Sunday, May 22 -- Taj and Delhi Adventures

Hello Everyone!

4am wakeup call anyone?! Well, we spent the night in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Therefore, naturally we had to be at the Taj by 5:30am in order to be there early enough that we could watch as the sun rose and beat some of the crowd. I was actually very surprised at the number of people that were there even before us, since the Taj only is open from sunrise to sunset. Anyways, almost everyone in our group chose the extra early wakeup time in order to make sure we could wrap our saris well before heading to the Taj. As I mentioned early, almost all of us ended up purchasing a sari, and what better venue to wear it than the Taj! The downsides to wearing saris to the Taj include the difficulty of walking and especially going up stairs! Ha, I am flabbergasted that women can wear saris everyday and do anything in them, even clean the house. Our group struggled to walk, we were definitely restricted to smaller step sizes and had to turn sideways to manage stairs better! One the upside, our group looked pretty beautiful in our extremely bright and colorful saris. For all my fellow style-challenged friends, look at the Indian culture for a change of perception of what colors and patterns can really go well together, it’s been quite fun to immerse in. 

 Entrance to the gardens in front of the Taj 

First glimpse of the Taj

Back side of the entrance including a view of the gardens

Walking around the Taj from the front is truly a breathtaking experience. It’s one of the 7 Wonders of the World for a reason, that’s for sure. Literally as we got closer and at every turn, I was stunned by the beauty of the Taj. A few notes to those looking to visit in the future—GO EARLY! Honestly, we were there by 5:30am and its the off-season; you could easily be there before then and if its touristy season (October—March mostly), I’m sure it would be even busier. Within the two hours we were at the Taj, the size of the crowd turned from being mildly busy but navigable, to mobs of people. Also, I’d recommend getting all your pictures first and then going inside and walking around the platform of the actual Taj. While Princess Diana’s bench is definitely worth stoping at and maybe a quick photo, it will probably not be the best shot and it is extremely busy to get photos there. Also, be wary of the people trying to take pictures of you to sell. I’m sure their photos are fine, but you can probably get a very good one from a friend for free. From my experience, I’d say the best spot for photos is just behind Diana’s bench, closer to the Taj, and centered right in front of the pond. Photos can also turn out very nicely if you stand to the side and shoot from an angle. Just make sure to either actually be centered with the Taj or clearly standing to the side. Like any good photo shoot, don’t forget to make sure to include many different poses and both individual and group shots! 

As we wrapped up taking photos and finally got to the base of the Taj, it was unbelievable. In an effort to preserve the condition of the marble, everyone must wear disposable shoe covers, so make sure your shoes aren’t ridiculous and you can actually walk a lot in them. (I walked ~6,000 steps at the Taj alone in the two hours we were there.) Like most trips we make to touristy areas, our trip would not be complete without multiple requests for photos. Our entire group was asked to pose with a few different people that were there and then some individuals were asked for photos and selfies. :) As our tour guide described us, “American women turned Indian” by our very traditional dress which seemed to make locals smile. Granted, I don’t know if it was because we struggled to walk so much, or maybe they just thought it was cute that we were trying to wear traditional Indian dresses aka saris. But back to the Taj—I still can’t believe that this was built by hand due to the intricacies of the marble work. The outside is where most of the beauty is shown. You can see many intricate patterns of inlayed colored marble in the white marble, marble carvings, and so much symmetry. Almost the entire Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetric, from the building layout, domes, pillars, the Mosque and the “look alike mosque” for symmetry, and the inside of the Taj. The irony about the symmetry is that since the Emperor Shah Jahan had the Taj built in memory of his wife, it was only originally intended for the one tomb centered under the main dome. After the emperor passed away, others decided to also place his tomb next to his wife in the Taj. While this sounds simple, literally the only non-symmetric part of the Taj, that I’m aware of, is the tomb of the emperor that was added after-the-fact. Another reason why most of the visible beauty of the Taj is on the outside is because only one light is lit inside the Taj in order to better preserve the stone. Additionally, visitors are only allowed to see the main level and the fake tombs. The actual tombs of the emperor and his wife are below and I have no idea how decorated the marble is surrounding the area, but I would guess it is quite ornate. In addition to the detailed orientated design of the Taj, the size is overwhelming. Even crazier to think of is the quick construction of the Taj. I still can’t believe that it was able to be completed in roughly 22 years (12 for plinth and tomb and another 10 for minarets, mosque and jaw, and gateway). 

Gabi and Kathy asked to be in a picture

Look-alike Mosque

Following our breathtaking morning at the Taj, we went back to have breakfast and check-out of our hotel. We hit the road and drove to Delhi. I’m very thankful we have a bus that we can stretch out in and sleep. I know I knocked out most of the journey. I guess having barely 4 hours of sleep will eventually make you tired when you are no longer doing really amazing sight-seeing. Today’s lunch stop in Delhi broke he previously mentioned food trend, This time our food came so quick I was shocked! 

