Varanasi and the First Week at SRCC

Since last time I wrote, we have traveled to Varanasi where we discovered many interesting aspects, as well as attended the first week of classes at SRCC. The reason it has taken me so long to post again is because internet access is limited and much slower than we are used to in the US. Sam wrote a really good summary of Varanasi and same for Heidi of the first week at SRCC. I will summarize what has happened so far including my most memorable moments and add anything interesting that Sam or Heidi may have left out.  

Varanasi:

On December 30, we woke up early to get picked up for our adventure to Varanasi. We arranged for breakfast at the hotel early. It consisted of cheese sandwiches and ketchup. They weren’t like grilled cheese but weren’t just cheese between two slices of bread either. An Indian cheese sandwich is white bread with the crust cut off with a piece of white cheese slightly melted between the two slices. Dipping them in ketchup gave them a unique flavor. We then got picked up by our driver and ventured off to the Delhi domestic flight airport. The domestic airport is much different than the international airport. Security guards are at the entrance of the building and they don’t let anyone pass without a ticket. Our airline was called SpiceJet. We were very confused at first because our ticket said SG 119 and we couldn’t figure out which airline that was. We thought it was very funny when we learned that, instead of SJ, SG stood for SpiceJet. Delhi has been very foggy lately and that caused our flight to be delayed. All flights were delayed until the fog lifted, which caused some people to be delayed over 7 hours. We found a corner of the airport and made the most of this experience. We played card games, connected to the free wi-fi, and chatted with locals who were also delayed. Once we got to Varanasi, a very friendly local tour agent met us at the airport and brought us to our hotel. He told us our tour guide would be ready to go the next morning at 6 a.m. for a morning boat ride on the Ganges to watch the sunrise. We were super excited.

Domestic Airport Crowd

The next morning, we got up early and ventured to the Ganges River.  As Sam said, poverty is very prevalent in Varanasi. We later learned that the government actually keeps the city from modernizing to preserve its culture. On our walk to the river, the most interesting thing I saw was the Indian form of a tooth brush. On the side of the street at early morning, a man was selling wood sticks that were about 8 inches long. Our tour guide explained that people actually chew on the tip of the stick until it becomes brush-like, and then they use it like a brush. This type of wood contains fluoride and other minerals helpful for tooth care. Once we reached the river, two little girls came up to us to sell us these flower candle things, which are supposed to be lit and then placed in the Ganges to make a wish come true. We each bought one of these flower candles for 10 rupee each and then piled into the wooden boat. As we paddled down the river, our tour guide explained the various gods of Hinduism to us and we saw each building that belonged to them. The Ganges is very sacred and Hindus believe that being cremated and then spread in the Ganges is the best resting place. My favorite part of the Ganges river experience was lighting my candle, making a wish, and watching my candle float away down the Holy Ganges. 

Flower candle

Ceremony Area on the Banks of the Ganges

After our boat ride, we set out to experience the narrow streets of Varanasi. Sam already described the unique sites of the universities, temples, and stores. The day was jam-packed and non-stopped. Another memorable experience was our first rickshaw ride. We were amazed that such a little man could drive us through the bumpy, windy streets of Varanasi. Traffic was crazy and it made us nervous that we might get hit by a passing car or bus; however, every driver seems to be very aware of his surroundings. We reached the streets that approach the Ganges and were amazed by how they came to life throughout the day. When we first visited the river in the morning the streets were bare with only a few people out preparing for the day. The night was quite the opposite. People were everywhere. Music playing, kids running, hawkers selling, and, of course, tourists were attempting to take it all in. As Sam mentioned, our first experience of using an eastern toilet was memorable. We weren’t sure what to expect, but knew we just needed to take what we could get. The facility was relatively clean and being from northern Wisconsin, it was comparable to utilizing the woods when camping, minus watching out for poison ivyJ. Using an eastern toilet is an experience any westerner should try to really capture the whole understanding of eastern culture and it’s really not that bad. As Sam mentioned also, once we reached the river there were Brahmans performing a nightly ceremony with lots of worship, song, and dance, as well as flames, flowers, and incents. It was a very spiritual ceremony. The day had been long, however, and we were eager to get back to the hotel to welcome in the New Year. Our hotel had a New Year’s party for all of its guests. A buffet was available all night, which consisted of Indian and Chinese dishes, as well as a wide array of desserts. We also watched two women perform some Indian dances and then we proceeded to welcome in the New Year on the dance floor where we were accompanied by some Indian and French families. The night was not our traditional New Year’s Eve; however, we had a lot of fun. We taught the Indian children some American dance moves (Abby and Felicity were the most popular by the children) and the Indian women taught us some new dance moves to Indian songs. Overall, it was a very fun and eventful night. We had another day of travelling ahead of us the next day so we decided to go to bed not too long after the party ended.

