But You Look Nepali!

While I know that I look quite different from many travelers here, I never imagined that people would go out of their way to take photos with me. I felt like a spectacle at Qutub Minar, the minaret/mosque ruins in Delhi.

Upon our entry into the ruins, a group of Indian tourists from Andhra Pradesh stopped me to ask for a photo. I was so surprised, seeing as Japanese tourists are a well-known and well-observed aspect of travel, even in India. Not 30 minutes later, another group of Indians tried to not-so-secretly take a photo of me so I just asked outright if they wanted one of us. Highlight: one girl straight up squeezed Julia (AKA Not Exotic White Girl) out of the picture. I managed to get a photo just for demonstration purposes; enjoy the colors of India:

Two taxi fiascos later, Julia and I managed to get ourselves to PVR Center. While waiting for Nirali, the amazing sounds of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" reached my ears. Two teenage boys were playing music from their phones, and I traded them a sneak listen of "Bad Romance" for a phone call to Nirali. They told me they also like Akon and laughed when I called them bhaiya (brother).

Nirali found us, and we headed off to the tattoo parlor to get her lotus flower done. Julia and I alternated holding Nirali's hand while we got henna done. Nirali's tattoo looks hella cool--will post photos when it heals. She limped to an autorickshaw and we crossed the road to one of her NGO's education centers for slum kids. By "kids", the students actually ranged from 13 to 24. The small group of girls we spent the afternoon talking to were 19 to 21, attend "college" (aka small at-will classes) during the day, and come to the center from 2 to 5 pm every day to take computer courses and practice English.

Julia and I sat with them and helped them practice. We learned that they play "alley cricket", kind of like Americans play street hockey, and they wanted to know about my Indian ex-boyfriend from Uttar Pradesh. We asked what they were studying and what they wanted to be. It really surprised me that the girls wanted to be politicians, lawyers, and teachers--my cynism wonders if they will ever make it out of the house if they are married. When we walk around, there are only men on the streets; I assume the wives are stuck at home all day. I want them to do well so badly; the girls were so small and sweet for 20-year-olds who live in slums. Their aspirations were incredibly moving, and it makes me wonder how they aren't jaded.

I think visiting the center has been one of my favorite things we've done, and I wouldn't mind finding a way to go back and do it like Nirali is. Julia has photos of girls and our Hindi lesson, so I'll get them up ASAP.