A ride in an Indian helicopter

I think everybody should be nice to everybody.
    -- Andy Warhol


My second week of volunteering, a third volunteer arrived.  A Canadian girl who had been living in South Korea (teaching English naturally) for the past 4 years.  She was pretty cool.  We had the same sense of humor and definitely the same travel style.  I could have easily traveled around the country with her.  But our timing didn't match up.  And maybe she thought I was boring.  You can never really tell.  Anyway

We heard that there was a Pizza Hut at Crystal Palm mall at Go-Down Circle (how can you forget names like these?) so decided to make a day of it.  We got there too early and nothing was open yet, except this one ice cream shop that also served coffee.  


Coffee.


My biggest regrets about not learning enough Hindi was not knowing how to say "Please get me a big pot of strong black coffee".  Essential.  This phrase would have significantly improved my travel experience.


The coffee making process was so painfully slow that it was funny.  I was trying to look away and not watch because I was about ready to climb over the counter and make it myself.  

We sipped our western coffee at the edge of a fountain in front of a westernized mall talking about goals in life and I look to my side and there is a woman on the other edge of the fence surrounding the building.  Dirty.  Hair messy.  With a baby, without pants.  She is begging for change.  


That brought me down pretty quick.  It is true that there is a lot of poverty in India.  But there is also a lot of poverty in East Africa.  There is poverty in the United States.  It just seems so much worse in India because it is easy to forget where I am, enjoy my western luxuries, then suddenly realize how many people are desperate to feed themselves with the money that I just spent on coffee.  And unlike the U.S., there is no support system for people who are unable to make enough wages to support themselves, and their families.  


I later forgot about them, enjoyed my mall window shopping and ate an entire personal pizza at Pizza Hut.  Only to again return outside and see her with her other children.  This time I felt worse.  All I could think

I didn't need to eat the whole thing.


I worked at a summer camp in the summer of 2006.  A girl I had known previously as a camper was also on staff.  But she was different.  She was maybe close to 100 lbs lighter.  Her eyes were dull.  She had no energy.  She lost her spirit.  She had spent a semester in India and had been so touched by the poverty she encountered that she decided that she too must suffer.  


Well that's sweet.  I'm sure all the impoverished people in India really appreciated the efforts of this upper-middle class American girl to starve along side them.


Why?

There really is no reason.  No matter how much you want to help other people you should always put yourself first.  If you are not helping yourself, you aren't helping anyone.  I honestly have no qualms about spending money on myself.  Maybe I've been reading too much Ayn Rand.  But still


I didn't need to eat the whole thing.

We spent the rest of the day at Galta Temple (aka Monkey Temple) and I fed monkeys... so great!  Just some advice; Don't feed baby monkey while mama monkey is watching.  It was bad news bears (or just bad news macaques, but either way, just don't do it).

The following day we went to Amber Fort, also awesome.  Many people living around tourist sites rely on tourists to make their living.  Needless to say, we encountered several unrelenting salesmen.






200 rupees! 200 rupees!


I wouldn't take it if it were free.


Alright, 100 rupees, I give you 10!


I really can't help but admire the determination.  


It's the Indian "no".  You say "no" three times and on the forth time, you have no choice but to say yes.  The majority of chotchkies I brought home were results of the Indian "no", and, in retrospect, I am completely satisfied with everything I bought.  So the Indian "no" really does pay off in its own way.




Another daily favorite, a man was trying to lure us into his took took... "come take a ride in an Indian helicopter"


Now, that's a way to get a girl's attention.