Group outside a temple

Helping make a silk scarf on a hand loom

On the River Ganges

The next morning we returned to Delhi to prepare for the SRCC program to begin.

Delhi:

January 1- New Year’s Day

For Indian culture, New Year’s Day dinner is a special event. People book reservations for high class restaurants weeks in advance and get whole families together to welcome the New Year. The seven of us that travelled early had the pleasure of accompanying Dr. Yelkur at the top hotel in Delhi, the ITC Maurya Sheraton, for dinner at the Bukhara. She introduced us to the HR Manager and some of his staff members. They treated us exceptionally well and made us feel like royalty. Thanks to Dr. Yelkur, we were able to experience something that many Delhi natives have never had the chance to receive. We are very grateful she gave us that opportunity. Something interesting that happened to us on the way to the hotel was getting pulled over by the police. Despite the chaotic traffic and lack of following traffic signals, police are still watching certain street corners for illegal u-turns. It seemed quite ridiculous to us that people can drive the wrong way down one-ways, go on red lights, and weave in and out of traffic like they’re playing Frogger in real life, but get pulled over for making a u-turn. Something different than in the US is that the driver must pay the ticket right away or the police will not let them leave. A common practice for taxi drivers is to make their passengers pay the ticket; therefore, we paid the driver’s ticket which was 100 rupees (~$2).

Ceiling of the Hotel Maurya Lobby

January 2- Move-in Day

Finally the moment had arrived, we moved from South Delhi to North Delhi into the University Guest House (UGH) at SRCC. We came with open minds as we had no idea what to expect. The group of us that arrived early was welcomed with open arms. SRCC is teaching us a whole new level of hospitality. Anything we need, they will help us get, and if they cannot, they will find someone that can. We received a preprogram orientation and hi-tea, which was a little welcome party for us complete with snacks, cake, and tea. We had the opportunity to meet all of our Indian buddies who were very eager to ask us many questions and learn about our lives. We exchanged a lot of information about our lives and felt very welcomed by the end of the day. We then practiced for our cultural presentations and went to sleep in anticipation of the first day of classes at SRCC.      

University Guest House

Outside UGH

SRCC Building

January 3-5- Our First Week at SRCC

Sam already gave a detailed description of the first week of the program, and Heidi commented on the first two days. I will give a brief description of my thoughts of each day, while referring to Sam’s detailed blog throughout. Our daily schedule is pretty laid back but very intense at the same time. We start each day at 10 a.m. with a session then have a half hour tea break. After that we have another session followed by lunch. If we do not have any industry visits, lunch is proceeded by another session followed by a tea break then another session. The days at SRCC normally end around 5 p.m. then we head out for some type of prearranged night time activity, such as a market or a light and sound show. We then have to return to UGH by 8 p.m. for dinner unless something is already arranged for dinner outside the campus. Dinner consists of a buffet of various Indian dishes including vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices.

January 3- Inaugural Presentation and Cultural Presentations

We woke up early in anticipation of our first day of classes at SRCC. Breakfast is served from 8 – 9 a.m. every morning and consists of fruit, corn flakes with sweet warm milk, omelets, and toast. We then ventured to SRCC by rickshaws that are provided to us by the SRCC student SIFE program. The day at SRCC started out with a very formal inaugural presentation. We then proceeded with our cultural presentations and the Indian students followed us with a presentation of the past, present, and future of Delhi. For lunch, as Sam and Heidi already said, we had McDonald’s. In India the cow is sacred and therefore no beef products are served in Indian McDonald’s. We had McChickens, which surprising tasted exactly like a McChicken from the US. It was also very refreshing to have a drink with ice in it. Certain things we are accustomed to in the US are not available for us in India. Like travelling to any foreign country, we must adapt to our surroundings, which makes us cherish certain things from home. After our sessions, some SRCC students were eager to take us to a local market and teach us the “proper” bargaining techniques. We learned that when the hawker says a price, ask for less than half and work the way up from there until we reach a reasonable price. This piece of advice has become very useful in our recent travels. The first day was very interesting and successful from learning about our buddies and purchasing good bargains.