The first sight we visited in New Dehli was Gurudwara Bangla Sahib (a famous Sikh temple). The temple has seriously been one of the most impressive places we’ve visited in India. I can’t believe how beautiful it was and the amount of giving that happens. They have volunteers that literally feed anyone and everyone that comes between noon and midnight every day and that adds up to over 25,000 meals/day, every day of the year! I also am surprised and don’t quite understand how they can not really have jobs but instead operate completely on volunteerism. It was very impressive to see the industrial size and scale of the dishes that were prepared in the kitchen. (There was essentially a 10 foot diameter caldron used to cook vegetables in and a shovel was used to stir it). Surprisingly when we were in the dinning hall area, one family brought their baby to us and wanted us to take a picture holding their kid. Funnily enough, this is the second time on our trip that Erika has been shoved a baby to hold for a photo! haha Additionally, in the Sikh temple people can come in to pray at any time and pray as they wish—signing/instrumental accompaniments, quite reflection and prayer, prayer in front of the book of sikhism and more. It was quite interesting to have the opportunity to see some of the traditional components to Sikh temples and understand more of their practices and beliefs (when visitors leave they are invited to take a pamphlet to learn more of “What is Sikhism”). The Sikh cover their heads all the time (prayer and daily life) to be respectful to God and elders. When entering the temple, all must remove shoes and socks and walk barefoot. Our group struggled with this one a little bit. When the sun is out and the temperature is over 100, even white marble gets quite toasty! Thankfully there were a few places that had running water to cool and wash your feet and there was a washing pond as well. The last main element of the Sikh temple was a giant flag pole and sikh flag that signaled to all those around that one could find a sikh temple here. The tradition of a huge flag signaling sikh temples dates back hundreds of years since sikh temples provide all your basic needs—a physical place to stay, a place to wash, a place for prayer, and a place to get food. All sikh temples will have these basic attributes. 

Following the temple, we went to “Old Delhi” for ricksha riding and stoping at a famous spice and tea shop called A Kumar Trading Co. There were tons of spices and spice mixes to make marsala, curries, and more things in your own kitchen. Additionally there were seeds, nuts, and teas. Allison was even able to get mouth fresheners since she has been obsessed with them all trip! Lol they taste like black liquorice and sometimes are served with small sugar cubes following meals. Ricksha riding was literally crazy! I took a time-laps, but it is crazy fast, so I’ll see if others have better recordings to show you. It was very interesting to sit in the back of one of these carts that is powered by a man on a bike as he rides through the town. As our tour guide said, rickshaws don’t really have rules of the rode, they kind of get to make up their own. It was definitely a crazy experience but one of the coolest ways to see the town and interactions of people, vehicle, and animal all in one. The rickshaw drivers were like extra tour guides because they also pointed out various aspects of the city to us as they rode through. Also I’m not sure how road signs work because road signs are literally created and have 4 languages on each sign… 

Allison and Emily ready for their rickshaw experience!

Crazy intersection view from rickshaw (rules of the road are still unclear...)

The last things we did that evening were exploring New Delhi’s government buildings from the street. We drove around a bit to get an overview of the area and see some of the various buildings and then got out and walked around the North and South Blocks containing key government offices, Prime Minister’s Office, Secretariat building, and the India Gate. At the end of our walk we were to be leaving for the airport. On our way back to our bus, our “India Dad” (our tour guide for the past five or so days), was sweet enough to buy us all popsicle sticks from an ice cream cart we passed! Arriving at the airport at around 9:30pm was so bittersweet. After spending so much time with our tour guide and exploring India it was hard to walk into the airport knowing it will be a few year before I may get another chance to come back to India. We spent the next few hours in the airport waiting area before checking our bags. We had our last family style dinner on the floor in the airport where we probably looked homeless as we sat and ate on the ground. After checking-in we had lots of time to meander the airport before our flight out at 3:30am. I’m still not 100% sure why New Delhi airport is #1 in world, but I guess it wasn’t a bad airport; however, I did think the Amsterdam airport had significantly better ambiance. 

After over 24 hours of travel time in airports and flying, I’m finally back in Ann Arbor. I’ve had such an amazing trip and feel so grateful for all I’ve learned and experienced with SWE the last few weeks. Thanks to everyone how had a hand in planning and executing such an amazing adventure. I hope to make it back to India some day since there is so much more we didn’t have the time to see. I will say it has been a weird adjustment to return to the US. Many things are different culturally and weather wise. I will say coming back to 80s has felt SO hot for some reason. I’m still a little baffled that 117 didn’t feel that bad but 80s does; maybe its simply the type of clothing worn in India vs the US. All in all, I’m happy to be hoMe for a few days and get a chance to see family and friends before my internship begins. I will be leaving again June 1 to start my internship in Warsaw, Poland on June 6. Stay tuned for periodic (probably not daily) updates on my internship and European adventures! 

