Monsoon

Monsoon season has started.  It's a tad early but it's definitely here.  At least the temperatures backed off from 105F/40C to just below 90F/32C.  The humidity really kicks in after a good rain.  Sweat is not my friend.  The worst bit is the traffic.  It's bad enough as it is...just add water and it's a nightmare.  You see, the city sucks at planning any sort of infrastructure.  They can build a building alright but building a road to get to that building is an afterthought.  Same goes for streets.  Drainage is clearly an issue despite knowing that every single year at around this time it will start raining non-stop for 2 - 3 months.  Every year people.  Figure it out.  You can build a street but you need drainage.  And if you have drainage you need to keep it clear of garbage.  This seems to make no sense to people.  So this summer...we will be driving in rivers, not streets.  These are quite literally, views from the backseat. 

Is this a good enough excuse to buy Wellies and bring them back to India?  I've always wanted a pair!

  

Saluting the Spirit of the Children

Since I am not working I wanted to devote some time to volunteering with the children of Delhi.  Specifically I want a medical assignment.  I've been volunteering at an orphanage but that has been more like a social visit than anything.  I've found 2 NGO's (non-governmental organization) to work with.  One is more of a grassroots organization run by a local doctor.  I will be helping her run vaccination campaigns throughout the year.  We'll be going to the slums and inoculating children with various basic, potentially life saving immunizations.  Dr. Josephine is also trying to educate the girls within these slums.  To accomplish that, she needs money and/or school supplies to be provided by volunteers.  She spends a lot of her own paycheck on these girls which at once warms and breaks my heart at the same time.  More on that organization later.  


The other NGO is called Salaam Balaak Trust (meaning to salute the spirit of the children).  These kids are are the 'Railway Kids' of Delhi.  They have either run away from home or have been abandoned by their parents.  If they are found by this organization they are given shelter, food, medical attention, safety, and education.  Today we were lucky to go on the CityWalk tour and meet some of these kids.  They were so full of energy and smiles.  They were so eager to practice their English "How are you, what is your name"?  We would do this exchange in English and then I would ask the same thing of them in Hindi, to which they were astounded and no longer thought I was a foreigner but an Indian.  Only for a second, I don't know what gave it away.  

Iqbal our tour guide and former orphan

Living here in Delhi and seeing the street kids every single day is heartbreaking.  I hate that I have been desensitized to it.  I hope in some small way I can make a difference by participating in a positive way to help these kids feel something other than despair and hunger.  Every child wants the same thing.  Food, safety, a hug, to be heard, to feel like they are someone. And to me, they are.  I will always carry them with me no matter where I am in the world.


If you want to know more about Salaam Balaak Trust click here.  Hopefully that link works as it's the first time I've tried doing it.  I'm going to be volunteering in the girls home in Gurgaon assisting a doctor with medical check-ups.  I'm so excited!


The other organization doesn't have a website.  They find a lot of their volunteers through local networking.  If you want to learn more about them there are 2 different blogs you can read.  This is the organization that I will be doing a vaccination campaign with in July.  We will also be buying and donating schoolbooks for the girls.  Gotta' educate and empower the girls!


Family Health and Education and Feeling India.

I'm a bobble head!

The most expressive of Indian gestures is the Indian head waggle.  It's neither a yes or a no but a simply a disarming way of communicating that something is okay.  It is a gesture that I have unwittingly picked up and I use it when I'm talking to say...an Indian shop owner.  If I have a question and they give me a satisfactory answer...I waggle my head and say 'theek hai' (alright) to convey an understanding.  Here's a brief video of what it looks like:

It cracks me up!  I can't stand that I've picked up this gesture.  It could very possibly be the reason why I've had to go see the chiropractor recently.  Nursing diagnosis:  Severe neck pain related to Indian head waggle as evidenced by relief collar placed by chiropractor.  Or maybe I'm just a giraffe.

  

The best spot

Because is seemed like the right thing to do at the time.  

Perfect spot for a light pole!

Teaching English

So I was approached by a new kind of street beggar today while stopped at a red light.  


Vinay (our driver):  "Ma'am, what is the english name for that"?
Me:  "transvestite"


Rarely a dull day in Delhi!  

Singapore

This blog is supposed to be about India yet I find that most of my posts are about the trips we've taken since we landed in India.  Truth be told, Delhi is a good platform to launch into nearby cities and countries.  And Glen sometimes has to travel for work so sometimes it's nice for me to go have a peek at the world while he's at it.  This week was Singapore.  What is it?  A city?  A state?  A country?  All 3?  Either way it is a small island off the tip of Malaysia with it's own set of rules and regulations.  It's known as the 'fine' city.  Fine as in you will pay a hefty amount of money to the government if you so much as chew your gum in public or jaywalk within 50 ft. of a crosswalk.  We couldn't even hail a cab on the street because they could get fined.  Luckily there are taxi queue's and thank goodness for that because everyone knows how much Glen likes a good queue.  He's British, if he sees a queue he will get in it.  Anyways, a few thoughts on Singapore.  It is a beautiful city/state/country, very clean, the people are friendly and disciplined, and the food is amazing.  But the downside is that I found it very homogenous.  The women looked very high maintenance.  Every single thing is expensive except for the hawker food.  All in all it felt a bit sterile.  

Glen's co-workers

D&G, Marc Jacobs, Dior, and Louis Vuitton

Clarke Quay

Chopstick skills

Big ass clams

Bigger crab

View from dinner at Boat Quay

Merlion

Tooth temple

Chinatown

Marriot

Raffles Hotel

My honey man at Chimes

New Asia Bar on 72nd floor

Skyline

Cable car to Sentosa

Brenda

Yes, we went to an Aquarium

Roll that beautiful food footage...

Hawker food

Slurp!

Laksa

I need bibs to eat

Prawn carnage

Dim sum

Crab!

Congee

Chicken rice

siao bao, siew mai, sticky rice

Killing me softly...

I miss this face.  It hurts so much I ache...  *tears*