First Day :)

Today was my first day out in the city! We took rickshaws all over to do errands and grocery shop, and Richa taught me tons of Hindi phrases. I am learning how to talk to the rickshaws to tell them where to go and other basic phrases to get around and make conversation. I have a lot of work to do... : / but Richa is a good teacher and she keeps quizzing me to keep me on my toes! I learned how to say "Haat moot luh ghaana" when the little kids are trying to sell things while we're riding/stopped in rickshaws. I don't know how to write their words very well....but that's my American attempt at writing, which means, "No touching." The little ones run through the streets as the cars/rickshaws are stuck in traffic. They have berries and little toys to sell as they reach to touch your bags and get your attention. It's hard for me not to smile at them. I just want scoop them up to take them to a safe place. Some of them are bathing in the streets. It's hard to ignore them.

I'm also trying to learn my way around the area so that I know where to tell the rickshaws and taxi's to drive to. There is a messy cluster of squiggles in my little book which is my attempt of making a map of the area... I can tell them, "Lokhandwala jaaougay?" (Do you go to Lokhandwala?), "Lokhandwala jaana hai" (I need to go to Lokhandwala), "Mei Hindi seek ruheehaan" (I'm learning Hindi), "Duhnya vhaad" (thank you), and lots of other good ones! I have a very good teacher :) ...I'll work on actually writing the words correctly, and the alphabet eventually :)

Today we had delicious Indian food for lunch and then a slice of molten lava chocolate cake for desert. So good! I am learning what foods I'm not allowed to eat (like onions, raw veggies, sauces, ice, or limes), so I don't get sick when I'm on my own soon... The food is amazing though. I want to try everything! 

It's fun riding around in rickshaws, as they drive on the opposite side of the street and quickly swerve and dodge each other on the road. There are lots of people here and little markets on the side of the road where they sell veggies and clothes. The Saris are beautiful :) I wish I was fluent in Hindi so could make conversation. Spanish words and phrases keep popping up in my head and I can't remember the Hindi word.. I don't know how people are multi-lingual. So hard to keep them separate for me! When I was ordering bottled water I wanted to say "Ek bottle agua chaiyei porfavor." instead of "Ek bottle pani chaiyei" I'll keep practicing tho! Hopefully I'll get it by the end of the month... I am amazed that Richa moved out here four years ago not knowing any Hindi and just picked it up fluently. I have a whole new respect for people who just move to a new place and pick up the language and culture. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof." (Khalil Gibran)  

...beginning to learn how to have a little faith in the universe :)