Saturday, May 21 -- Trip to Agra

Today was a busy travel day again. We were out of our hotel by 8 am in order to get on the road early. For those looking for wise words regarding the road system in India, especially crowded cities, I have a few from our tour guide. The first, “Lanes are simply symbolic, nobody really follows them.” Further he joked that, “we don’t need rear view or side view mirrors, we just concentrate on the front!” Ha, I’m so glad our guide has a sense of humor, but things are definitely very different here than in the US. Thankfully while there is a crazy amount of congestion and vehicles are literally everywhere (regardless of “lanes”) there are very few fatal accidents in cities because vehicles aren’t really going terribly fast because the congestion is so heavy; instead, all the cars just have dents and scratches from driving too close! 

On our way to New Delhi, our first stop was at one of the oldest stepwells, Chand Baori, Abaneri. The step well was magnificent. The well was enormous and surrounded by steps so during rainy season, one could simply go down a few steps to the water level to collect water from the well. While it was very cool to look at, I am not sure how I’d personally feel to gather water since the well was extremely steep. According to our guide, much of the reason for the shear number of steps surrounding the well was due to ascetic appeal. In addition to the well, the surrounding walls included a temple that had been partially destroyed. During the same stop we went across the street to visit a potter’s house and watched as he showed us how to make various different types of clay items. The potter even let us have a spin at using the wheel to craft something ourselves. It was cute to watch Michaela, Kathy, Erika, and Akanksha try to use the potting wheel. Erika’s was definitely a passable pot but Akanksha finished with a “ice cream swirl” lols. Needless to say, things weren’t as easy as they thought! 

After arriving in Agra, we went to the Taj and got a chance to explore the back side of the Taj. Best parts of the Taj so far have been 1) taking pictures of people posing for selfies, and 2) convincing my mom that the ONLY picture I was able to take of myself in front of the Taj was a very funny looking selfie before my phone “died” due to the heat (probably since this happened to many yesterday, but no mom even if that did happen I’m sure someone would have been nice enough to take pictures of me for you). Also, there was a camel that a few people took turns riding as we left the back of the Taj. Honestly, it will probably be a close contest between whom had more fun—those riding or those watching the facial expressions of the riders! In the morning we will be back by 5:30am in order to watch the sunrise and have photos at the front of the Taj too before heading to New Delhi. By starting the day so early this should help us as we will be able to spend a full day in New Delhi and then head to the airport by 10pm. Our flight out leaves at 3:30am, so it will be a night exploring the airport before some rest on the plane. 

Friday, May 20 Elephants!

Hi All!

I’ve officially survived one of the hottest, full days on our trip. (Also the hottest day in India on record— it reached over 115 F in Jaipur and over 125 F in New Delhi…yeah heat wave!)  We spent all morning and most of the afternoon outside around Jaipur doing many different sight seeing activities. Today also included the much anticipated ELEPHANT RIDES at Fort Amber! The way it worked was we rode elephants up the path on the mountain to the top of the fort, then we walked around a lot to see the various aspects of the fort, architecture, and the many scenic views inside and outside of the fort itself. There were many opportunities for photos :D (Please, I am aware of how elephants can be mistreated at various touristy locations; however, much research went into located this opportunity in which the elephants are treated extremely well and only do two trips in an entire day and spend the entire rest of the time resting in order to limit the physical exertion and harm.) 

Following our fort adventures, we stopped at a block printing place that showed us intricacies of how block printing is done and sold block printing and many other fabric based items. Then we headed to lunch. I guess some things will never change, the larger the group the longer it will take to get your food in a restaurant. Additionally, I am not sure if its because of the heat, the time of day, or since we have been traveling so much, but the number of people that have passed out either at a restaurant or on the short bus ride immediately before or after lunch is seriously impressive. 

Our day continued with a tour of the City Palace of Jaipur. It may be stretching the similarities a little bit, but parts of the palace really reminded me of Versailles. Mostly the detailed architecture, amount of intricate paintings on the walls, ceilings, and doors and the fact that the gold on the artwork is made from real gold leafs. I took a lot of pictures of the ornate doors here because they made me think of my mom who loves intricate looking doors. Additionally the architecture and sculpting in India continues to impress me. Here is a picture from the courtyard. 

