Good news! Pictures from Day 1 and 2 are now up. First round of pictures are from Ahmedabad (city, malls, restaurants, etc)
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As we walked into the biggest mall in Ahmedabad, we were quick to notice above all the sari-adorned women, security guards and shopkeepers, Chicken Fried by the Zach Brown Band filled the air with tiny remnants of home. Ironic how a culture with so little in common with the US, would share a faint love of country music.
Fireworks store for the 4th of July party. More shopping. Cows. Camels. Smells. Lunch.
Finally, a meal I could actually enjoy. One of the finest Chinese restaurants in all of Ahmedabad is where I found a safe haven of vegetable dishes that suited my palette and which I could also stomach. What I've found here is if I stick to the plain rice, boiled veggies, eggs and toast, I will be just fine. Sometimes I wish I could be more adventurous, but I would much rather be a tad hungry and content than sick.
Old City Ahmedabad
Slumdog Millionaire does not do Old City justice. I have never felt a rush of this sort--imagine: every man, woman and child staring at you because you're different, you're American. While we were taking pictures of architecture and temples, Indian onlookers were taking pictures right back at us. Poverty, but in such a way that a homeless person on Harry Hines would look somewhat blessed. Women and children so thin and suffering from malnutrition begged for just one sip of water...Women working in the 100+heat who looked around 90 years old. It was complete and utter culture shock. You can not even begin to imagine what the slums are like in Ahmedabad, and even the small segment of population who owned vehicles and their own homes lived in conditions that are unfathomable to us, as Americans, as truly blessed Americans.
Rickshaw's were the main mode of transportation this afternoon, and while they may not be the safest they showed us a side of the city that cannot be captured by anything short of experience. Street lights, stop signs, right of way are all legitimate traffic laws, right? WRONG--They are neither obeyed nor enforced in the city. The right of way goes to whoever has the guts to pull out in front, no matter the size of the vehicle or situation. A tour bus v. a rickshaw. Today, the tour bus won while the rickshaw subsided and slowed down. Honking horns is ambient noise in the city, and merely serves as a warning that a motorcycle, rickshaw or car/van is pulling up close to you (if not touching you). Cutting through alley ways, crossing over oncoming traffic lanes, I must say that the rickshaw experience in Ahmedabad was truly one of the scariest, yet most exhilarating things I've ever taken part in.
