Well, I already have two weeks under my belt. I can't believe how fast time is going by! I am starting to get a better hang of traveling around the city and getting the chance to adventure out since I now have two roommates and have connected with Erik, a fellow wolverine who blogs in this blog as well!
On Friday this week I was asked to be interviewed by a reporter from Swiss National Public Radio. They are doing a special summer broadcast on how people from different countries spend their holidays. Since India is known for the massive amount of volunteers it has the South Asia correspondents decided to interview someone who was spending their holiday making a difference and I was lucky enough to be chosen!
The reporter came by my work and interviewed my boss about why she started the NGO and what they are trying to accomplish. Next was my interview in which she asked me why I picked India to volunteer and what I do on a daily basis. After that we had the chance to show off the amazing talents that some of our students have! They were excited to show her their typing, sorting, and matching skills. I was able to work with the students in various activities to show the reporter how we try to get them to express their knowledge on their own, rather than us doing something and them just copying what we did. They are such a smart group of children she was amazed with their intelligence and eagerness to keep practicing and learning!
Outside of work I have traveled to a few more markets with my boss Manjir, including one that was completey comprised of electronic shops. We searched it for the best price on some used computer to get for our students. On Saturday, my roommate Maira and I connected with our fellow UBELONGer Erik! We started with a trip to the local mall that was about five times the size of any mall I have been to in the US. It was a welcome thing to see many western stores and to even eat pizza for lunch! After the mall we still wanted to do some exploring. Erik graciously offered to show us how the metro (subway system) worked since he had ridden it before. We got our metro cards and were trying to decipher the Hindi map that they gave us in hopes of finding our destination. To our dismay we got off at the wrong stop, but we decided to make the most of it, we just exited the station and started exploring! With the little Hindi that Erik knew we were able to communicate with some very helpful people on the street who pointed us in the direction of the India Gate (it is a monument to honor the fallen soldiers from WWI). It ended up only being about three blocks away! When we arrived at the gate the Air Force was practicing a drill routine for a performance that they would be doing later. It was a pleasure to watch them, take pictures of the monument, and relax in the shade for a bit, it was over 100 degrees so the shade was a very welcome sight!
Overall we had a great time exploring Delhi for the first time on our own! Today we plan to do some more exploring at an art market that sells art from all of the different states in India!
In front of the India Gate, it was created by the same architect who created a similar monument in Paris called the Arc de Triomphe.
A family of monkeys outside of our balcony Saturday morning! Don't let their cute looks deceive you, they are menaces that eat all of our house mothers plants!
Showing Karin (the Swiss reporter) one of our students sorting abilities using an application on the iPad.
The electronics market that we luckily finished at just in time to miss the storm!
With the start of my third week, which will mark my halfway point, I am excited to continue learning about and exploring this massive city!
-Olivia
Olivia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for titling the post like you did- Name, location, week #. It's so helpful! This is a wonderful post! What an opportunity to be interviewed about the work you are doing there! Did you see it air? Is there a link to it or an article about it? I would love to see it. It is great that you are highlighting these students because they are so incredible.
I am happy that you were able to meet up with Erik. He wrote about meeting up with you in his post too! It is always refreshing to get a little "taste" of home. Was the pizza the same as in the U.S? The monument is massive. I bet it was impressive to see in person.
I look forward to your next post!
Best,
Tammy