Breaking News from Delhi!

Hello from New Delhi! Interesting fact: There is Delhi and New Delhi. New Delhi is the new part of the city. There are zero cows and it is probably the cleanest place we've been in India. Delhi is the capital of the country so there are a ton of government buildings and the government building here are so beautiful. There are also a ton of nice stores and hotels and I have to tell you, I felt a little bit at home. Old Delhi is what our driver decided to drive through to get us to our hotel. We stopped a few times to go to the bathroom but folks, I would not get out of the car. We drove through so much dirt and trash and poverty. Lucky Kirsten was sleeping the whole time but alas, I could not fall asleep. Instead, I sat there and stared, and made a plan of attack in case someone tried to kidnap the white girl. Ok, ok. I wasn't THAT bad. But it was just the most poverty we've seen since we've been in India. Therefore, my bladder almost exploded.

While in Delhi it rained, rained, rained. It was normal for us because it’s been raining basically every day since we've been here but apparently it never rains here. The streets were kinda flooded and we got 5 inches of rain in 2 hours!! All we wanted to do was go play in the rain like the little children we are but alas, we decided against it because we didn't want to attract more attention to ourselves.

We saw the Lotus Temple which, would you believe it, is shaped like a lotus flower. When leaving the temple grounds, some school girls walked passed and starting starring at me. Let’s be honest, I’m used to this. But then they started whispering and pointing and saying “Lal”. It means red. Like my face was red. IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT IT WAS 50 BAJILLION DEGREES OUTSIDE AND THAT YOU COULD COOK AN EGG ON MY FACE. It was pretty funny though. That night we got SUBWAY. I have never been so excited for Subway in my entire life. It tasted so American and we were so grateful because We. Are. Tired. Of. Indian. Food. And our stomachs are also (Hello, Delhi Belly). And here’s the best part—They deliver here! Dream come true.

The Lotus Temple

On Saturday we had a bunch of fun plans with Rimpi but they didn’t work out because of da rains. We ended up going shopping with them and eating dinner with them later though. The restaurant we went to: Were we even in India?! It was awesome, normal food and it was glorious.  Earlier in the day we tried to go sightseeing with our new driver (Our old driver, Kundun, had to go home sick and we were sincerely sad about this because we loved him). We went to the India Gate which I don’t really know the significance of it, but it’s basically a big brick gate thing that says India on it. In order to get over to it we had to cross the road. So I would like to tell you a joke. Why did the three Americans try to cross the roads? To get to the other side, of course. But while crossing over to the other side they found themselves engulfed in traffic. One of the Americans lost their shoe in the rain, stepped back to get it and was bumped by a motorcyclist. Luckily, the American was ok but the motorcyclist fell off his motorcycle and skid across the road. Some nice Indian pedestrians ran to the scene to get the guy up so the crazy traffic wouldn’t run him over. The Americans, realizing traffic was still coming right at them when they stopped in the middle of the road to see what happened, fled for their lives. Once making it safely to the sidewalk, the Americans see a news cast. Great. Well we just gave you a lovely background action for your video. You’re welcome. One of the Americans also made the mistake of wearing white pants that rainy, rainy day. And then the news photographer started taking our picture as we were getting drenched in the rain. The epitome of stupid Americans. By far the most stupid American thing we’ve done yet. We could’ve been hero’s!!! But folks, the traffic got the best of us. 

Now we are in the airport headed to Chennai for Rising Star!! We are very excited about this because after all, it is the main reason we are even here in India. But let me just vent a little. PEOPLE ARE RACIST AGAINST ME CAUSE I’M WHITE. This has never happened to me before, so it’s probably a good thing to experience at some point. Without fail, every airport we’ve been in (Folks, we’ve been in a lot), I always get stopped. Or double checked. Or they have to check my bags more thoroughly. Or the security guards always stare me down. Or the Indian ladies in the bathroom get dead silent when I walk in the bathroom and they just stare at me. It’s because I’m the minority, I know, I know.

Now I would like to just list some things that I have noticed about India and Indian people. I’ve been making a list:

-        1.  I’ve never heard of Indian people being hospitable but I have never met a culture so respectful, so kind and so welcoming.

       2.   At restaurants the waiters serve you. On your plate. You like can’t do anything for yourself.

-        3.  Indians are my kind of people! They call themselves lazy. They take however long they want to eat. They have maids and cooks. And it is glorious.

-         4. When they say someone died they say the “expired”.

-         5.  Two words: Head Bobble. I love it! They bobble their head side to side when saying yes. I may or may not have already started doing this without thinking about it…

-          6. Almost all the cars are manual and they are all like brand spanking new! Where are all the old cars?!

-         7.  Toilet paper medal stoppers and butt sprayers.

-         8.  Making it impossible to find the flusher cause it looks different on every toilet.

-        9.   Hotel room keys turn the lights on. Confuses us every time cause we “can’t find” the room key.

-        10.   Shared wifi. Wifi is so difficult here! If you even can get it, you can only connect one device to it. Of course, us Americans, have like 50 devices!! #firstworldproblems

-        11.   Bed sheets. Don’t exist. Just a comforter.

-         12.  The car horns are hilarious. Some of them sound like ice cream trucks.

-        13.   Milkshakes are literally milk and flavor. No ice cream.

-         14.  Where are the females? There are SO MANY young men who walk around in herds, flocks, stampedes. They are like American girls. But there are so many guys, where are all the girls??

-          15. Indian American food is so much better than actual American food. Pizza Hut is THE BOMB here. I could eat it every day.

     Now here is WEEK TWO VIDEO:

Alright that’s all for now folks. Tomorrow (Monday) we will be in Chennai starting RISING STAR! And we are so excited because after all, that’s the reason we’re here!