The Pink City

Hello! Sorry for not posting sooner about the slum, I don't have much to say about it so here are a few bullets:

• This was not a slum, I would classify it as an ex-slum. There used to be temporary huts but an organization called HOPE Worldwide came in, tore them down, and has since build a little community of real concrete structure houses. It was surprisingly very clean and pleasant. Not at all what we expected.
• HOPE not only rebuilds the physical structures but also provides education, vocational training, and some health care for the residents so they can ideally support themselves by a means other than begging. 
• This village was literally called the 'Leprosy Colony' (printed on a sign) and 95% of the parents in this village have or have had leprosy and were thus outcast from their societies

I was really impressed with this organization and we were all pleasantly surprised at how un-slum like this location was. One downside for you guys, no pictures allowed!

-------

This weekend (really it was just Saturday) I went to Jaipur (the Pink City) with some girls from my group. I am exhausted from 6 hour train ride home at 5 am this morning, but we had a fantastic trip! We left Delhi on Friday afternoon and arrived late in Jaipur. Since we only had one day to explore we got an early start and packed lots in. We started at the Amber Fort:

I have no idea how they built this massive structure up in these hills!

Instead of walking to the top of the fort, we decided to…drum roll please…RIDE ELEPHANTS!! That’s right. I rode on an elephant. J

Elephant!!

A tame textile shop

Looking down from the fort

Just a monkey, no big deal

Inside the walls of the Amber Fort

After the fort we went to the Anohki Museum of Hand Painting. This area of Jaipur is known for their hand printed fabrics. The best part of the museum was the live demonstrations of hand carving the wooden blocks:

Printing the fabric….

Amazing to watch how fast this man can print a sheet of fabric!

And then getting to make our own! I was in heaven. You could buy a scarf and the nice old man helped us print our own! Best. Museum. Ever.

Making my scarf!

Then we drove by the Jal Mahal (water palace) to take pictures. You can’t go inside (for obvious reasons!)

Jal Mahal

Then it was off to Old Jaipur to stroll through the bazaars. The streets are lineed with shop after shop of chappals (sandals), textiles, bags, scarves, sarees, bangles, and more. It’s a feast for the eyes but the pushy shopkeepers are exhausting.  

Bags of powdered dye for the upcoming Holi celebration!

And just in case you've forgotten what I look like...

We got home today around noon and spent the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry, Hindi homework, and repacking. Tomorrow we catch a 6 am train for our first group excursion. Destination: Aligarh! There is a large medical college in this town so we're going for four days of lectures, observation, and more! 

Hope everyone is doing well, sending each of you my love!