Our final tourist stop for the day was going to the Albert Hall Museum. Much of the artwork has history related to articles collected by, gifted to, and given by the royal family. Additionally, there was a lot of beautiful sculpting and pottery and a very elaborate armory. 

After dinner, there were two ladies that came to our hotel to do hennas. It took a little peer pressure, but I ended up giving in and getting one too. It was really impressive how effortlessly and beautifully these women could come up with random designs for each of us. Like many others, this was my first experience with having a henna. As we waited with the dye on our hands, being careful not to smear the paste, we learned everyone reacts differently to henna past. For instance, one person kept saying, “I’m starting to become mildly concerned by the stinging and burning sensation of the henna…” while another asked if it was normal for your hand do go numb (which it probably was since she had essentially not moved her hand at all in the last two hours). Generally, the longer you leave the henna paste on before pealing it off, the darker the dye will be on your hand and the longer it will stay. Additionally, hennas are heat sensitive which is why they are darkest on the palm and fingers, and lighter the farther down your hand and wrist the designs go. In addition to leaving the henna dye on longer, there are a few tricks you can do to enhance the color. The henna artists recommended putting on mustard oil, which the hotel staff was actually able to give us. Other home recipes include putting lemon juice over the henna to enhance color. Lastly, since henna dye can be created in many ways, it is very formula dependent when considering the darkness and length of time it stays on.  

Thursday, May 19 Welcome to The Pink City

Hello Everyone! 

Today we traveled from New Delhi to Jaipur. The bus ride was significantly smoother than the roads we have been on previously. Apparently the triangle between New Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra are extremely smooth and very similar to our highways in the US because it is such a touristy route. Also almost all the buses say “TOURIST” in big letters, so its VERY hard to spot, especially since we are Giant AC buses… On the bus ride I caught up on some much needed sleep in the morning and then enjoyed chatting and playing various camp style word games like “Picnic”, “Umbrella Planet”, “Glass Door” and more. 

When we arrived in Jaipur I was flabbergast at how HOT Jaipur actually is. I honestly felt like the air I was breathing was fire on my throat and in my lungs. I guess that’s May in Rajasthan for you, and the reason that its the off season, because nobody else wants to bear this heat…I can’t say I can blame them.  At the Jas Vilas Hotel, I’m pretty sure we had the best lunch yet, which is saying a lot since we’ve had very good food. The Indian food was amazing. Thankfully by the time we got to our rooms there was AC which felt very refreshing after the heat outside and in the restaurant that mostly had fans circulating the air. 

If you’ve ever heard anything about Jaipur, you’ve probably heard it referred to as The Pink City. In reality the old city isn’t really a pink, but more a peachy-red color. The story of the color of Jaipur comes from Maharaja Ram Singh of Jaipur painting the whole city pink as a welcome to the upcoming guest presence of the Prince Wales and Queen Victoria on a India tour back in 1876. In the late afternoon we left the hotel and headed into the city to enjoy some street shopping. Its very interesting how much the atmosphere around street shopping changes so drastically city to city and the degree to which the quoted price of essentially the same goods change amazes me. Luckily, by now most of us have gotten significantly more comfortable with understanding the relative value of goods and knowing when its better to just walk away (which generally results in shop owners becoming suddenly willing to sell at your price). 

Later we went to the Jantar Mntar, Jaipur’s observatory, for a showing consisting of music and a history of music and how sundials originated and various instruments in the observatory came to be in Jaipur. After the observatory showing we had a late dinner (~9/9:30-10:30pm) at a local play that had some performers who played musical instruments, did traditional Indian dancing, and did dances while balancing multiple flaming pots on their heads. When we got back to our hotel, which apparently we are the only guests because its the off season, we decided to go for a swim which was really refreshing. With the moonlight shining, a calm breeze, and an occasional bat flapping around us, it was a great way to cool off after our first day in Jaipur. 

Wednesday, May 18 - Elephanta Caves

Mumbai welcomed us home to the Young Womens Christian Association (YWCA) Hostel for another night. In the morning we took a ferry from the Mumbai mainland to an island about an hour away, the home of the Elephanta Caves. Upon our arrival on the island we took this little choo choo train into the main area. Apparently, Elephanta Caves got their name because of a giant elephant statue that used to be on the island until it was stolen by the Portuguese. Eventually India got their statue back but it actually sank in the surrounding waters. When India was able to retrieve the statue from the waters they ended up securing it an a local museum. While there were no longer elephants on the island, there were plenty of other animals- monkeys, goats, and stray dogs. There were some really freaking cute puppies on the island that I wanted to pet, but IPE warning made me make better life decisions… The monkeys were really fun to watch though as long as you didn’t have colored drinks. They really LOVE pop and juices, so they will follow you and try to get your bottle. There were caves we visited after climbing over a hundred steps in addition to the general steep gradient of the mountain. Unfortunately the caves definitely sustained significant damage to the carvings on the walls; however, there were a few of the carvings that showed little to no visible damage. It’s crazy how talented and how many man-hours worked to create these master pieces that just don’t exist in places across the US. 

