp and in the small village of Sikar.
Update on the baby birds: the mom feels comfortable enough to feed them even when we are sitting in the dining room!
Thanks for reading :).
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
What a day! I got a private yoga lesson from Shreya this morning because all the other girls were tired! I'm such a lucky girl.
We went to work a little late because the contractor was checking our progress out. The construction workers have been making fourteen iron pillars that are the framework for the boarding house. It's so funny because they are all in flip flops, flared pants, and dress shirts. It's a lot different than Canada. It was super hot today. We sung so many songs :).
Everyone showered up and Quinn and I did laundry. We had a Hindi lesson from Arun. We learned the names of fruits and vegetables as well as animals.
We ate lunch and then took tuk tuks into town! Indian markets are chaos! Everyone is moving everywhere and honking to pass other vehicles. People are trying to buy things and there are cows roaming around. Everyone stares at us like celebrities! The locals love seeing blonde hair/blue eyes and always try to talk to us while driving by on their motorcycles. We went shopping and bought cookies that looked like oreos and lots of other various junk food. We're working girls :).
We went into Jatiya Bazaar. It's mainly Islamic. Sikar is surrounded by walls with seven gates leading in and out of the city. It rained and hailed so hard. The biggest raindrops I have ever seen for sure. The drainage system is rough and the streets aren't paved so there were huge puddles. Everything is located in a stall including their gas stations and pharmacies! Madan pointed out this stall and told us that in Rajasthan the more wealthy people fill clay pots with water and keep them in train stations, markets, and other common places so people who are less fortunate can come to drink it because they can't afford it themselves.
In the afternoon we drank tea and went back to work! We moved rock again and three more pillars were put up. We came back and all the showers were infested with the most ants I have ever seen in all my days of living. Ronak and Pankaj (Madan's son) used a hose to clean them out. Thank gosh. A couple of us played dodge ball.
Apparently the children we met in Banjara Basti are asking where we have been! They think we're their new teachers because that is what volunteers that visit here do. Hopefully we will get to go back and play sometime soon. Tomorrow we get lessons, in between work, from the women at Youth Touch on how to cook, Indian-style. I'm pumped! Off to bed! Night all!
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
Today we made a lot of progress on the boarding house! We all work well as a team. The second water tank had not been filled yet when we got to the work site at 7 so we had a slow start, just moving bricks. Once the foundation was covered in more water we moved bowls of the special sand conveyer belt-style and layered it on top of the smashed rock. I am pretty sure the sand with the water makes cement. Sorry I am not versed in construction know-how :).
We all CTLed - did construction, tanned and did laundry and now we are just hanging out before we go back to work when it's cooler out. We also got a lesson on the Caste System from Madan. It was really interesting and a subject I knew nothing about. There are four different castes and no matter how your life changes (you become wealthy etc.), you will always belong to the caste you were born into. The people of Banjara Basti would be considered Untouchables - people with a very uncleanly lifestyle who get their name because they cannot even make physical contact with anyone who is in a higher caste.
Arun taught us another Hindi lesson this afternoon! We learned numbers, relationships, weekdays, and colours. We were all the biggest giggle-pusses from lack of sleep! We couldn't help it! We laughed so hard at the pronunciation of numbers thirty-three and thirty-five. So immature. We drank tea at four and then went back to work! It rained for like five minutes, but it was so hot out the rain felt really cold. We finished laying all of the sand for the whole building! We'll see what tomorrow brings.
We came home and showered and then played volleyball as well as badminton in the courtyard! The weather is really pleasant around seven. Not too hot and not dark yet. The weather has been unreal - my freckles are out of control.
After another delicious dinner Shreya told us how to say "I really liked the food" and Jessica, Elma, and I said it (in chorus) to the ladies. They loved it... or were laughing and smiling at how bad our Hindi is!
Arun took us to a stall down the street from Youth Touch and everyone got pop and candies!
From what I have witnessed of the way of life here in India: the living is simple, yet so fulfilling. Thanks again for reading. I can't express how much I enjoy blogging about this volunteer project (and our other fun adventures) and it means a lot to me that you're reading it.
