High Commission & EAD

Last Wednesday was our day at the High Commission (Canadian Embassy). The other group was about 2 hours late because they got a flat tire on the way to Delhi. It really felt as though we had entered into Canada for the day. The facility was really nice, with Western architecture and a swimming pool. I had a bit of culture shock seeing so many Caucasians there. For the first hour there, we set up the timeline we had made of pictures from the pre-orientation camp in September to our Indian midproject in Mussoorie. We talked with some of the Canadian employees at the embassy, and found a lot of connections with them (i.e. one man I spoke two had two sons doing their degrees at University of Guelph). Then it was lunchtime, and we all moved downstairs to the restaurant. There was some Indian food (rice, daal, etc) as well as 'Canadian food' (chicken burgers, beef burgers, french fries, lasagna). It was so good to be eating familiar foods. The other Canada World Youth team arrived as we were finishing up our lunch. I think the funniest thing to see was that they (living in a remote village) had all lost weight, and we (living in Delhi where our host families feed us like crazy and then we buy cookies) had all gained weight. The Canadian part of the team was only 4 people big, and compared their program to 'Survivor' since so many people had been kicked out. Lunch was followed by apple crisp and chocolate cake, and we went upstairs for the official part of the day. Each group did a brief presentation on their program so far, and we discussed the challenges and benefits of the program. We learned that because India is no longer consdered a developing country, it is not on CIDA's list of priority countries, and therefore a Canada World Youth program in India looks doubtful past next year. Although the CIDA representative present did not have any direct say over the project funding, she seemed very passionate about encouraging CIDA to continue funding the program.
Last Thursday, I decided to get a haircut, which turned out to be more of an adventure than I would have expected. It's not an easy thing to get your haircut in a foreign language, not to mention the fact that my hair is different than any hair they cut. Although I asked for them to just add layers and not take any of the length, my hair is about 5 inches shorter. Oh well...
Friday was my EAD with Annu, and we went to the Global Open University for the Inauguration of the Panchayati Raj Department. The prochancellor of the university was there, as well as the man from the government's Ministry of Panchayati Raj who I have been communicating with. There were also a few foreign embassadors there to attend the inauguration. It was an interesting insight into the inner workings of the Indian government and parts of the education system. You'll have to ask me about it later when I'm not writing on a public blog.
After the day at the University, the group went to a nearby mall, which was nicer than any mall I've been inside in Canada (the contrast within this country's economy will never cease to shock me). All big brand name stores were there (ie. French Connection) and clothes were at least 10 - 20 times the price as clothes you can buy in the markets. We settled for some 19 rupee (50 cent) gelatto ice cream, and headed for home.
On Saturday, I went with Annu, Barbara, and Aakanksha (another counterpart pair) to Suraj Kund, a craft sale just outside Delhi in Haryana. They have crafts and clothes from all over the country, so I was able to buy typical products from other states. I did a lot of shopping for gifts that day, and bought a lot for myself as well. It was really crowed there, but a very interesting place to be. There were huge colourful carpets and umbrellas hanging everywhere, and all the buildings (i.e shops, food vendors, washrooms) were mud and straw huts.
On Sunday Annu had to work on university applications, so I had a free day to venture out on my own again. I took the bus to SPYM and spent the day with five of the Canadians from the team. We spent most of the day in an autorickshaw because we kept changing our minds about where we wanted to go. I decided to get some dress shirts custom made here, but the tailor others have gone to was in a market that was closed on Sunday.
Today Annu and I are taking leave from our placement to go visit her aunt and go to a market near her house. I plan on buying some fabric to get clothes made, and hopefully check a few more things off my shopping list.