Masala masala!

I have been enjoying many different activities that are included in my classes here! They are really teaching me a lot about the culture and lifestyle here. We attended a cooking class at Grihasthi, an NPO in the village where I am attending school. We learned how to make bottle gourd, gheer, daal mekhani, karela, japati, rotti, and paneer parantha. The food was great, and I learned that masala is a blend of seven basic spices. They are altered for certain dishes and tea. The woman who runs the organization, Sandhya, was quite inspiring. This organization is a woman's empowerment NPO that teaches women how to cook and see. They are able to make money from their goods and help their family with food or clothing. Sandhya was telling us about the lack of health education and it's effects on many people of lower castes. A woman came to sew a shirt for her son while we were there. Her young son clearly had Rickets, but his mother sees nothing wrong with her child. Sandhya's next goal is to feed a certain number of children in the village each day with her kitchen, and help family's become aware of health issues.
We also went on a tour of Delhi! I got so see the labor workshops right in the village I go to school. Big designers for weddings have their workshops here. The workers are extremely talented in sewing, beading, and dying beautiful designs on wedding saris. The poor workers are only paid about 100 US dollars a month and work long days in bad conditions. After the sad tour of the local working conditions, we went to do tourist like things. We went to the Lodhi Gardens to see the ruins of the Lodhi Dynasty. This was quite a nice walk through beautiful greenery and tombs. Many couple come to these gardens to have time away from the bustle of life in this city. Our guide asked me if people express their love through gardens in the US. I laughed and said only by giving flowers I suppose. People are so passionate and emotional here! There are so many words for happiness and laughter. Loyalty and passion for people, religion and animals can be seen everywhere in the language and actions of the everyday person. Human interactions can be surprisingly genuine in contrast to the many scams found in Delhi.

We decided to explore the nightlife in Delhi on Thursday at a modern club in Greater Kailash 1 called Urban Pind. I really should have brought more western clothes considering most people were foreigners who dressed quite stylishly. Women got everything free which was nice. There were images from the Kama Sutra all over the walls and they played Techno House American remixed music. It was a lot of fun, it seems as though house music is the new hip music here although it is way old news in the US. I was trying to show so Dubstep music to Raghu (our coordinator four our school) and his friend on the way home. :)

To end off the week before boarding a train to Rishikesh, we had a relaxing yet painful yoga session. I had previously believed I was a flexible person, but found myself in pain with many of the poses. This was a beginners class...perhaps I will get better with the next session. This week has been tiering, but very filled with excitement and adventures.