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
Namaste friends! I woke up at 5:30 and did yoga before breakfast. It was incredible. We went to work at 7 AM and worked until it got hot. Everyone is working so hard. Madan said progress was really good. We sung "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber and like every Michael Jackson song. I feel like the men working with us think we are all crazy! Work is so much fun; we all love it!
About half the team went into town on tuk tuks to exchange money for our first weekend excursion coming up! I stayed at camp with the others and did some laundry. We have detergent and buckets with a tap outside. We hang it on a line in the courtyard. We also tanned on the roof! This trip I am getting tanned for sure ;).
After lunch I was standing in the courtyard and could see all these animal feet through the gate so I ran outside to the street and it was like a hundred sheep being herded to the farms that are just past Youth Touch. Madan's dad who was sitting there laughed so hard at me. Embarrassing.
This is a bird's nest that is built on one of the shelves in our open air dining room. I'm so in love. The mom and dad hang around while we eat, protecting their babies.
At four we had tea and Madan gave us a lesson about India. I learned a lot of cool things like the king who had the Taj Mahal built cut the workers' hands off so they would not build anything as magnificent again. He talked about how people tour to the tip of India to visit the meeting of three oceans (the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea), but if you look on map they're really all the same body of water just with different names. He gave some background information about each state. I thought it was really interesting that the northern states will give up a lot of things for traditions and customs and he thinks that the southern states have a better life because they don't do that as much. He's so soft spoken and can tell a great story so we all loved the lesson.
After that we went back to work. We are now finished laying the rocks of the whole foundation. The next step is for the construction workers and contractor to smash the rocks to smaller pieces and put water on them. Then cement and this special sand is laid. One water tank is full and delivered to the work site, as well as the cement, but the electricity went out last night and the second water tank could not be filled. Ideally it will be filled tomorrow morning and delivered before we get there at 7. Then tomorrow cement will be laid! It has to be really strong to hold the three floors.
For dinner we had dal and rice, fruit salad (bananas, papaya, and grapes), chapati, lentils, and french fries! We all freaked out. They were so spicy and delicious, and gone in like .2 seconds.
Big day tomorrow :)
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
Hi friends! Today Shreya, Roni, Alex, and I woke up at 5:30 and did yoga on the roof. It was incredible! Shreya led the sun salutations because she is training to become a yoga instructor. We practiced for about half an hour then got ready for breakfast. Standing in tree pose and looking out to the rising Indian sun was surreal. We plan on doing yoga every morning :).
Breakfast was oatmeal, yogurt, corn flakes, toast, and chapati. We left for the work site at 7 AM. Madan cracked a coconut and we all ate a piece. It was dry; there was no juice and it was delicious.This is part of the ritual when starting a new stage when constructing a building. We then put five pieces of it in this small temple constructed in the corner of the work site. A priest had blessed the temple previous, when they started the foundation. They burn something in the temple each night. It's cool learning about Indian culture!
We started laying rock by making a chain, conveyer belt-style. A couple people would pick rocks from the rock pile and place them in these large, silver bowls. The bowl would get passed down a chain of about five girls and Shreya would pass them to Arun who was inside the "trench" who would pass it to three more workers who would then pass the bowl to Madan. He would throw the rocks on the floor, the foundation. He would then pass the bowls back through the workers in the trench and then up to the pile of rocks, completing the circle. We'll be doing this until the whole floor is covered.
We're taking a break now (it's around 9:30 AM) because of the immense heat. They served us tea and we're chilling in the cool common room. We have a Hindi lesson at 11. We'll then eat lunch and return to the work site until dinner!
Arun was kind enough to teach us for an hour and a half! Are we good at it? Questionable :). We learned basic words (alphabet, greetings etc). It was hilarious. We're all pretty embarrassing! The locals love it when we say "namaste" and stuff. The women of Youth Touch do not speak any English so they love it as well! Kay, I'm gonna get super cheesy right now, but I totally understand the saying, "Smiling is the universal language." Things like waving aren't always appropriate, but everyone responds to a smile. Madan's wives as well as his parents do not speak any English, but smiling works as well as any language when praising their beautiful home and delicious food.
