Just Not Friendly, or Day 55 in Delhi

It was an early start this morning (though tomorrow is going to be disgustingly early). We got out the door at 9 to drop the younger two kids off at school so McKenna, Max, Surrendar, and I could go play at the orphanage in the morning.

On the way, I wanted to stop by the India Gate. It was a bit foggy, which only made it all the more impressive when the structure celebrating all the Indian soldiers loomed.

We got to the toddler room right before snacktime, and a few of the braver kids came over to sit on our laps. McKenna (the older daughter of the family I'm staying with) turned into a human jungle gym, with a kid on each leg, each arm, and playing with her hair. Surrendar (the driver) was enjoying sticking the kids in the little cubby holes of the shelves and taking pictures of them as they stared wide-eyed with cute little smiles.

"My" kid was a little boy with a deformity in one hand, a very bumble-y way of talking, and a cute little smile. While they were eating their potato chips, he sat in my lap and painstakingly picked each one up, ate it slowly in three or four bites, then moved on to the next. Far after the other kids had been playing and having seconds, he took the last chip and tried to give it to me. When I put it back in his bowl, he stuck it under my watch instead.

The next piece of our itinerary was the Red Fort. Actually built by one of the Mughals as a place to hear his people. The grand entrance leads to his throne room, then back behind is his palace, his wife's palace, and their servants' palace.

The grounds didn't have as many random buildings as the Qutb Minar yesterday, but it was a nice little walk around. Max tempted one of the "squirrel-munks," these rodents that look like a cross between a squirrel and a chipmunk.

We then got dropped off at Pahar Ghanj, or Main Bazaar, a market right by a train station. It had a bunch of hostels and hotels, and also a bunch of hippies. There were more dreadlocks per (white) capita than I've ever seen.

But the market was very lively and very reasonably priced. There, I found my bag (as well as some others... Valerie, if you are reading this, you'll have a nice selection to pick from for your birthday). At one point, I was on the street alone, and a hawker kept trying to get me to come into his shop. After my refusals, he accused me of being unfriendly. Sorry, sir, but people like you are making me cynical.

We popped over to get some Indian food for lunch (some paneer tikka, some butter chicken, and some other vegetarian thing with naan). We've all been eating our fill with our hands and drinking bottled water (not tap).

Max and I went over to Lodhi Gardens for an after-lunch stroll. Not only is it a huge park, but, like the rest of Delhi (and India in general), there are ruins everywhere. We looked at a few, then sat on the lawn in front of some grandiose tomb.

While we were sitting there, a group asked for pictures with Max. Then, we look over and there are two street girls running towards us, racing to make name bracelets for us. We said no repeatedly, then one grabs my hand and starts trying to put henna on me. I seriously had to fight her off to get my hand back. Sadly, it was probably the most disturbing show of how poverty has affected people around here that I've seen.

I haven't really mentioned the poverty factor much. Daily, we see a lot of Indians in beautiful saris and suits, some with briefcases, some with shops or other good work. But there are also a handful of desperate men, women, and children each day that come around with hands extended, feet bare, and often a smaller child in their arms. I think the fact that I've said no to just about everybody around here has made it easier to deal, but their desperation is undeniable.

We walked to get some 5 rupee juice bars, then asked a few tuktuk drivers to take us to the Old Fort. The only one who knew what we meant wanted 100 rupees for the ride. We talked him down, slowly, to 50 rupees, and then weren't even sure if he know where we were going.

But we made it. Our plan was to see the Craft Museum close by, but we got caught up in climbing the walls of the fort. The police watched us crawl in and out of a few blocked off spaces, but never said a word. There were even some tunnels that Max dared to explore, but I stayed above ground and looked at the mosque that was also on the grounds.

We spent so much time poking around that we never made it to the Craft Museum. The reason we were poking around was because we thought there was another exit to the fort closer to where the museum was. Sadly this fort was designed to be very safe... we ended up the same place we started.

As we were waiting to get picked up, I saw my first elephant in Indian, just meandering down the crazy busy road. We passed it a while later with a branch in its trunk it had just torn off a tree. I also saw goats, some oxen, a buffalo, and monkeys (though from far away) today.

That's India for you.

The family I'm staying with had invited some missionaries over for a Mexican-themed dinner, so some interesting conversations and we were left to figure out plans for tomorrow. "Plans." We'll see what actually happens!

But I'm assuming one thing that will happen is that these posts are going to get much more consise. I'm not sure I'll have an hour or two in the evenings to work on them on a computer I don't have to share. No worries, you'll still get the good stuff if I can find internet. But otherwise, I'll be fine! Jaipur tomorrow!