I am now in the process of creating my blog, so thought I'd give it a whirl...
I'm starting the countdown, I board my plane for New Deli, India one month from today on January 13, 2012. Everything is coming together nicely. I received more information on my volunteer project in Delhi this week. The Women Project where I will be placed is called Lakshya. I will be staying with a a host family in the city and going to the volunteer project in Faridabad everyday via Auto Rickshaw (tuk tuk), which belongs to the project. (a ride with a driver...much more interesting then booking with Enterprise hey SACL colleagues). A local staff member will lead me at the project and I have been told he speaks English..... which is encouraging. The host family with whom I will stay, consists of a husband, his wife and their three year old child. My volunteer work will consist of helping women with budgeting, teaching English to the women and working with 10 street boys ages 5-14 (could this be more difficult then raising Jordan, Mitch and Zak haha). I will also be doing home visits with women who work from their homes, so I will have a great opportunity to learn about their lives.
I will land in Delhi on Jan.15, after being in the air for 16+ hours and on Jan.16, I begin with a few days of orientation to India. I will learn about safety issues, basic culture and history of India; culture and traditions and receive instruction in Hindi language: basic letters and words of welcoming, greeting, short expressions, as well as learn about important and handy words which would help me in my work placement. Orientation also consists of a guided tours to Delhi's most visited tourist spots, including the India Gate, Lotus Temple, Humayum’s Tomb, Qutab Minar and a guided historic tour of Old city of Delhi to see the historic sites (Red Fort and Chandini Chowk),
In the evening I will explore along with my coordinator the local markets and then one evening go to a Hindi movie in the evening to see and understand it in a visual way.
Today's trivia: Did you know that Indian cinema makes more movies in a year than Hollywood! I hope they serve popcorn!!!
Goodbye for now in Hindi
