I have arrived in the land of curry!

Hello my friends and family!

Welcome to my blog, which I will be updating over the course of my six month study abroad trip in India.

I am in Delhi. What a concept! More specifically, it is a dream come true. I am actually quite surprised by how comfortable I feel here, maybe because I have done a lot of traveling before and I had learned a lot about India. Or maybe the culture shock is lurking just around the corner. Either way, I am enjoying exploring and I am even more excited to settle in.

One of the most incredible experiences I have had here was visiting a Bahai temple immediately followed by a visit to a Hindu temple in South Delhi. The Bahai temple was the epidome of organized: the visitors lined up, checked their shoes and got numbers, and entered the temple at fifteen minute intervals in a single file line. I had a wonderful time meditating, and realized that even though I am so far away from the people I love (you all), I still have my best friend here, me.

After the Bahai temple (and my first Indian toilet/Delhi belly experience) my friends and I walked through narrow alley ways with shops that seemed to be catering to Hindu pilgrims on our way to a Hindu temple. There were GORGEOUS bangals, one of which I broke when I tried it on. When we got to the temple, we put our shoes down with the others (always a bit anxiety provoking because they could be so easily taken) and pushed our way into the temple along with the Hindu worshippers. Everybody was packed in against each other as we walked around the circular path outside of the shrine room. Periodically, a gaurd would open a gate to the shrine room and the crowd would rush in.

Inside was a circular space with a shrine in the middle and a man standing on it accepting sacrifices. The room was brightly lit. The shrine was made of silver and there were flowers and various objects on it. People in the crowd were holding up their gifts and yelling to get the man's attention. I saw one person who brought a miniature diaramma type scene to give. Everyone was sweating, it was essentially a moshpit. It was quite an adrenaline rush! A man tied a red string on my arm for "shanti," peace. After leaving the temple we walked along the outside of it where there were smaller shrines with candles and incense lit. This is what I came here for, I thought to myself.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading my blog!

Hugs and hugs and more hugs,
Tammy