View From a Rickshaw

As I walk off the sidewalk and onto the road my only thought is my tiredness. I wave my hand in the air and less than a minute later I am arguing with an Indian man trying to get my rickshaw ride down from 100 rupees to 70. We finally agree on 80 and I climb in. I can already feel the sweat dripping down my back and it’s not even 10 in the morning. I look out the side as we bump along and try to soak up everything around me. The little vehicle flies past streets that look nothing like I can see back home. The rickshaw slows as we approach and a small little girl approaches with a bundle of flowers waving them in my face. It takes every ounce of me to ignore her and not hand over all the money I have. I finally arrive at my destination at jump out thanking the driver (shukria). After I finally get everything with my visa figured out (yes, I am still having trouble with it. the stupid thing is haunting me) I jump back in another rickshaw to take me to the metro where I pay 5 rupees to be taken 15 minutes down the road where the whole ride I fight my way through the current of people to make it the front by the time they get to my stop. After I get off I ward off ten more rickshaw drives all trying to corner me and give the foreign blonde girl a ride. As I walk through the market to work I realized how scary this whole hour and a half experience would have been two weeks ago. How 14 short days ago I would have flipped out having to do this all on my own and here I am in such a small amount of time concurring public transportation in another country where few people understand me and I stick out like a sore thumb like it’s no big deal. Now that my friends is some progress. 

After this epiphany I walk the ten minutes and climb four flights of stairs (where I swear it gets ten degrees hotter with each flight) and am greeted with “Namaste Deedee!!” and 20 hugs from all my little nuggets. I am pulled in five different directions to play bored games, build trains with legos and work on counting. After a crazy start to the week, I never thought I would already feel this at home and this happy in five days. I know everyone is shocked but these children have captured my heart faster than I ever thought possible. They try and give me their snack when I know this is the only meal they get a day. They yearn for hugs and kisses and laughs. While I complain about how hot it is inside the center, the little kids take naps because the sleep in a one bedroom shack and share a bed with their three brothers without any fans. They wear the same shirt all week and ask why I have so many different skirts to wear. And the craziest thing of all? They are the happiest kids I have ever seen in my entire life. They are (almost) always smiling and laughing and their thirst for knowledge is amazing. I love to have them teach me Hindi as much as they love to learn English. 

All these fantastic children come to “The Place of Dreams” in Lajpat Nagar market everyday to get off the streets and avoid being put into work as a child laborer (an absolutely huge problem in India, especially the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai). The center is sponsered by CHETNA and Save the Children both NPOs who have centers all around India. Getting information about what all the organizations do has been hard with the language barrier but the little I have learned from the volunteer workshop (Which was pretty hard to get anything out of since it was all in Hindi. I got free lunch though!) makes me see how amazing everything they do is. Chetna in Hindi means awareness and the abbreviation stands for Childhood Enhancement through Training and Action. Go to this website for more info on all the amazing projects they do around Delhi and India. 

One thing I do miss? Seeing the stars at night. Too much pollution in the air for them to shine through. The moon looks so lonely without any stars.

After plans for a weekend away fell through at the last minute (I have once again blame the curse of the visa on this one too) I am happy to be sitting alone in my room waiting for the arrival of this weeks new volunteers. These first two weeks have gone by so fast. There are moments I still think “what the hell are you doing here” and other moments where I feel like I have been here my entire life and can’t imagine ever having to go home. For the hundredth time thank you for the love and support from every single one of you. 

Pictures>Words

A picture is worth a thousand words right? I could probably spend a million words on my love for this country, these people and all the history this place has to offer so instead of typing them all out and putting you all to sleep I'll share pictures instead (this time they are actually my pictures that I took!). Update on my awesome kids later this week :) 

Akshardham Temple. Unfortunately no cameras allowed inside so this is the closest picture I could get. So amazingly beautiful inside and out though. Largest Hindu temple in the world!

India Gate in the distance. Notice how there are NO LANES for traffic? Yeah that's how it is everywhere. Absolute craziness. 

Dilli Haat Market. Really cool shopping place, probably my favorite so far 

On the steps of Jama Masjid, the main mosque in Delhi

We trekked up this crazy tower inside the mosque but these amazing views of the city were totally worth it. 

Qutub Minar

Lotus Temple: the Bahai Temple. Everything is centered around the number nine (shout out to my triple d's) because they believe that there have been 9 manifestations of God which represent 9 religions including Christians, Hindus, Muslims, etc. 

