Holy smokes, week three is already gone!

Hi everyone!

The week has sure flew by!

It first started out with visiting the Sahara's Men Rehab close to where I am staying. There were about 20 men there who are trying to quit their drug use. Many of them has lapse in their past rehab and are there again. Some men have been there for over 10 years! We got to sit in one of their group meetings about drawing energy from the environment and having confidence in themselves to quit. We got to participate in the activity which is something we don't get to do often. At the rehab they have two dogs there. A little white dog named Julie, who is the only girl who is allowed to stay there and a street dog named Lucky. They were so cute!

Then we got to visit government hospitals. They really pulled on my heart strings. People come from all over to go to the hospital. Many start lining up at 5 in the morning to get a token to see the doctors. Many times they have to wait at least 15 days to see one. If they do get a token for that day and don't get seen, they have to wait in line again no matter how close they were to seeing the doctor. Many people actually camp out on the lawn of the hospital. We went into the burn ward, and right as we walked in someone had passed away and the body was just left by the door. It was wrapped up, but I thought it was so disrespectful to the person and their family just to be left there. I am not really sure how the procedures work here, but it frustrates me at times to see what hospitals do to patients because they don't have very much money and a very limited amount of resources. Later on we went to a private hospital. It was a stark contrast. It looked like a five star hotel and it is service based unlike the government hospitals. The amount that one would have to pay to get admitted into that hospital is equivalent to $10. $10!!!!! Even though each private hospital has to cater to a certain percentage to the poor for free, many do not come because they get treated very badly. So the poor would rather go to the government hospitals where the amount of deaths there is so large! They said that any HIV positive patient going to get treatment at a government hospital has a 90-95% chance of dying. It was very frustrating to compare the treatments given between the different hospitals.

Later that day we went to the slums to check out a project that Sulabh Toilets is working with. It was one of the cleanest slums that I have been to, because they have concrete path ways that was leftover from a construction project. Right next to the slums, they are building a 5-star hotel. Many men who lives in the slums are working there. When the project is completed, everyone in the slums are going to have to move else where since it is government land.

Wednesday was a real treat. We went on a day trip to Alwar. I loved it in Alwar since it was out of the city. The drive was nice since I got to see farmland and mountains! It reminded me of home! We stopped in to visit the Sulabh training center for ex scavengers. All the ladies were so nice! They were learning how to make certain foods and how to stitch clothing so they can make a decent living rather than cleaning up nightsoil. Later that day we went to the City Palace. It was so grand, and we didn't have to pay to get in! In most monuments everyone has to pay. Unfortunately there are two different prices. One for foreigners and one for natives. Anyways, the palace was so grand even though it was in need of some TLC. In the back there was this HUGE pool just for the queens! It is so big you can put row boats in it! That is right BOATS! It was awesome! Then our local guide took us to the lake. It was so quite and it was surrounded by mountains, it was just so peaceful! There was so much more animals over there! Two different types of monkeys, pigs, cows, and camels all over! It was so lovely!

Thursday we went to a new place called Mitr. It was a place for the MSM community. I learned so much about them! I had a great time visiting. The girls there performed their Bollywood dances, and their skit to inform the public about the stigma associated with being MSM. They were so good at dancing! I just wished that I knew Hindi by now since most of them didn't know English. I have caught on to a few words, but not enough to carry on a conversation :(

Friday, I took the day off since I caught a cold. Don't worry it is just a cold and I am recovering! My fever has now past as well as the runny nose. Now I am just stuck with nose that hurts from wiping way to many times :(

This week we visited the Jama Masjid, Humayun's Tomb, and the Lotus Temple! The Jama Masjid was beautiful to visit, but they made us wear ugly bed sheets to cover us up. Except we weren't wearing anything too skimpy. I loved visiting Humayun's Tomb! There was no crowds and the site so soooo pretty even though it is a tomb. There are so many tombs there! We got to climb up one of the building which overlooked the property. There were palm trees and plumeria trees! They even had water in the fountains! The Lotus Temple was really nice too. Did you know that there is actually water pools beneath the temple? Everyone of all faiths are welcomed in the temple to worship. The only rule there is that you have to be silent. It is really awesome inside, I wish I could show you but you can't take pictures inside. I guess you all just have to come see it for yourself!

The evenings here are really relaxing. Most times I watch Hindi movies with my roommate. And other times we hang out the Hema's kids. We played with playdoh and we painted this week. It was so much fun. I can't remember the last time I did that.

Oh, for you foodies out there you have to try paratas and momo's mmmmmmmmm!

Well, I will be heading to Chandigarh next week. It is 5 hours away on train. I am really excited to see it since the city was planned before it was build and it is suppose to be cleaner than Delhi. After we get back from Chandigarh then it is off to Jaipur for the weekend!

More later! Miss you all!

Loves and Hugs,
Teary