Today we decided to try a different restaurant for lunch in Mumbai and went to a “tourist bar”. I say this because literally it had the largest concentration of white people in a given place I have yet seen here. Plus by looking at the menu it was clear they get a lot of foreigners because they not only had traditional Indian dishes, but there were also Chinese (or Indochinese), Italian, American, and generic bar foods. After eating at a couple actual restaurants in India, we have learned a few things—firstly, food is cheap and that doesn’t mean you won’t be full; secondly, never order a serving a rice without splitting it with AT LEAST one other individual; thirdly, Indian food is best enjoyed when you team up with a buddy or two and order dishes that appeal to all and then try some of everything. On that note, we ended up trying chicken tikka marsala, buttered chicken, vegetable curry rice, and some roti. The dishes were all good and its interesting how every place has their own twist to the spices they use and how hot/spicy the dishes come out. I was surprised how not spicy and even sweet some of the dishes were today, but then again, we were at a very touristy place (we generally go to restaurants that are more touristy or that are recommended by locals or tour guides to ensure nobody gets sick from the food since we have to be very careful about garnishments, and raw veggies if they’ve been washed in tap water). 

Around 3/3:30 we left for the airport since we had a domestic flight to New Delhi around 6pm. Fun fact, I thought I was going to be left in Mumbai for a little bit because while I gave my passport to the ticket counter it seems they forgot to issue my ticket and we had to have the gentleman guiding us through the airport ask them for my ticket again. Good news, I did get a ticket, so I was able to remain with the group! Probably the weirdest thing though about the airport, and something I’m beginning to wonder may apply to all public transportation methods in India, there are no announcements warning of planes boarding, nor mentioning the upcoming/current station the train would stop at. Additionally, at this airport there were buses that would take you from the main building out to the runway and towards sets of stairs that you’d go up to the board the plane. Since we were in India, these buses were reminiscent of the Bursley Baits buses; however, while we were packed just as tightly, the back of the bus had a very low ceiling where the steps went up so Gabi and I had to crouch so we wouldn’t hit our heads…. The plane wasn’t nearly as unexpected of an experience as the train yesterday, since it was like any normal plane just with fairly narrow seating. Surprisingly though, our tickets came with a meal of our choice on the plan so I got to try essentially Indian Ramen which was pretty good. The pilot was also pretty entertaining. He had a British accent and a very carefree attitude that would make any nervous flyers extremely concerned. For instance, some of my favorite quotes of the flight went something like this, “our plane has been delayed because it landed late, but once we are in the air our flight time will be about 1:30/1:45, it depends on traffic” and “we are about to prepare for landing, so we’ll see how this goes…”. But since I’m updating my blog, things seemed to have turned out just fine! 

This evening we actually checked into this very cute Bed and Breakfast in New Dehli (Colonel’s Retreat). Honestly, I recommend this place extremely highly! There was a huge living room area on each floor and a few bedrooms on each level and everything was furnished in a really homey style that if I ever come back to New Delhi I’d love to stay at for a few nights. Wi-fi worked really well too, good enough for Game of Thrones addicts to stream an episode to avoid spoilers, and fast enough to upload blogs with pictures and videos. Additionally, the breakfast is amazing! They had a variety of western and Indian breakfast dishes and even some wonderful platters of banana bread for the table (we were even able to ask for some banana bread to go, since we had a 6ish hour drive ahead of us). 

Tuesday, May 17 - Aurangabad Caves and Indian Train Experience

Happy Tuesday! 

Last night we stayed in a very nice hotel. That meant that we not only had a pretty comfortable bed (vs. the nearly rock hard ones we’ve had hitherto this point), but we also had a beautiful bathroom and shower, plus free wifi that actually worked decently well! So naturally I caught up on a few SWE emails and things prior to turning in for the night. Also, this hotel had the funniest memes and quotes all over—from framed stories posted on the bathroom stalls, to similar stories on the hallways by our rooms, to decorating the placemats we had in the dinning area. I'll come back to upload a few as others share their photos. 

