Delhi in December (day 3 of 5)

Now I'm in the midst of my post-ELE (my course is called an ELE) travels - essentially I'm on holiday now which I try to keep reminding myself because I think it will make me feel a bit lighter on my feet.

Since my last post a lot has happened. I got sick again (first time was on my way to Dharamsala in an Amritsar hotel) which was unexpected and unfortunate. I was out of work for about 4 days and drank a lot of Appey juice boxes and lay in bed. Once I got better there was just enough time to finish up all of my work, which came together really nicely. Ceinwen and I finished with a full nutrition manual including 6 lessons with activities etc. to facilitate teaching the women's and youth groups about nutrition, and also an 'internal report' documenting our work to make the manual, including preliminary interviews and surveys and things. Our curriculum is apparently going to be published which is really really exciting. Navneet promised to email us progress on the nutrition program which I'm happy about.

We had a farewell party the day before we left which was really nice. We were able to see all the Jagori staff and have homemade pakoras and ice cream (not homemade) and we had good hugs and goodbye talks with everyone. Saturday was a weird day because we were in limbo- packing bags and waiting for our bus. We took an overnight bus to Delhi which was actually quite a nice bus but I found it rather rough. Got pretty sick and ended up sleeping as soon as I got to Ekta's place. Ekta is a good friend of Chloe from Waterloo that lives in Delhi. She's taken me in for 5 days and it's so wonderful to be here. She and her family are amazing hosts and I'm really glad to see Delhi from a new perspective.

On Sunday I laid low and slept and ate, and then Monday while Ekta was at work I went to meet Christina (a fellow volunteer from Jagori who is in town to pick up a Chinese visa for the holidays) and Dhru (a good friend of a coworker from Jagori who lives here in Delhi) for the day. We went to some markets - Delli Haat and Janpath - and then to Dhru's place to watch a movie. Then Christina came back to Ekta's for dinner. Today I went for a haircut in the morning (600 rupees! or about $11) and then to the IDRC office, a Canadian research agency, where I met a staff member there who is friends with a family friend of mine. I learned about her work in India and talked a bit about my program, and then I took an autorickshaw (on my own! which was a fun independent thing, amidst many spoiled drives with Ekta's driver) to the Delhi Golf Club to meet my great aunt and some of her friends (and some more relatives) for lunch. The golf club was beautiful and really cool to see some high society of Delhi. Everyone was all dressed up in fancy clothes and the parking lot had many nice cars and everything. Meeting Billy Massi (my aunt) was so nice. She seems very well and it's nice to be connected with my grandmother's close family. I'm excited to come to Delhi again and hopefully see more of them. Now I'm back at Ekta's relaxing and waiting for her to come home from work. Not sure what I'll do tonight and tomorrow, but on Thursday I fly to Kerala to explore with Ceinwen! It will be fun to see her after a few days apart, hear about her time in the desert (all the other girls went to Jodhpur) and tell her about my time here. And to see Kerala!

Got to empty my camera's memory card so there's room to take more photos of my travels!

The view of the valley from Lower Dharamsala - my house would be in here somewhere. There was a beautiful snowfall a few days before we left, which I was happy to see. 

The view again, from the Police Grounds where the non-violence event for Jagori's 16-day campaign to stop violence against women was held. It was our last work day and such a nice view to see all day.

The goodbye party after the non-violence event, at Jagori TARA centre. This is my friend Vandana from the SATH team. 

Me and Gaytri, who runs the Green Leaf vegetable market out of SAFAL team. 

Yesterday in Delhi after watching a movie at Dhru's house, his driver took us home in their Mercedes! It was so crazy and I've definitely had some culture shock coming from 3 months in a village to the big city!

On the way home last night!

Today, taking my solo ride from the IDRC office to the Delhi Golf Club. This auto was brand new which was kind of cool. 

At the Golf Club - the view from the outdoor eating area. So beautiful! Especially with some of these old buildings to set the picture.

Again, the golf course.

Lunch with Billy Massi (in green) who looks great! And Bittu (my dad's cousin) and some of their family and friends. Another beautiful old building in the background.

At lunch!

xo can't wait to be home for Christmas, but there's lots of fun to be had between now and then.