This afternoon it rained. It was super cool. There was a lot of thunder and lightning and it was really humid. We went back to work after tea and worked until dinner. It was a lot cooler so we got a lot done. All of the construction workers wear flip-flops which I find really funny. We then came home and cleaned ourselves up. Dinner was of course unreal. We also saw a gecko! We obviously all freaked out. Which reminds me, Vic and Alex saw a scorpion! Thank God Madan was there to kill it.
We’re all just chilling now in the common room before bed! I love the DWC crew so much; loving on how we are all besties!
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
We woke up at 6:30 AM and ate breakfast. There were corn flakes, pancakes, yogurt, and toast with apricot jam. Then we took tuk tuks into town to see the children and their homes that we would be building the boarding house for. Travelling through Sikar was so cool. On the way there, we passed lots of farms (wheat and vegetables like pumpkins and onions etc). Everything is so chaotic. There are cows and motorcycles and people everywhere. It took about fifteen minutes, travelling through the bumpy roads of the market. Vendors sell fruit and goods and pigs, goats, and bulls just casually stroll by. As soon as we stepped off the auto rickshaw, children swarmed us! They spoke decent English (they could sing the alphabet and count and introduce themselves). They wore worn clothes and were pretty dirty. They don't wear shoes and there is sharp things like discarded glass all over the ground. Usually when volunteers work at Youth Touch, they teach English here. We're the first group to do construction (starting tomorrow!).
When we visited the school I met a girl wearing a makeshift cast because she was pushed into a wall that was falling down. Anyways, I'm obsessed with these children. I could play with them forever. They called us madam; it was so cute. Just like in Guatemala, they wanted to play that KitKat bar hand game. This boy I was carrying would point to the words on my shirt and I would spell them out for him. They wanted to take pictures and show us around. In all of their friendliness and happiness, the environment was quite startling. They live in tents surrounded by garbage and the hugest pile of water bottles and rubber shoes I have ever seen. Women and children collect the bottles and people come and take them for very few rupees. The men don't work. They take the money that the women and children make and buy alcohol and cigarettes. Three thousand families live here. They don't have a doctor and rely on Youth Touch to send them to the hospital if they are sick. The women there wanted us to take pictures of them with their kids. One family had a pet monkey! I feel like my words are not enough to explain this morning.
We met a family with four daughters. The two youngest daughters (ages two and three) were very malnourished as well as mentally challenged. Youth Touch volunteers have been feeding them everyday and nursing them back to health for the past year. There bellies were distended and they had weak, skinny legs. They couldn't walk before, but now they can! The parents had no interest in feeding and taking care of them (because they were mentally/physically challenged, but also because they were female).
Unfortunately we had to leave. I really hope we have the opportunity to come back. We then stopped at a store in the village to look at some work clothes. I bought some beautiful bindis that I am going to rock. Quinn and I also bought detergent for the crew! The ladies of Youth Touch are going to show us how to wash clothes here soon.
Right now, it's hot and sweaty and sunny. I have drank almost two liters of water and it is not even 12:30 yet! I'm having the best time. This afternoon was super chill. We watched How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Sometimes I feel bad Jerry is the only boy participant! He's a trooper though. Madan got the chance to talk more about Banjara Basti - most people are or were nomadic, but have settled around the town of Sikar. They don't value education because they see no need for it. The children do not go to private or public school because their peers and teachers treat them differently (because of their class). A lot of work Youth Touch does with the children is with personal hygiene; they'll be more accepted if they do not look like they are from Banjara Basti. Their only priority in life is finding food. They will go around the town of Sikar and beg. Over the last four years, Youth Touch has taken thirty children from Banjara Basti and have taught them social skills so they would be able to attend school. Other volunteers in countries like Sweden and Germany sponsor kids. Youth Touch will provide a family with a goat if they send their child to school (with Youth Touch's program) as incentive to participate. They have built three schools for Banjara Basti so far.
The foundation has already been laid and tomorrow we start making the walls for the ground-level floor. We'll be making the foundation stronger with rock and water so in the next couple of years it will be able to manage three floors. The building will house around twenty kids as well as a single mother (either widowed or divorced) from Banjara Basti to take care of the children as well as get a salary.
A kind of sad thing is that this project will probably not be completed until 2014. Because of funds and a lack of volunteers, it's hard to finish the project this summer. Hopefully another group like ours will come next summer and finish it the first two floors (the third floor is a long-term project). Maybe I'll come back next year? :)
We got a tour of our camp. All of the food we eat (dairy, grains, protein) all come from the backyard! The women make yogurt, bread, and butter daily. We're so lucky!
