I'm in love...

With a city, that is. The past two weeks have been spent gallivanting around North Western India.
Before we left, a bunch of us decided we really would like a chance to leave India for a few days, go home, do some of the things we miss the most here, then come back reenergized and ready to finish the semester. Delhi turned out to be like that. I remember when we were first in Delhi- our first two days of India- I thought it was terrible because it was so hectic, dirty, and crowded. After a month in Jaipur, however, I thought it was peaceful, orderly, and even bordering on boring. People drive in lanes on the right (er, left) side of the road. There are sidewalks (really big, nice ones), and barely anyone on them. We got to go out without being the only women on the streets- even after 6:00! We even were able to go out to a bar/restaurant, drink alcohol (legally!) without being stared at too much and looked down upon. It's really amazing how liberating that is after so long in Jaipur.

We had lectures every day in Delhi- some more interesting than others- and saw the National museum.
On our last day in Delhi, we were given a free day to explore on our own before heading to Banaras on an overnight train. Rachel, Jessica, Kate and I took off for the zoo, which was fun. We got to see monkeys everywhere (of course) and white tigers. We also got teased by high school boys, as always. After the zoo, we set off for a museum of toilets that had been suggested by our directors as a fun activity. We got in a rickshaw (uncomfortably, because of Delhi's small rickshaws) and began what turned out to be a 1.5 hour long tour of Delhi highways, sidestreets, and into the next town over.
By the time we found the museum, we had to leave to get back to the guest house in time. The tour guide of the museum was really nice to us and suggested we take the Delhi metro to save time. The metro system in Delhi is the best I've ever seen. The whole place was spotlessly clean, well-run, and easy to navigate.
Delhi, being the capital as well as a city set up by Westerners, has a very Western feel to it. Despite my frustrations with Jaipur, I'm glad our program is centered here because we're thrown into a more authentically "Indian" experience.
The real treat of the trip, for me, was Banaras. This is truly a city of paradoxes. The holiest city in the world is also the dirtiest. People go there to die, but it's full of life and activity. The most beautiful settings are on the dirty, gray/green/brown river, and people get sick from the water that is so holy because of terrible infrastructure.
The feel of Banaras was really encouraging after Jaipur's harassing and rude citizens. The people around our guesthouse befriended us immediately. Some wanted to take us to their "friend's" silk shops to collect on commission, but others just wanted to be friendly. Even shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers were nice and didn't appear to rip us off too much.
Western tourists were everywhere, but these were the hippies out for a "spiritual" experience instead of Jaipur's shopping tourists.
I checked out the guest house where I'll be staying during my ISP (independent study month). It's a house for scholars and comes complete with a living room full of mattresses, a nice roof area, a kitchen we can use to make dinner (lunch is provided every day) and nice, brightly painted rooms. All this for 2700 rupees a month (60 dollars)! At least three of us will be staying there- Sarah, Rachel, and I- but other people are now struggling to find reasons to go back to Banaras.
It was nice to get back to Jaipur- to a house with my own room, bed, and family. We had a Hindi mid-term yesterday (after getting in the evening before) and oral exams today. They both seemed to go alright, despite my hatred of languages. This part of the program is going to rush by- less than a month left of classes before leaving for the ISP!
It should finally start to get a bit cooler here soon, which will be a welcome change from the over 100 degree weeks we've been having. That will make exploring the city more appealing, if I can find the time for it.
In folk dance class tomorrow, we're starting to learn to dance with pots of fire on our heads! I'm buying a pot, so I can show off in the states.
Today, Jessica and I realized the beauty of being phase 3. It's encouraging to find those things that would have been frustrating, but are now just hilarious.
Thanks to my fabulous mother, I now have pictures online! They're the second batch - the first is still on a CD that I can't get online quite yet (nothing works too easily here). Highlights from Dr. Storm's country palace, Delhi, and Banaras for the most part. They haven't been edited yet (again, nothing really works here), but the raw versions are up at:
http://skidmore.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012812&id=12200174&l=4a94d