I can't get this to flip, sorry its annoying. Humayun's Tomb which is often called the pre-Taj Mahal. It is the tomb of one of the most famous kinds of Ancient India: King Humayun II 

TAJJJJJ!!!! I could give you about a hundred facts and stories about it so hit me up if you are interested,  I'm seriously obsessed. 

Had to be a tourist. The bench is called the President's bench because there is a famous picture of President Clinton sitting on it. 

The Taj was built by a Muslim ruler so there is a mosque right next to it

Nothing is painted on, all the details are hand placed gems from all over the world 

It was build for this king's dead wife and he wanted to build a black Taj across the river to dedicate to himself but ended up being thrown in prison (by his own son!) before it even got off the ground. This is the foundation which is still there. 

One of 2535 pictures I have 

Lodi Gardens aka where all the Indian couples go to make out. Seriously we saw like a thousand there. This is one of the dozens of tombs that are there. 

Also won't turn but this is a view of the main bazaar from the restaurant we ate dinner at one night. It was so crazy but really awesome to see from above!! 

Okay so I said more than I intended to but I tried my best. Loving and missing all you guys everyday!! Thanks for all the emails and love you are always sending me, it makes the distance seem so much smaller! No one panic: I'm not emaciated (or emancipated Aly), I haven't brought home any children in my bag and I haven't melted from the heat. I actually have no intentions of losing any weight since I eat my life away (curry and me are really getting along in a dangerous way). The kids have stolen my heart but I don't want to pick out which one I want too early. And finally I guess I am getting used to 110 degree weather if that is possible, but no worries the high next Monday is only 97!! That's enough of a reason to celebrate! And its 10 so the AC just kicked on in our room (aka the best part of my day) so I really am going to go. LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Wear some shorts, have a drink and go on a run for me! 

Here I Am, in India!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate all the love and support that I’ve gotten the last month before all of this happened and especially the last week as I was getting ready to go. It has already been a world wind of an adventure but I am soaking up every minute and can’t wait for what is to come the next 7 weeks. 

My flight here was as good as possible. I went almost 24 hours without sleeping which wasn’t great but all my connections went great, you all witnessed my total lack of sleep from the Finland post and I finally slept the entire 7 hour flight to Delhi. I met a very nice middle aged Indian man on the flight who I thought was just great. Then he gave me his number and asked me dinner. I think I’ll pass on that offer. 

The first week I am here I am doing a culture & language immersion week so I am spending some days basically getting lessons on customs, traditions and Indian history (obviously I am a total loser and absolutely love it and ask a million questions) along with Hinid lessons (I am HORRIBLE at it. The guy seriously laughs every time I try to speak!). Other days we are getting to go out and see some of the major sights in Delhi. Some other girls and I have also done some sightseeing on our own during the little free time we have had this week. I wish I could show you all my pictures but of course iPhoto hates me right now and won’t let me. So all pictures below are from my bff google. 

Akshardham Temple: absolutely breath taking. It wasn’t completed until 2005 and is now the biggest Hindu temple in the world. It is dedicated to the Hindu God Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS for short). It was amazing to see people praying with such intensity. There weren’t any cameras allowed inside to reserve the sacredness, wish they would do this inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC!!  

India Gate: right in the heart of New Delhi it is inspired by the famous arch in Paris and is a memorial to all the Indian soldiers who died in WII fighting for Britain 

Dilli Haat: a really cool open air market, I bought a lot of really awesome things here. One of the major benefits of being here is how cheap everything is. At the market I bought a cool purse, a pair of leather sandals and a pair of pants (imagine aladdin’s, but mine are purple) all for 800 rupees aka $14. Yeah, pretty sweet deal. 

Jama Masjid: the main mosque in the city where thousands of Muslims can be found every Friday to worship. Just like Akshardham it was amazing to see such a beautiful place of worship. It was built in the 1600s and has such a rich history. We went to one of the towers and saw some of the most amazing views of the city (my own pictures to come soon hopefully!!) 

I wasn’t such the great city girl that Kelsey and I were in NYC, Delhi streets are literally nuts. The rules: there aren’t any. Literally people swerving in and out of each other all the time cutting everyone off, horns going constantly, lanes seem to be just a suggestion and there are literally no street signs anywhere. It is a nightmare. And crossing the streets makes looking like crossing High Street a walk through a meadow. People also don’t really care about stoplights all the time so its like a game of frogger across ten lanes of total craziness. Needless to say, we’ve been lost a few times but have managed to get home safe after every adventure!! 

