from Delhi to Amritsar

Dhadek dhadek! I took my first Indian train today. Very fun. So much to see out of the window, and I had not a clue as to what most of it was. I was surprised by how much the area between Delhi and Amritsar looks like Illinois - basically flat with lots of fields, even some corn, although here the fields are much more subdivided, by little earthworks or hedges. And train snacks are good! I very much enjoyed my pitcher of boiling water and little coffee packet - and my paper-wrapped white bread (the whitest bread I've seen in some time, I might add) and jam.

After having a late lunch in the hotel, we went to Jallianwala Bagh and then the Golden Temple. I don't really know what to say about either - I don't think I have quite enough context to appreciate the importance of events at the first (the British shot a bunch of innocent people who were gathered in a garden [I think it was a garden, right dostis?], and this is an important event in the Indian freedom struggle) and I felt like we were treating the Golden Temple like a zoo, stopping at inconvenient places to take group photos and things like that (although to be fair I am never quite sure how to behave in houses of worship of any kind when I am there just to visit rather than to participate in something).

I would tell you what we did our last two days in Delhi, but mainly we were in very interesting lectures and then driving around the city to visit a Muslim school for street children and visit curriculum development experts at some national educational baord. If you see Beth Loves Bollywood you will see that I went to my first Hindi film in India, which as you can imagine was a treat beyond treats.

Okay, the group is leaving the internet cafe. Off to find dinner and something cold.