week 1.5

we're a week and a half into our trip, and the challenges have been many. temperatures around 109, cooling down to the upper 80's at night, trying to stave off heat exhaustion and the infamous "delhi belly" (some successfully, others unfortunately not so much), all in a pretty poor resource environment, which means frequent power outages. i think the students will never look at a class of cold, drinkable water the same way again.

all this being said, the students are doing an admirable job of adapting and coping with everything. their intercultural skills are definitely getting a workout, as are my own.

their volunteer experiences have been widely varied, and some are confronting lots of idle time or just observing. the most engaging programs seem to be in the education section, working with students of all ages, ranging from pre-school all the way through high school.

one of the best things for me is that i've started helping out in the kitchen preparing our meals so that i can learn to make some indian dishes without a cookbook.

we've also already seen many of the most significant sites related to the spread of islam and muslim rule in india: qutub minar, lal qila, jama masjid, quite a contrast to the basti in which we're living.

i hope the students will start blogging, but we're all pretty tired at the end of the day, and internet access is somewhat limited.

that's it for me for today.

kuda hafiz