The place I am staying is so great. The host family is wonderful and hospitable. The food so far has been good (I think I sweat curry out during the day). Our rooms are nice, we get precious air conditioning from 10 at night until 6 in the morning. We all cheer every night when it comes on!! Oh and all the other volunteers? Amazing. These people are seriously the coolest and all have such awesome stories. Out of the seven others here I have met two other Americans (Virginia from New Orleans and Max, our only boy, from California), Francesca from England (who has been traveling around the South Pacific for four months making my trip look pathetic), Christina from Alberta, Canada (yes she says Aye all the time and I love it), Tessa from Sweden (as nice as all Swiss people are suppose to be and Phoebe from Belgium (whose impression of Americans had me on the floor laughing). Getting to know so many cultures has been just an amazing part of the trip so far. 

Sorry for the boring, pictureless post. Hope everyone back home is doing amazing and having great summers! Miss you and sending you lots of Indian lovin’ :) 

Greetings from Europe!

European Greetings!!

PREFACE: first half of post is my bored ramblings sitting in an airport alone, for more important info about what I’m actually supposed to talk about skip down a few paragraphs 

So I feel like Finland is kind of cheating saying I am in Europe but I’ve never been before so I’m going to just own in and say I’m in Europe! The picture below is the virtual map I had on the plane showing where I was. We went over Iceland!! I don’t know why I thought this was just so awesome but I did. Sweden was gorgeous from the air, you could see the pretty snowcapped mountains, Mom it reminded me of Sound of Music :) 

I didn't get a picture over Europe but this is NYC when I flew into JFK, if you look close the green blob farther up is the statue of liberty and you can see lower Manhattan in the bottom.

It is a beautiful sunny morning here in Helsinki. Its around 11:00 here but I’m trying to adjust to India time so in my mind I’m trying to say its 1:30!! Apparently Finland doesn’t believe in having electric plugs everywhere like we do in the US so I’m sitting with at a gate going to Istanbul. That sounds like fun right? Maybe I’ll change my plans? Just kidding mama, don’t panic on me yet! So in honor of this great country I’m hanging out in for 12 hours I have some great facts for you! (Thanks Steph for some of these!) 

1. The country is so far north that it goes through a time period in June & July where the sun never sets making it part of the land of the midnight sun. My flight was so far north the whole time the sun never set the whole time I flew. The sun has been out for me for almost 24 hours now!! 
2. Apparently my years of high school latin could come in handy here: they are the only country that has news broadcast in Latin!! 
3. Helsinki where I am is the capital with a population of 1,075,000

This was the cool electronic map in front of my seat, this shows my route. I went over Canada, Iceland, Norway and Sweden before landing in Finland! 

But if we want to give some facts about this lovely little city I’m in now I’ve got to through in some great Hamitlon! Ohio facts :) 

1. Obviously all my roommates know what I’m going to start with. We have the best water in the world. See this link for proof. 
2. We’re hosting the World Cornhole Cup!! Who even knew this existed? 
3. Famous Hamiltucky natives? Reds player Joe Nuxhall, children’s author Robert McCloskey and obviously the best Hamilton bridge builder Jack Kirsch :) 

Okay that’ really all we have. Now the last list and the most exciting: INDIAA!!! 

1. Delhi has a population of 11,007,835 or 7,877.9 people per km squared. Dad and Logs the other night figured out this was 9 times more dense than Hamilton. That’s a lot of people. 
2. It has an international toilet museum? Thought this would make my brothers laugh 
3. Average temperatures are expected to rise due to global warming and especially because of the increase in population and industrialization  

I’m going to go ahead and answer some of the common questions I’ve gotten about my trip :) 

Where am I going and what organization am I going through? 

I am going to New Delhi, India which is the capital of the country and right in the middle. I am volunteering through an organization called Volunteering Solutions. They send thousands of volunteers all over the world in all different kinds of program. Check out the website for more info! volunteeringsolutions.com 

Where will I be staying? 

I will be living with other volunteers in a volunteer home. The family I stay with will cook all my meals for me and provide me with everything I need to survive for seven weeks!! I am pretty sure I will be sleeping in a big room of bunk beds with the other volunteers but I won’t know for sure until tomorrow when I get there. 