As we departed from the hotel early the next morning we drove a few hours to Ajanta Buddhist Caves (a group of 30). Unfortunately we only had time to be guided through two of the caves (cave #1 and #10) before we needed to depart to ensure we’d make it to the train station in time to catch the train to Mumbai. Cave #1 was very beautiful, with ornate paintings and intricate hand etched sculptings on the pillars and ceilings. There was even a giant Buddha in this cave! Our tour guide told us a lot of history but to be honest, I don’t recall much of it because I was so hot in this cave from our walk. Anyways, but the time we got to cave #10, I had cooled down some and remember more of the significance to it. It was actually the first cave spotted/discovered which lead to the continued excavation and eventual discovery of the 30 Buddhist caves. Additionally, it is the largest of the 30 discovered caves. Gabi took this picture of me in it. (If you trust wikipedia, click on the link in the cave name above if you'd like to read more of the history). As any good group of Michigan students, before heading to the bus, it was time for a photo-op with the University of Michigan flag. I’m waiting on the group picture from a friend, but this is an individual Michigan picture. 

The rest of the day we essentially spent traveling (bus from the caves to the train station, train from Aurangabad to Mumbai, and then bused to the nice hostel we were at last time when we were in Mumbai). So this train station experience was probably the first true experience that has impressed upon me at of how crowded India actually is beyond congested roadways. In the station as the train announcements became more frequent warning of the approaching train, my future fellow passengers pressed tighter and tighter, squeezing like sardines onto the platform. Yes, indeed this was worse than the BBaits spooning with random strangers... Once the train stopped, in my opinion, madness ensued. A few passengers were trying to deboard but the people on the platform were already trying to board the train! It was one large bottleneck with people and luggage. I was the last of the group and literally barely boarded with my luggage as the train started to move. Then there was about ten of us stuck in the connection between railcars because the cabin on the one side where we thought our tickets were was completely filled up! Turns out we were in the next cabin and were able to get our seats, but still it was difficult. Note to self— next time I know I’ll be traveling on a train as a tourist (probably next month in Europe) only have “luggage” that can be carried on your back so you can get a set and for sure have a place to store your luggage with much less chaos. 

From our train journey here are a few things that confused and slightly surprised or concerned me. First of all, at the train station there is nothing preventing people from crossing the tracks. So while there was a overpass to walk through to the other side about 100 feet from me, I witnessed many individuals and families (with young children) passing on the tracks in the short 10 minutes I was paying attention. Secondly, when we stopped at each successive station, an influx of people selling various food and refreshments boarded the train to bombard passengers… I found this weird and kind of annoying to be perfectly honest because it blocked the aisles and it was a ruckus. For instance, one weird snack Akanksha purchased were Fruit Cakes with questionable "may have laxative effects" ingredients... Thirdly, I discovered that the toilet consisted of either a hole (squatty potty) or traditional Western style toilet without a drain but instead a pipe that opens to the track below…So ya, it didn’t smell too bad in the washrooms because everything leaves the train immediately, but that also means that the train stations had a wonderful aroma about them that the hot, humid climate has not helped much. I know I've gained a new respect to those that use public transit in India daily and thankfulness that I'm not planning on doing so again in the near future...

Monday, May 16-- Trip to Aurangabad

1st order of business—> Happy Bday Dad! <3 I hope you got the card from the boys and I! 

Our day was scheduled to begin promptly at 5am. As we met in the main house, we sat around and waited for the bus to arrive as we munched on some toast, omelets, and fruit and read books, played on phones, and groggily talked to others in the room. After almost an hour of waiting we get the memo that our bus was in Pune (about 2.5-3 hours minimum) away from Walchandnagar where we were located…. Thankfully the beautiful sunrise we witnessed made up for the disappointing start to our travels. 

When the bus arrives, it’s a huge coach style bus! I think there were 34 or 35 seats and there is only 14 SWE people on the trip. Guess what guys, I was able to do the math and determine we could all have our own row of two seats to ourselves if we wanted, thanks engineering! lol Our drive was long and bumpy-> man I thought Ann Arbor had some rough roads and bad pothole…consider my perception forever changed! Maybe the Detroit car companies should consider making a trip to India to scan and model the roads here so that they can over-design and have wonderful cars that perform well in the smaller potholes in the US. Thankfully, many of us did get a chance to catch up on some rest on the bus and a few of us were even able to finish books they were reading (don’t ask me how they managed to read with the amount our bus bounced). Also, never have I ever been on a bus with as annoying of horn. This is actually a problem when in India because the horn is literally used every time that the vehicle passes and that is very frequently in our case! In the words of a Kathy, “the horn is like a regular horn having seizures repeatedly”. I have a recording but I’m not sure if it will do justice. Listen here. Unfortunately the delay in departure meant that we didn’t arrive to our hotel in Aurangabad until 5:45pm. After checking in we did get a chance to do some brief sightseeing before dark. We visited the “Mini Taj Mahal” in Aurangabad. Our tour guide was telling us how much of a bad imitation this structure is in comparison to the real Taj, but the interesting thing is when you haven’t seen the real things, the “mini” or “bad” Taj still seems very impressive. Also the trend seems to continue. I don’t think we’ve been to an attraction yet that at least one member of our group hasn’t been asked for a picture with a local. Tonight we were part of a family portrait at the “mini Taj” and this afternoon during our lunch stop at a small shop in the middle of nowhere, we were even asked to be in another photo with a few of the restaurant workers! 

