New Lifestyle, New Experiences

After over 1 week of adjusting I was ready to tackle anything that India threw at me. Well, except for a few things like crossing the street without getting run over or yelled at. And freaking out every time I sat in a car or rode on a bike because traffic laws basically just don’t exist here. And weaving through masses of people while trying to figure out where I am. Actually all these things sound pretty funny and make me love being in India even more :)

We were told yesterday that there is a shibhir (camp) this weekend for boys and girls from the Surajya and Samutkarsh projects here. There were about 300 kids that we had to organize activities for and about 50 shikshaks (teachers) to help with the various activities. I’ve been to and organized a lot of camps before this, but never ever for this many people. But I’m actually really excited to see how everything works out! Rhucha and I went to visit the Rani Laxmi Bai Mulinchi Sainiki Shala (a girl’s military school) in Pirangut where the shibhir was going to be held.

Today was actually full of a bunch of firsts, starting with taking the public bus. I’ve always heard about how squished and crazy the buses can be, and it’s definitely an experience I will never forget. We had to get to the Sewa Sahyog office which is in Model Colony, quite a distance from where we were staying and the most efficient and cheap way to get there is by bus. Everyone I asked gave me different suggestions on which bus to take so I was already confused. We literally jumped onto a bus and then asked to make sure that the bus was going to Deccan. We got to the office from the stop by rickshaw and then worked for a little while. Then began a day of unhealthy eating. First we went to the famous Joshi Wadewale’s and ate my favorite street food ever, wada pav. I definitely should not have eaten the chilies on the side and had my mouth sizzle. So totally worth it. Then we went back to the office, finished up our part of the planning for the shibhir, and took an ice cream break. I don’t know what’s so different, but Indian ice cream is so crazy good and might just be better than American ice cream.

We came back to the office to find that some Sewa Sahyog volunteers had conveniently decided to come back when we were taking our break. I had assumed that the shibhir was all planned out and they were just there to straighten out a few minor details. But no. It was quite the opposite and they appropriately called themselves the ‘crisis management team.’ But after a couple of hours, amazingly everything was figured out! Never have I ever seen a camp being planned like that. And after all that hard work we all ate wada pav…again :p

Rhucha and I got dropped off at a bus stop about 3 kilometers away from our hostel and instead of trying to figure out what bus to take again we walked the entire way back. And the best part was we actually had no clue exactly how to get back. It was dark outside, there are no street signs, and we knew no landmarks. So we asked at least 7 people for directions and actually made it back :) The day ended with drinking cold coffee (which is also so much better in India) with a friend.

Traveling like the common man, crazy eating, and chaotic planning definitely made this day the best I’ve had on my trip so far :)