Namaste!

Well, it has been a crazy week. Maybe the craziest I've ever had. But good crazy.

Orientation has nearly wrapped up, after four days of meetings, excursions, meals and everything in between. The whole process has been very stream-lined. Much of the four days has been spent at the program center, which is awesome. It's a third story walk-up in a middle-to-upper-middle class market neighborhood of South Delhi, called Hauz Kaas. The center is extremely comfortable: we have a very nice, big air-conditioned class room with flat Indian couches and cushions instead of desks. There is also a kitchen where our lunches are prepared; several guest rooms; two offices; a library; a computer corral; and a huge shaded roof terrace where we often eat or take tea. The center has a staff of several men who cook and clean and arrange taxis. Our leaders are Dr. Storm, the academic director and Dheraj-ji, the assistant instructor. With upwards of ten people taking care of and arranging things for us, it feels like we are princes. We are ushered around the city in fancy taxis; we are given tea and cookies mid-morning and mid-afternoon and a fancy Indian meal is prepared for us for every lunch.

But the program is also so well-engineered. Of course, they've been holding our hands a lot in this beginning phase, but there has also been a good deal of exploration and freedom from the get go; what Storm-ji fondly refers to as "throwing us in the shark-tank." On the first real day, we had our first "drop-off,"--apparently a signature SIT move--where we are taken to a location, and sent off on our own with some mission. Our first drop off was a scavenger hunt. We were broken in groups of 4 and 5, and sent to various market squares around South Delhi, to do a variety of getting-comfortable tasks. For example, finding a place to make photocopies; buying a bar of Detol soap; finding out the cost to make a call to the U.S.; buying a newspaper written in Hindi (not so easy, actually... most are in English); and visiting the local chemist (pharmacy) along with many other tasks. The second drop-off took us to Delli Haat, a little open-air market, with food stalls from the tourist bureau of all 28 Indian states. Our third drop off was to Kaan Market, to buy necessary supplies at some more western and upscale stores. Our first day of classes is on Tuesday--we'll be having a test on the Hindi alphabet first thing.

The seventeen of us have all been staying at the Delhi YWCA, international guest house. It's like a no-frills hotel, but very comfortable and air-conditioned. I'm typing now from the apartment of my homestay, where James and I will be living for the next month. We just arrived here this morning, and have had a lovely time getting to know Sangita (our host) and her friend who is also living here, Mina. Sangita is probably in her late fourties; she is a divorced mother of two girls--one starting her freshman year at university in Sydney, and the younger one (16) who is at a fancy boarding school several hours away. She is very upper class; the apartment is beautiful and expansive, with lots of light and marble floors. She has a staff of three, who cook, clean, and drive for her. It will be odd getting used to servants; we are truly pampered in the way that only the super-wealthy are in the states.

Sangita is very nice: extremely bubbly and talkative, a real smart and cosmopolitan woman, who has spent her career as a travel agent. Mina is a very renowned journalist from the Times of India. They are both lovely.

The group is fantastic. Everyone has been getting along very smoothly. More than that, we are already very comfortable and fun with each other. It is no exaggeration to say that everyone is quite smart, mature, and easy (some more than others) to be with. What I especially love is that many people in the group (especially the four other guys) are extremely funny, so there is a lot of excellent socializing. I think there is a real possibility that I will be life-long friends with several of these people.

Beginning to set out on my own and see the city has been fascinating and wonderful. Yesterday was my first time navigating alone (outside of Hauz Kaas) and I had a blast. Several of us were dropped off by the taxi service at the Lodhi Gardens--a beautiful serene place, like a tropical central park, with very well-preserved stone mosques, temples and buildings, all very impressive and several stories high. I needed to take care of some errands, so after an hour I split with our little group, and decided began navigating back to Hauz Kaas alone. I was planning on taking a motor-rick-shaw (these things are absolutely everywhere on the streets of Delhi and they are cheap and easy), but I hadn't had a chance to cash a new travelers check. I only had twenty rupees (50 cents) in my pocket, and the rick-shaw would have cost sixty. So I found out the bus number that would take me to Hauz Kaas and found a bus stop. Taking the bus was really a trip; they are absolutely packed with men (unless a woman is old or with her husband, she will not travel on the buses). Naturally, they are not air-conditioned and appear to be very old and dingy. However, this must just be from heavy usage, because the entire fleet of buses run on CNG. One of Delhi's least interesting claims to fame, is that it has the world's largest eco-friendly system of public transportation. Not a feature I would have expected from a city that lacks so many other aspects of modern infrastructure and sanitation. But cool. Anyway, I finally made it back, feeling like a veteran (not really) in getting around the city once I arrived, exhausted and sweaty, at the program center.

One last thing before my battery runs out. In Delhi during this part of the year, it is at least 90 degrees every day, and 90% humidity. After being outside for just fifteen minutes, sweat pores out of every inch of my body, the way it does when you do strenuous exercise on a wicked hot day. Except, all I'm doing is standing still. So all of us whitties are still getting used to the weather. I now carry a bandanna with me all the time, to wipe the sweat off my face every 5 or 6 minutes.

More later.