Start of an AMA-zing trip to India!

WHERE DO I EVEN START...

To give a brief abstract/purpose of my trip to India, was to participate in a medical/surgical camp with my home university (University of California, Irvine) club, Anteaters Medicine Abroad (AMA). We had a week of touring around India and the second week involved the three day medical/surgical camp in different parts of the city Bangalore, in Southern India. 


December 18 -Day 1: London Heathrow to Delhi Indira Airport and First day in Delhi

Flight was 7 and a half hours long and I just watched The Dark Knight Rises then slept the rest of the way (or kept trying to). The girl next to me slept almost the whole way through!  Baggage claim at Delhi took about 30 minutes for me to get my luggage L it was bad. Arveen, her dad, uncle, and our tour guide Dilpreet met me to take me to settle down at Arveen’s aunt’s house in Delhi. I was so thirsty after the flight I drank a big pepsi and I don’t like pepsi! We had a home cooked Indian meal (garbanzo beans with potato gingery sort of curry, a yogurt dish, a mint spiced dish, naan bread, vegetables, and paneer,cottage cheese). They made me eat so much and eat correctly which was quite embarrassing, but it was really nice to learn their culture! I learnt a lot of Punjabi/Hindi words as well! Dilpreet, Paramveer (Dilpreet's friend), Arveen, and I went to a really luxurious mall called Ambience Mall in Delhi to watch The Hobbit. 

We felt like we were in California because it was so nice. Observation though, security is very tight in India because of recent issues with Pakistan, so everywhere we went we were searched/scanned/made to go through the beeping airport check machine. That's always separated male and female too. Back to the theatre, the seats are velvet and lean way back, reclining movie seats for ya!! THE HOBBIT WAS AMAZING. We tried nachos (indian spiced chips, cheese, and salsa) and had a starbucks coffee latte. After, we sat for a bit at Dilpreet’s house and met all his family too! Everyone is quite friendly in the sense they hug you and talk to you J 

We had some indian sweets called Mithai, didn't like it too much though. After that, we had street food dinner called Gol Gappay or Bani Purri, which translates to water balls. It’s a pastry shell filled with a big of sugar and spicy water, potato and bean veggie mix. You're suppose to eat it all in one bite each time and it’s a big mouthful! I was a bit under pressure eating it, so I did each one in a mouthful and yeah...I'd be lying if I said it wasn't painful and if I didn't feel like crying from the spiciness. You get 6 for less than 50 cents CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? 

 Streets of Delhi

Gol Gappay!

 Then we went to pick up Daryl, Akash, Curtis, and Kim.(almost the whole group in AMA)

So far, Delhi is much more modernized than I thought, although along the car ride, you;ll see the streets laden with the poor in tents or sleeping on the street, fires made on the side of the roads, stray dogs EVERYWHERE, no rules in traffic yet there are not many crashes, and a honk from at least two people every 2 minutes! Weather was surprisingly nice, sunny but not too hot! Everyone stared at me as well, being Chinese is a rarity in India! Food has been surprisingly good so far and no sickness yet.

Punjabi/Hindi words I've learned today!

Gol Gappay (Punjabi)/ Bani Purri (Hindi)- Water Balls street food

Bus- Enough, Stop

Hanji- Yes

Nemastay (Hindi)/ Sut Sri Acal (Punjabi)- Hello, greeting

Thighee-G= Older Aunty

Thigha-G= Older Uncle

Gagee-G= Younger Aunty

Gaga-G= Younger Uncle