WELCOME HOME
Arrival and Orientation in Delhi (August 20th - 23rd)
I arrived into Delhi with the 8 other Fulbrighters shown above around 1:15am to the Delhi international airport. As we waited for our group to trickle through baggage claim, we immediately started inquiring about each other's hometowns, backgrounds, projects etc. That would be the theme of the next 4 days; sharing your own elevator pitch again and again so that you could hear everyone's else's amazing stories.
We arrived at the Taj Vivanta hotel around 2:30am Monday morning August 20th. I had infact flown for my entire birthday (August 19th) except for a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt. I didn't mind so much since the beginning of my Fulbright adventure was one of the best birthday presents I could have ever asked for.
Hannah and I were (of course) placed in the same hotel room for orientation - they knew we knew each other and it felt they though we, therefore, came as a 2-for-1 kind of deal. Hannah literally jumped for joy on our ridiculously comfortable beds (by India standards) when it hit her that we were finally here. We stayed up way too late talking considering that orientation started in a matter of hours. I figured I was screwed regardless of the sleep I was about to get since I knew that jet lag would run it's course.
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The next morning was full of formalities of introductions, congratulations from the committees, and icebreakers between us researchers. Only non-PhD Fulbrighters are required to attend orientation, so almost all of us had just graduated except for a few Ph.D. people who just happen to already be in the country. I was surprised to learn that except for about 5 of us undergraduates, we had all been to India before. I'm assuming our prior experience is what made us strong candidates.
We all sat in this large conference room in the hotel and were served tea, coffee, and lunch throughout our orientation days. Except for the once-daily excursion, Fulbright would take us to see a local tourist attraction, we were otherwise kept cooped up in the hotel with air-conditioning, filtered water, and nice food (often we were served western dished like Alfredo penne pasta, and breafast sausage). All of us agreed that it still didn't feel like we were in India yet except for the glimpses of culture we could get while out and about on our excursions.
Click the picture below to take a look at my album of our excursions!
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EXCURSIONS
Trip to Lohdi gardens (Monday, August 20th)
Monday's evening walk was through beautiful Lohdi Gardens. It was full of luscious greenery and winding walkways past lakes and old temples. The wildlife was abundant and I couldn't help myself from starting my imagined "Street Dogs of India" album. As I said, anyone from India laughs at my fetish for capturing these commonplace animals, but I feel they in a sense come with the territory of appreciating the culture of these tourist sites. To the right is just one of the many beautiful temples we came across.
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Click the image below to enter into an album of more pictures!
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Humayun's Tomb (Tuesday August 21st)
The next morning, we started the day with a trip to see Humayun's tomb. Through my photos, I try to draw attention to the colors and architecture. To me, a picture is worth a million words in India.
Click the photo below to scroll through the album of photos I took.
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FORMAL FULBRIGHT DINNER
Wine and Dining at Taj Mahal Hotel (Evening of Tuesday August 21st)
Our second evening in Delhi, we were all bussed to the Taj Mahal hotel for a cocktail hour and dinner. People from the US embassy, members of the Fulbright decision board, and other representatives from the United States and Indian science and education foundations were there to mill around and talk with us. It really reminded us just how much our two countries believe in funding the kind of work that we all do. It was exceptionally humbling.
Click on the picture below to scroll through our formal Fulbright dinner night!
NIGHT MARKET IN DELHI
Final day of Orientation (Wednesday Aug 22nd)
The last afternoon of our orientation was filled with discussion of diversity in India along with conceptions of caste, race, religion and gender within the culture's history of development asWa country.
We were done around 3 and I messaged my friend Adhiti's parents who I had stayed with once before while I was in India last, Smitha and Thothathri. They very willingly came to pick me up to do an evening of shopping at Delhi's Khan market. We had a wonderful evening of conversation including everything from holidays in India, to the connectedness (and lack thereof) that the internet has brought the world, to ethics of AI facial recognition. They kept repeating to me that they want me to feel as one of their own children and insisted that I come to stay for a holiday.
"This is your HOME!" Thothathri would insist, "Come back home, okay?"
They also graciously offered to host members of my family when they arrive in India to take us to the Taj Mahal and to do shopping Etc.
Click on the pictures below to scroll through my album of the night market!
This man was exceptionally proud of his shop
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Hand made lamps that radiated color with a light behind
This man was exceptionally proud of his shop