Two days ago, we landed in Delhi, the Capitol of this famous nation. Walking down the hall to the Visa station, I glanced through the window to my right and was surprised at the shocking view of the city before me. I did not expect that the air would be so dull and grey, a permanent fog plastered over the roofs of the skyscrapers. I had only seen the aerial video clips of China on BBC, which showed Beijing, barely visible under what seemed like a toxic cloud of pollution. What threw me off my feet was the fact that this situation was completely realistic, not exaggerated by the news or environmentalists. Yes, I consider myself an environmentalist, but I assumed that these countries could not possibly as badly polluted.
Aside from the pollution, Delhi has been fascinating. It is a whole new world of colors, people, and religion. This is the first country with a large Hindu population that we have been to, so it is very new and exciting for me. Last night, as we were walking home, we saw a beautiful little temple built into the side of an edifice along the street. Since there was no door, we could clearly see the paintings and sculptures of the gods, decorated with colorful clothing and flowers. The old man sitting outside offered to let us in. He showed us the God of Mercy, depicted with the head of a lion, along with many other element of their religion. All I can say is that it was hauntingly beautiful.
We took a bicycle tour of New Delhi yesterday. We pedaled through some of the narrowest streets I have ever seen. It was quite difficult to adjust to the Indian style at first. This consists of honking your horn or ringing your bell excessively, speeding through red lights, weaving through vehicles, power-pedaling through busy, disorganized intersections, and perhaps the most of all, just going, you’ll never get anywhere if you wait until that car is a safe distance to pull out.
Perhaps the craziest of all has been the trash. The collectors in the poor and middle-class neighborhoods have been on strike for around a week now. This made cycling very difficult because…it’s slippery. I actually enjoyed the challenge, and even though it was disgusting knowing that there was most likely some cow or dog feces on the bottom of your shoes, it really showed you what life is really like for the people of India.
The food that we have had so far has been so delicious. As an Indian food fanatic I have been enjoying myself here. I have to tell you, though, that we have eaten street food that we know is safe. Our tour guide on the first and second day took us to a small restaurant down an alley that they knew was completely safe. We had some sort of puffy bread along with a small spicy dish that had chick peas in it. We also tried some biscuits and some yogurt lassi.
It is half past noon here on our third day. Our new friend Evan (who is also from Oregon) has agreed to come with us to the Mela (a Central and South-Asian craft and theatre festival). People have come from as far as Tajikistan and Afghanistan to participate, so hopefully we will get to see some interesting Middle-Eastern culture from countries we were not able to reach.