God Bless America

So I’ve been thinking a lot about being American since I have been in India. Not only because of how obviously different Indian culture is from my own back home but because of all the amazing people I have met from all over the world. I’ve been told a couple times now “You aren’t like most Americans, but that’s a good thing!” and I never really know how to take it. I mean obviously I am pleased they like me unlike other Americans they have apparently met but I feel very uncomfortable with the fact that being American has a negative connotation across the world. When I told my coordinator at my placement I was American his comment was “Ahh American, you must be so rich!”. Yeah I obviously let out a classic awkward Jaclyn laugh and avoided the comment. 

Yesterday I drafted a pretty downer post about how Americans are selfish and ignorant and don’t know anything about what’s going on in the rest of the world and we really shouldn’t be “proud to be an American”. Though being here hasn’t always made me proud, I feel good I have the chance to prove people wrong. I know I can’t explain reasons why we aren’t as bad as people think but maybe if I can break the stereotype than they can at least remember that one really tall blonde American who wasn’t that bad. 

Every day here though and every interaction I have with the children gives me such a weird feeling of being happy and sad at the same time. As I sat in a room today with a crying baby on my shoulder and three little boys at my feet spelling out body parts for me I got the smack in the face of “Holy cow, this is what you have spent the last six months waiting for”. I was so extremely happy and so extremely sad all at the same time. Pinki, the little girl on my shoulder wears a pair of pants almost everyday that have a huge hole right on her butt. Her face is covered in some sort of rash and she takes naps on the cement floor while the other kids run and scream around her. Bharat, Acosh and Rahul sat on the floor and soak in every word I say and thirst for knowledge. They want to learn english so bad and love nothing more than showing me they can spell words right. 

It kills me I can’t get to know them better. I want to understand the stories they try and tell me. I want to know about where they live and what has happened to them and what they are struggling with. Hugs and smiles and laughter go so far but they have a point where it doesn’t feel like enough. I am learning how much a smile and a simple look of affection towards this kids means though. I never thought kids would love the hokey pokey so much and be on the floor laughing with me about “shaking it all about”. 

More stories on the kids soon and hopefully I can sneak some more pictures as well. I am off to Manali this weekend which is a city up north near the Himalaya which I am so excited about. The craziness of Delhi can be overwhelming at points to say the least and I am excited to get out for a few days. The weather will be a little cooler (down to the double digits which I haven’t felt in three weeks!) and not so chaotic. Hope everyone at home had a wonderful and safe 4th!! As always sending India love back home and to all the travelers around the world :) 

We went and saw the "light show" at Red Fort the other night. Total fail. It was an hour long history of the fort. I took a really great nap though. 

We had way too much fun dressing up for a night and pretending to be real Indians. We put makeup on for the first time in three weeks. crazy I know. Then we went for dinner and ended up at a pretty Western place where all the Indian women had shorts and skirts on. Oops, at least we had fun!