Pushkar!

One of the most recent trips I have undertaken was the journey to Pushkar, a cozy little town in the centre of Rajasthan, a state in the West of India which is mainly covered by desert. The whole trip started off rather typically since the train departed at six am and we were still drinking local beer the previous night at 2 am.. Reason for this was an unexpected visit of two British friends of ours. Of course we ran out of time early in the morning as Johan and I rushed through the main gate of the train station straight into our train that was about to depart.

The stay in Pushkar was great, as a camel fair was being organized during that very period (actually our reason for going there in the first place) and we got to see 25.000 camels crowded together on a few patches of desert. The town itself is worth visiting as well, as it is considered as sacred by the Hindu religion there are about five hundred temples in and around the place. A lake is located at the very hearth of the city and one would almost feel like being in the India of one thousand years ago whilst overlooking the sunset at the roof of a temple.

On Sunday we rented two motorbikes so that we could explore the surrounding countryside a bit. Unlucky as we were to get a flat tire ten kilometers out of town, we were fortunate enough to end up at a repair shop a mere two hundred meters from the place of getting stuck in the first place. And so we ended up in this cozy little village with hospital sweet people offering us tea whilst the guy took his time to put a new inner tire on my motorbike. All in all we greatly enjoyed the two hours we were stuck there, as the children were really sweet (picture) and we got to explore the settings of their dwellings.

Back in Pushkar we had the best time with the most random activities, as we were dancing on the street along with various processions and helping out shopkeepers to sell their stuff to random passers-by. The train journey back to Delhi overnight and the fact that I had to go straight to work from the train station made the impact of the journey last a bit longer physically than planned, but that was all worth it!

Polish party

It’s early afternoon and I find myself in the living room of our apartment. It’s a lovely easy going day, since we had quite a good party yesterday night everyone is just chilling out. My fellow country mate Johan enjoys the sun outside on our big balcony, Wojtek from Poland plays some rock music and Paulo from Brazil enjoys the pleasures of incense. The party last night took place in the Southern part of Delhi and was organized by a Polish group of trainees in order to celebrate the Polish independence day. They had prepared national dishes as zurek and pierogi and of course vodka was well supplied. The party took place at the rooftop of their apartment, the weather in Delhi mid October is actually still comparable to an average summer day in Holland, be it without the rain. The ride back home in the middle of the night was one to remember, as we were sitting with nine people plus the driver in a regular sized cab. It actually involved two people on the front seat, five on the back seats, and two people in the trunk! Sitting in the open trunk seemed quite enjoyable at first, but after half an hour of driving over the bad quality Delhi roads they were not that cheerful anymore.
As for now I will go to the house of a colleague of mine, as she lost a bet that costs her a dinner!

Introduction

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! I am Tony, graduate in the bachelor program of International Economics and Finance and currently residing in New Delhi, India.

Via the international exchange program Aiesec I work for a NGO called Kalakar Trust (http://www.kalakartrust.org/). The organization seeks to protect the culture of Indian folk musicians, and part of that is the elementary school set up by the trustee of the organization. My role is to teach the children of the school English (mostly teenagers), which will enhance their chances of success in their later profession. The work is grateful and entertaining, and I truly enjoy working with the children.

Outside school hours there is plenty of time to enjoy the trainee life in Delhi and beyond, with regular parties and journeys that keep life varied. In later posts I will tell more about these undertakings by bus and train, great adventures where I truly get to know the real India! I live in an area of New Delhi called Kalkaji, in a nice apartment (picture) with about nine other trainees with roots from all over the world. The daily journey to the school takes about two hours and goes by the means of local bus, auto rickshaw and metro. Truly an insight in the Indian habits and customs as well!

I will post stories here at least twice a week, covering various issues of what I have experienced here, what is going on right now and what is planned for the future!