Adventures in India-Delhi day 2

I awoke on my first full day in India after a long, wild, dream-filled sleep. I am no stranger to waking up in unknown places, having traveled the country thrice over by van and visiting a couple dozen other countries, but it is still always a disappointment to not wake up next to your beloved. At least I had my faithful sidekick, Snowy, to keep me company. (here he is in Ireland: http://www.flickr.com/photos/satemkemet/3620500472/)

As much as I've traveled, I tend to get very homesick in the first couple of days in a new place. So I was admittedly on the verge of tears as I rolled out of bed and went to alert my mom to my awakedness. Luckily, the homesickness only sticks around if I'm not doing much, so after breakfast we headed out of the apartment to go into Delhi, and my angst cleared up. 

As these were my mom's last days in India, she had some business to take care of. We went to Connaught Place, a giant roundabout with shops in the center and on the outside, to go to an Orphanage where my mom had done some Music Therapy programs.

It had rained like crazy the night before and in the morning, so the roads were flooded and traffic was awful. We started in an auto rickshaw like one of these:

It's a cheap and easy way to get around Delhi. You have to haggle with the drivers, especially being white and foreign, as they try to jack up the prices.They do have meters but no one ever uses them. 

The view from my first auto ride, being passed by a bike rickshaw pulling two colorfully dressed women through the puddles:

After an excruciating 20 minutes or so in the same place, we asked the driver to take us to the nearest metro station instead of all the way to Connaught Place. 

The metros in Delhi as well as the trains throughout India are really well organized and maintained. They have  metal detectors and xray machines that you have to go through, and separate lines for men and women to get patted down. Don't let the NYPD get wind of this. 

The metro also has separate cars just for women. The co-ed car was so full that men were spilling out into the women's car, which was relatively empty. 

After 30 minutes or so, we arrived at our stop and took another auto to the orphanage. 

Bal Sahyog houses something like 100 boys. Some of them come from families who can't afford to take care of them, and others don't have any family.  They have classes in the morning and the older boys have vocational training in the afternoon. They have a computer lab as well. My mom did some programs here that involved song writing and musical interludes. They all loved it and welcomed the opportunity. 

Some of the boys from the orphanage that ran up to my mom when they saw her come in:

They also just started a 6 month vocational beauty program for girls. They don't live on site like the boys do, but it offers a wonderful opportunity for hundreds of girls a year throughout Delhi to get an education and training they normally wouldn't have access to:

Some of the younger students who don't have vocational training in the afternoons yet were watching a movie. 

After my mom took care of business and we toured the facility, we went on another short auto ride to Janpath market. It was a large, semi-outdoor market. The shop owners had individual booths to keep their wares in and displayed them inside and out. Haggling was definitely welcomed (and necessary) here. Again, our clearly foreign faces made them increase the prices. Luckily my mom is a pretty skilled haggler, having been born in Egypt and living here for over a year. I got a myriad of amazing tapestries, clothes, statues, and other goodies for everyone back home (and myself of course)

Some hookahs for sale in a shop. I loved the huge one and the one with the glass flowers, but I don't think they would travel well.

A shoe repair man that spotted my mom's broken shoe as she walked past:

The view down the sidewalk of Janpath: 

There were other sections of the market, down side streets and in larger courtyards, where (mostly) women set up on the ground with wares that they brought in daily. 

Poori for sale on the street-I've been instructed not to eat this from these street vendors as my mom got really sick from it one day, but they always organize and display their food so beautifully:

Vendors of all sorts: 

After loading ourselves up with gifts and goodies, we took an auto back home. We went through the government district which also houses museums, the zoo, and India Gate park:

First full day down, one month to go!