Rupees are the best ever. About 50 rupees is equal to one U.S. dollar. In other words, things there are dirt dirt dirt cheap. I got a shirt for like $2. Also, the turban I wearing in the post above this was like $2 as well, and it's silk. I couldn't even name all the stuff I bought for $200 U.S. dollars. Roughly, like 5 pairs of parachute pants, a dress, four scarves, 11 prayer beads, 3 figurines, 2 meals from McDonalds, a pocket watch, 2 shirts, 3 rings, 13 bracelets, 2 pairs of socks, 3 sweaters, 10 bags, 1 leather purse, 2 scarves... ya. Retire in India.
There are slums ALL over the placein Delhi. It's real strange, because there will be a nice building, but then right next to it, a slum. It's a perfect symbol of their economy. It's amazing, and not necessarily in a good way, to see how they live. Here, at least, the rich and poor are somewhat separated. You know, there are ghetto parts of town, and the richie richie parts. But there, it's like all mixed together.
Um... I'm not sure if you can tell by this photo or not, but this car was literally only six inches from hitting us. That's how all the drivers drive though. It's a wonder they don't scratch cars up left and right.
I'm aware I already posted this photo, but look at the color. See all that orange haze? Ya. well, that's not my camera. That's Delhi. For some reason, it's just like this weird orange haze at night. It's actually quite creepy. Driving down the roads, you can't see very far ahead because of the pollution, plus there is this unsettling orange color to everything. Oh, and there's random men just standing places. Seriously. Like, at 2 in teh morning, they're just standing on the side of the road, or underneath the overpass, or by the park bench. Like, what are they doing?! It made me think of one of those zombie movies, where the zombies are always just standing around, waiting for someone tasty to come along.
Train station. F my life. It smelled like ****. Literally. Like, men would just pee right on to the tracks. One of my leaders said that last year they saw someone take a dump also... Thankfully my tender eyes were spared that sight. But, it did smell terrible. And everyone stared are us!! Like, they would be walking by, look at us, look away, look back, stop walking, and just stand there staring. You'd think they'd feel a little awkward or something, but no. Sometimes crazy people would try to talk to us, and my leader would have to get all up in their business and say "CHALO." which means go. We had to wait a long time for our train. I was scared my backpack was going to get robbed the whole time, so I made sure someone was behind me at all times. Ha ha ha ha ha.
The actual train wasn't much better. Renae described it as "holocaust" like. I feel like the holocaust was definitely worse, but the train wasn't a party. My friend, Chloe, and I had to sleep on the top beds, while two Indian women slept on the bottom two. They had a very strong smelling dinner. Joy in my garden. Also, I was writing in my journal, and everything I looked down at the Indian lady, she quickly averted her eyes. Real Life Creepster folks. Not as funny as you'd think.
Also, we had to sleep in cocoons we brought from home, because there were bugs. One of the girls in my group got scabies. Vomit everywhere.
Oh! I almost forgot the best part!! A little Indian man walked down the aisle like every ten minutes offering some new food/beverage. He sounded like this, "CHAI TEA!! TOMATO SOU!!" That didn't work as well as I thought it would. Perhaps I'll make a video. It wasn't that bad though, like I slept most of the time. I only woke up twice and thought I was going to fall off the bed, but I guess that's why they had the bars.
XOXO,
Emily