Things I like about India: I like how we have tea time each day. I like how there is only one tap for the showers and sinks. You never know if the water is going to be hot or cold. I like how all the women wear these crazy bright and beautiful saris every day. I like how we were all chilling and heard this amazing Indian music and when we looked, it was a wedding party! All the groomsmen were dancing toward the woman's house to pick her up for the wedding! I like how everyone works so hard, but relaxes hard too. I like how when I am chilling in my room and I can hear a cow moo because there are actually some outside my window.
Anyways, off to bed because breakfast is at 6:30 AM and work starts at 7! Miss y'all.
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
I haven't slept in thirty-two hours.
But I seriously could not care less. India is absolutely incredible, and I am trying not to brag, but I can't handle it. Here's the story so far:
All of us (the dozen!) met at YVR and took off at about 1:30 PM on May 3rd. We got to Shanghai and the airport was so cray. Water bottles were $7 US dollars whereas a Pepsi cost $1. There was no Wi-fi so naturally, we were all dying.
We had a four hour layover and then hopped the next plane to Delhi. It was super weird eating breakfast at 1 AM in the morning (our time). When we were still in the air the temperature was in the thirties! We were all freaking out.
We arrived in Delhi at 1:30 AM and Jerry met up with us from Singapore at 2:30. Madan was there with two vans; we strapped our luggage to the top :). We then drove six hours to Sikar stopping for tea, water and our first Indian bathroom experience.
India is unreal. It's hot and smoggy and has a beautiful desert landscape. There are all of these restaurants and stands on the side of the highway that stay open all night. Lots of Western billboards. We all noticed the poverty right away. There are many buildings on the side of the highway that are rubble and made of corrugated tin etc. The crazy driving in India is so true. There is no such thing as a shoulder check here! They honk at each other all the time to indicate when they want the other vehicle to get out of the way. They also flash their "dippers." There were so many vans moving goods that were all hand-painted and beautiful. They drive on the right side opposed to our left and the lanes on the road mean nothing. Lots of people ride on the top, sides and in the beds of trucks. Babies ride on motorcycles without any helmets or anything!
It was light by 6 AM. We stopped for breakfast along the side of the road. So good! I also got some bomb pants. While driving we saw camels, pigs, cows, baby bison, monkeys, horses, goats, and roosters. We drove through Jaipur which we visit next weekend. It's so cool; I can't even begin to describe it. There's a lot of litter on the side of the roads and in the streets which makes me sad :(. So many people with big stands of bananas and mangoes and ginger. We saw lots of tiny villages and places where people make bricks. We witnessed two couples getting married. Most people waved and smiled and stared at us.
We arrived in Sikar at noon and got a tour around camp. It's so cool! Madan's whole family works and lives here. We are in rooms of two's and three's. There are like five bulls in the backyard. There are bathrooms (Western and Indian-style) and showers with the sinks on the outside of the buildings. There is this huge rec room in the basement and a roof we can hang out on. We share chores, doing dishes and cleaning toilets in pairs each day.
We're all just relaxing (suntanning, setting up our rooms, reading mags) until it's time for tea which is served everyday at four and then is followed by dinner. We have big plans for tomorrow (getting Indian clothes, visiting children and giving them our gifts as well as visiting our work site) and then start work on Monday. I can't wait to begin the project.
I took a shower in the Indian-style shower. I can totally handle bucket style, but Indian-style toilet. Into it? Hard to say. The sinks are outside. So cool!
We drank tea, ate dinner (rice, dal, chapati, pakora, and salad which consists of cucumber and onion). Aron (Project Manager of Youth Touch) introduced us to all of Madan's family. He has three wives! We then had a welcome meeting. Madan is really happy that we are here. It's been three years that DWC Trip Leaders have tried to bring groups over here and Quinn and I are the first to be successful. It's also been a couple of years that Youth Touch has tried to buy land that we will be building on. We were in bed by 9:30 PM.
Alvida, friends! Thanks for reading :)
Torry Harris
DWC Student Team Leader
Sikar, India: May 2012