P.S. I'm so excited to finally get to post a picture of someone taking pictures with us, it has been an interesting experience...

Sunday, May 15 - SWE Pune Visit

Today was a much anticipated day for our section—we would be driving to Pune to meet the SWE Pune Affiliates. This is the first time our section has had the opportunity to meet an international SWE group. We were able to meet for a few hours and discuss many things from how our outreach went last week, to how the SWE Pune Affiliate group functions, how individuals chose their respective engineering fields, how college admissions and what college life is like, if there is a difference in how women vs men are treated as engineers in the workplace, managing work-life balance, to how the SWE India conference went. I think our discussion really opened our eyes to how engineering is perceived in various places around the world and to different ways we can run outreach activities with k-12. Additionally speaking with a professional SWE section was good for us to learn and think of other ways to connect with professional sections near us either in person or virtually for mentoring and other support. 

Following this productive meeting we went to the mall for about 2.5 hours for lunch and some shopping. The mall reminded me of the Mall of America because of the set up, number of levels, and the attractions beyond shopping stores (like the high flying simulation, arcade section, vehicle exhibit, and outdoor amusement park rides and rock climbing wall). I was able to get a few new tunics and a charging cord for my computer because mine wasn’t working here, so now my laptop has risen from the dead and is functional once again! After the mall, what did we do? Drove to a special shop that only sold sarees! We all tried on sarees and many of us ended up purchasing one. I was amazed at the shear number of options as well as how inexpensive most of us were able to purchase a saree and the undergarments for. 

All in all, our drive there (including a quick stop at a well known Hindu temple), meeting with SWE Pune, shopping, and return drive was over 14 hours. Needless to say I was so exhausted I immediately came home, packed up my suitcase and crashed by 10:30pm. Our morning schedule tomorrow begins at 5am to start the 5-7 hour drive from Walchandnagar to Aurangabad, so rest is a good plan. 

P.s. I'll upload a photo of our SWE UofM and Pune together and the Saree shop takeover when I get a chance. For now these are a few images from the temple. 

Saturday, May 14- Saree Prom!

So there was a reason that the principal scheduled us 2 hours to learn how to wrap sarees: 30 minutes of tea, 15-20 minutes to teach and wrap everyone, and the rest for SO MANY pictures. Prom round two but with more pictures! It was really cute because the women teachers we had been working with all camp were teaching us and were so excited to see us in their sarees that they wanted lots and lots of pictures of us and with us :D 

Immediately following “dress-up” we changed into long clothing, hard hats and glasses for a factory tour of Walchandnagar Industries. #SWElookLikeAnEngineer The main thing we saw was the defense division of the plant floor. I was impressed with the shear size of machinery and equipment that this plant produces and the extreme accuracy in which they must make all the components. 

Following our factory tour we were able to meet with 5 female engineers at Walchandnager Industries. This was an interesting opportunity for us to hear about women in STEM (mostly engineering) and learn how women engineers are perceived today in India. The most common engineering disciplines for women engineers today in India is actually computer science/IT; while one of the least common is Mechanical Engineering. This contrasts greatly with the situation in the states because we have a very low percentage of women in CS and a moderate amount of women in ME. Today many women have their careers chosen or at least heavily encouraged by their parents and IT is pushed because math skills are no longer a deterrent, IT is a secure job, and you don’t have to be hands-on or on a shop floor at all you can be “safely at a desk in an office.” 

After our meeting at Walchandnagar we had our closing ceremony at BCA with the teachers and students. It was wonderful to hear and share what we’ve learned from one-another through this week of interactions. Gifts were exchanged between SWE at the University of Michigan and BCA and pictures followed the conclusion of our ceremony. P.s. the BCA Principal even included a SWE pun in his speech—> s’WE can do it!! 

We finished the evening with a car tour of the Walchandnagar township and a short walk in the evening. On our walk we actually ran into the boys of Standard 10 (like grade 10) and they had another parting gift for us from their class. It was a welcoming statue that said “Friends 4 Ever from Standard 10 boys” on the bottom, so precious! Can’t wait to place it in the SWOffice :D 

Friday, May 13 Cricket!

