Orientation

We were picked up for orientation on Saturday morning. Other interns were still arriving, so we (the 3 NYUers – D, Z and myself) hung out in our swanky air-conditioned room for the afternoon.

Here’s a picture of me in front of our hotel with my fancy new scarf! Surprisingly having the scarf over your head and neck really helps with the heat.

In India guests should be treated as gods. And apparently gods are always very hungry, because I have been full since I arrived… Orientation seems to revolve around food; we haven’t stopped eating! Thankfully it’s amazing, but I think I need to skip a meal or two to give my stomach a break.

In addition to eating, we have been doing a lot of shopping. Jodhour is quite conservative, and since many of us will be working out in small villages, we’ll need far more traditional clothing than any of us anticipated. I had planned on shopping, but in big groups, being herded like cattle it is not fun. I am hoping once we get to our host families we’ll be able to try it again.

In between shopping and eating we’ve had some interesting discussions on Indian culture, gender relations, the caste system, etc. I’m sure it’s been very helpful to the rest of the group who are young undergrads, many out of the country for the first time, But truthfully for the three of us from NYU, it is all pretty basic, and we’re feeling antsy to get working.

Monday night we were invited to our first wedding! It was the wedding of our Hindi teacher, Madhu. The actual ceremony was over the weekend, but traditional Indian weddings last multiple days. We were invited to the last big event, the reception for over 2000 family and friends. It was crazy! You walked through this carnival-like tunnel and then it opened up into a huge outdoor stadium. Around the edges on three sides were tables and tables of food. And then at the far end was a platform where the couple stood the entire evening. As is customary, he smiled and she frowned, and there was a constant line of people taking photos with them.

But the colors were incredible… The saris women were wearing were amazingly bright and elaborate. It was stunning.

And then the music started… And Madhu insisted on teaching us an Indian Dance... Needless to say we had a bigger crowd than the bride and groom... The freaks from West as Z said! :)

At the wedding:  Danielle, me, groom & bride (plus a random guy in the back), Zaineb, Audrey and Markus.