January 4- Baby Corn on Pizza and Delhi Haat Bargaining

Our second day of class was very interesting because the sessions began. The first speaker was very motivational and interesting when he discussed creative problem solving. His teaching style was much like US professors where he used humor and we got to interact. The second session was similar to a lecture hall lecture in the US as he primarily lectured about a topic and we just took notes without interaction. After the two sessions, we had a break for lunch. We tried Indian style pizza from Pizza Hut for lunch. The pizza was interesting with vegetables, such as baby corn and jalapenos, on it. The third session was about the Hindi language. The professor was very enthusiastic about this topic and he wants to teach us how to write some words in Hindi. After the sessions, we went to Delhi Haat. This is a market place that changes themes every couple of weeks. It had handicrafts from all around India and a few neighboring countries. This is the place we really learned to bargain. Most of the SRCC buddies came with us and we devised great strategies for effective bargaining. We first would send our buddies to the shops and get them to bargain the prices and then we would come to purchase the items or negotiate more if the prices were not low enough. It worked really well because if the shop keepers saw us first they would start with a much higher price and would not be as willing to negotiate. This day was also our first experience with the metro. Riding in the metro reminded me of my visit to London. Because of the British influence, the metro voice is exactly the same as it is in the United Kingdom. Every time the metro stopped, “It would say, ‘Mind the gap.’” There were also signs everywhere that were worded differently than we would see them in the US.

Delhi Haat

Handicrafts

January 5- Lights, Sounds, and the ITC Maurya

Our third day of class began with a session from our UWEC professor, Nancy Rasmussen. She discussed a topic of her expertise, Diversity in the Workplace. She had us form groups and discuss certain topics. It was very interesting to see how excited and competitive the SRCC students got when we started to discuss. They said Professor Rasmussen’s session was very fun because in their normal college classes they do not have the opportunity to interact with each other. The second speaker was from the all-girls college at the Delhi University. She lectured about mythology and the different Hindu gods. Mythology is a very interesting topic and she was only able to outline the a few different stories on the topic. For lunch we had Subway. The “non-veg” sandwiches were turkey with mustard and a variety of vegetables. It was refreshing to have some raw vegetables that we knew would be safe for us to eat. The reason we have to be careful with raw vegetables is because normally they are washed in tap water, which could cause us to get “Delhi Belly.” So far we have all had happy and healthy stomachs and we hope that will continue to be the case. We do know that “Delhi Belly” is an option though and we have been educated on how to reduce the chance of getting it and what to do if we do get it. After lunch, we all piled on a bus and headed to the ITC Maurya Sheraton, the same hotel where we had the opportunity to eat New Year’s dinner. At the Maurya we learned about how they have achieved LEED certification and are working to help the environment. Sam already described in detail what we got to see, but I just wanted to add that the ways they conserve energy and help the environment are very interesting because of the condition of most of the city. Sam mentioned the guard monkey the Maurya hired to keep away the smaller monkeys. I found that particularly interesting because that is not a problem any HR manager would encounter in a corporation in the United States. It was also a unique way to solve the problem of the small monkey pests. We then went to Etopia for dinner, which is kind of like a mini food court in a mall. It had a variety of menu items and we got a tray of foods that consisted of rice, chicken, mutton, and sauces. We then went to a really cool light and sound show. It was outside and projected onto the ruins of the Old Fort. I have never seen anything like it and was amazed that Delhi had something so complex. It portrayed the story of the history of Delhi. We then hopped back on the bus and headed back to UGH. All of our buddies then said good bye and wished us luck on our trip to Agra and Jaipur over the weekend.

Unfiltered vs. Filtered Water

One of Many Solar Panels

Light Show

Showing the History of Delhi

My next post will be about our weekend trip on the Golden Triangle. Also, I have been keeping a list of tips to write about once the trip is over. This list will help prepare anyone coming to India in the future. A few topics it will include will be travelling, packing, and bargaining.

Namaste

-Ashley