What will I be doing? 

My first week I will be participating in a cultural and language immersion week where I will learn more in depth about Indian culture and traditions while also getting some basic language training. The national language of the country is actually English but the traditional language (and the language used among the lower class) is Hindi. I won’t need to be an expert, but knowing basics will be very helpful. After this week though I will be working at Chetna which works towards the empowerment of street and working children. The center is located in a main market that is famous for children trying to sell trinkets and small little things in attempt to make money. Often times they work for overseer and it is very difficult for them to get out. The center is there to give kids a safe place to go instead of getting involved in only the horrible things kids can get involved in in the city. 

Do you have time to travel? 

I have my weekends off and am hoping to do some traveling. I already have a trip planned next week to see the Taj Mahal and a weekend trip to Jaipur planned for the middle of July. I am hoping to see some other parts of the country (hopefully see the Ganges just for you Ryan) while I am there. 

I think that is pretty much the basics for the next seven weeks!! I'm impressed with anyone who got this far. This seemed like a great way to take up some of my time while I sit at the airport for twelve hours!! Next post will finally be from India!! 

Peace&(Finnish)Love 

How Firm Thy Friendship

I think everyone has those few days or weeks in their life that they will always look back on and remember as being just perfect. Everything probably wasn’t perfect and their were probably a few, if not several minutes or hours during those “perfect” days that were far from perfect. But those imperfect moments don’t matter because when you look back, you will only think of the good. I originally started thinking how I would call this last week perfect. Due to my lack of finals, I ended my week in Columbus with lots of friends, lots of laughs and lots of memories. 

so happy we finally karaoked 

senior crawl with my favorite fake senior and the rando we found 

But when I really think about it, I haven’t just had just an extremely above average week, I have had an extremely above average year. Have I had horrible days this year? Yes. Have I cried this year? Of course. Have I had one of the best years of my life? Absolutely no question yes.

Lead two amazing service trips with the best co-leader and one of my best friends? Check. 

NYC with our awesome boys 

seriously miss the yellow team. go workfest!!

Manage to survive my 21st birthday? (Barely) Check. 

Become a mother to the best Awakening children ever? Check. 

Run 13.1 miles with my five best friends? Check. 

Graduate from THE Ohio State University? Check. 

Spend the summer in India? (Almost) Check. 

And the best part of this list? It’s only the quote-on-quote big events. It doesn’t include the dozens of times I ended up crying from laughing so hard talking about the dumbest things in our living room or the number of worthless hours spent in the baby pool in the front yard or random Tuesday nights at 4th Street that turned into some of the best nights of my life. I literally pinch myself looking back on this past year and how many wonderful opportunities I have been given. Thank you all for making my first three years at OSU the best I could ask for. I can’t even wait to see what the next two bring. Congratulations to all the other wonderful graduates, you are all destined for greatness, I know it. 

Peace&Love

Namaste!

Hello friends and family! I am so excited you all are wasting a few of your moments with me and think I am even slightly interesting enough to read up on how my Indian adventures are going. If no one else is reading I at least know my mom is reading :) I hope to keep my blog updated at least once a week while I am gone to keep all of you back home updated on my life thousands of miles away!! 

as everyone knows i hate my roommates #rushtots

best friends fo liffeeee 

sorry you guys are stuck with me foreverrrr :) 

tridizzle familia

why don't we ever take pictures? 

always have the trinity there for me 

I can’t even express my excitement for the next few months of my life. I sometimes find myself just smiling thinking about his past year and how incredibly blessed I have been. Today I went to my last class as an undergrad at Ohio State. I can’t believe how quick the past three years have gone and how amazing they have been! I know the next two in grad school will bring just as many challenges, experiences and wonderful adventures!! 

The title of my blog came from one of my besties, Mr. Mohandas Gandhi. As many of my friends know my interest in Gandhi first started my love affair with the beautiful country of India. One of my favorite quotes from Gandhi is “service is to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth”. I really think this is so true. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful and blessed life and I feel like the least I can do is give back to those less fortunate to “pay my rent” for all that I have been given. 

I am so lucky to have such amazing people in my life and so many people off doing such amazing things this summer. I have friends scattered all across not just the United States but all corners of the world doing some amazing things over the next few months. You all inspire me every single day and I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures too :) 

peace&love 

jaclyn