Day 1

AIRPORT:
So today is my official first day in India!!! I still cannot believe that I am actually here! We arrived last night in India around 9pm and the place we are staying is not too far away from Delhi. When we first arrived at the airport 2 Indians started to speak to me in native tongue and once they notice I wasn't Indian they spoke to me in English. As we started to walk out the airport towards our vehicle these men started to force their assistance of pushing our luggage cart to our car (I was also asked a third time if I was Indian). I manage to push my cart halfway through, but the guy ended up taking over pushing my cart. I kept telling him, "it's OK, thanks," but he kept pushing the cart alongside me. We ended both steering the cart as well. So as we approached the car they started to ask for money from us. They asked for 20 American dollars. I had Indian money, but had no idea how much to give them. They were already ripping us off asking for 20 dollars for something they forced on us. John the other videographer ended up giving a person 100 rupees and that ended up being around 2 American dollars. I felt bad for not giving anything to the guy, but I wasn't sure what I had. I also had big bills like 500 rupees and I didn't want to be hassled even worse if they saw that. I was thinking it would be like seeing 100 dollar bills in American money. Anyways, we ended up in the car and they kept bothering us for money. Another team member Rachel gave them 5 American dollars, and they saw that she had 20 bills and they kept bothering her. Megan the photographer didn't have anything and they were telling her "yes you do." So we were hassled to the point til the door closed.

Traffic:
Now, the traffic is crazy. People force themselves into lanes and no one is polite in letting people in or out. They honk and drive real close that it seems we are going to crash. The location we are staying is near a construction zone and is guarded by security. However, before we pulled in we entered a dark alley and people were standing at the end of it in complete darkness. At that point I was like "I HAVE BEEN TAKEN" like the movie. Ha ha, lol. It was weird because the driver didn't know any English so what else was I supposed to think and before I left to India I saw that movie so it has made me all crazy about stuff like that, also my friend Jaemy told me a story about how someone flew into China thinking they were going to work, but ended being tricked. Anyways, a gated door was opened and we drove away from those people, but then there was another dark alley with people at the end, but it was fine the people were with the foundation.


The Place:
So the place we are staying at is really nice. It is also really really green.



The person on the bed is my roommate John, he is taking a nap.


We get a desk, and that door on the far right leads to the restroom.



Storage.

In the storage area, there is this window where you can see shacks and people bathing in the morning.

This is the restroom. Pretty neat.

Study area with TV.

The People:
Americans shake their head no, but in India that means like yes. So that was something new. Also, since they place we are staying is in a construction zone many of the workers who work on the sites live in little shacks. Around 8am they get up and start getting ready. They bath and shower with little amounts of water in buckets. They work during the morning and when it gets hot they go back into the shack during the hot time of day. Women are also working on these sites. They gather dirt and put it in baskets and transport it on top of their head. I am guessing they are using the dirt to make cement. I also notice a pig and many children on these sites. They women are dressed real pretty, but they are working hard. I thought of that to be different. In America many of us freak out about getting a single spot on a white shirt and here women who are dressed in colorful beautiful attire are getting dirty and working hard. It made me wonder what we value as Americans. As of now, I am studying their mannerism.

The first three pictures below are photos taken through the window that was photographed.

These are workers preparing for the morning.

One of many shacks on the site.


These are images of women gathering and pouring materials to create cement. Again, photos taken from another window in my room.


Food:
The food is real good. They serve us 3 meals a day. For breakfast we ate something like a flower tortilla with egg. It was simple and good. Lunch we ate a grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes and cucumbers in it as well as hot tomato soup. Again simple, but real good. For dinner we ate mutton.