Hi All,

We had a bright and early start to our day this morning. We were at the school by 7am for our Cricket match! Over the next two hours we learned the basics of the game (cricket has over 200 rules…) in order for us to be successful as we played against the female students of BCA. Cricket has a few key differences from baseball/softball —firstly, the bowler that “pitches” the ball usually bounces the ball at the batter; secondly, the batter’s swing is more like the second-half of a golf swing because it goes from low-to-high. Many of the other rules get really detailed, so feel free to watch videos from youtube (can try to post one when I have better wifi). Thanks to the crazy amazing batting skills of Heather and Michaella, in 10 overs we scored 60 runs and were able to beat BCA by a narrow 3 run margin. It was quite a fun experience! Since Umich plans on making the North Campus Grove a “destination”, can we add cricket to the construction plan? Maybe a SWE intramural cricket team is in order??

Today was the last day of the regular camp that we taught at BCA. The main activities of the day included a project about alternative energy/ energy conversion, more specifically wind turbines. We also had a presentation about all the engineering disciplines taught at Umich for the students to have a greater understanding of how the projects throughout the camp have been directly related to one or more engineering fields. Additionally, we continued to work with Lego Mindstorms and explore the intricacies of implementing loops into code. While I am not a CS major, it was a lot of fun to work with the students as they worked on creating, implementing, and testing their code on the robots. The students were so excited to work with the robots and their faces lit up with each challenge we gave them. Working with the BCA students has made me extremely excited to volunteer at more outreach activities with SWE in the Fall. 

This afternoon we had a cultural exchange between U of M SWE students and BCA students. After working on our Indian dance performances for the last month or so, we finally presented our final performance to the BCA students and staff. Following our dances we also sang and performed the “Cup Song” from Pitch Perfect, and finished off our show with a resounding chorus of “The Victors.” There was a reason that SWE at U of M went first for this cultural exchange; that reason is because the BCA students are EXTREMELY talented! A few groups of students did classical Indian dance, and musical ensembles continued with various combinations of traditional Indian instruments. One thing that stuck with me from the introduction to this exchange was a brief explanation of why it is important to have such a cultural exchange in order to more completely understand each other’s culture in order to further improve future collaborations. 

Thursday 5/12- Pizza Box Circuits

Hello!

So I’d like to quickly share an epiphany to how summer in India differs quite drastically from a traditional summer in the Midwest. In Michigan if you are taking summer classes, students typically “bundle up” to go inside to the cold AC and then immediately “strip down” upon going outside into the heat in order to keep cool. The is the complete opposite of what we are doing here in India; we “bundle up” in order to go outside and school in the heat in order to ensure we are conservative and assimilate to cultural norms, and upon returning to our living quarters we immediately “strip down” in order to cool down faster in the AC area!

Today we started the day once again with a quick continuation of our yoga lessons followed by another full day of school. The activities of the day included a computer programming activity called “Scratch”, Lego Mindstorm robots, and Pizza Box Circuits. Gabi and I were leading the Pizza Box Circuit activity to teach about Electrical Engineering and employ the basic circuit elements into various designs that simulate real-world situations (like a light that needs to be able to be turned on from either of the two light switches at either end of the hallway). It was fun to see the students excel and not only create different circuits that ours, but also see the different ways students chose to use paperclips, brads, and LEDs to model their circuits.

While it was fun to see student thrive with an activity you had a hand in planning, I think my favorite part of the day was outside of the classroom activities. During today’s snack break, we went out and sat with groups of students to continue to talk to them and learn. It was really fun to sit with a group of girls because they were sweet and really wanted us to try various foods that they brought from home. It was fun to hear about their favorite dishes and what they typically have for meals. The girls asked us about our thoughts on the weather and were intrigued when we mentioned Michigan having snow. Ha luckily some of us had some perfect pictures to explain. After a little while, some of the trip participants started to take out Snapchat and show the various face-swap features and dog faces, etc. This was quite a fun snack break learning and laughing with each other. :) Today we also ended up having some extra time at the end of our activities and finally had more opportunities to speak with the students and teachers on a personal level and learn about their culture and lives.

In our afternoon teacher interaction we tried to implement “Lean In” Circles to have small group discussions and exchanges about Indian and US policies and practices for safety in schools and mental health. Our conversations veered quite soon as the teachers were very interested in hearing from us about if we’ve noticed over the last 3-5 years a large change in students as the “technology divide” has grown and changed the attention spans, lack of engagement of students, and the difficulty of teaching students around 6^th grade with the rebellious stage (various cross-cultural epidemics we have in common).

At the end of the teacher interactions we also learned how to do Rangoli (the beautiful temporary sidewalk artwork). Wow, the teachers make it look so easy and effortless to create beautiful artwork. A note to the wise: it’s never THAT easy! Haha, but Gabi and I did make a fairly pretty design. (Gabi has the picture and I'll try to find it shortly. For now I've uploaded other Rangoli)