Jaipur, Rajasthan

Thursday September 9th. I have been living with my host family sense Saturday the 4th, their names are Ms. Mamta and Mr. Suneel Bansal. other then my host mother and father my family consists of their two sons and their grandmother. The older son left on Sunday for collage. There are also two collage students who rent the room upstairs. I’ve really been enjoying the family and mamaji (Mamta) is a very good cook. The MSID school is only a block away where I am studying. We have three courses for half the semester, Hindi, International Development, and a country analysis class. The other half of the semester I will be doing an Internship that has yet to be decided. Will more than likely be working in a rural community on sustainable agriculture and other issues. So far my classes have been very interesting and I’m hoping they prepare me well for my internship.

  

This is my room in our host families house. It is very comfortable and the nights have not been to hot sense we are at the end of the rainy season. Everyone here is very energy and water continuous. Although there is more water available now because of the rainy season there are still water shortages in Jaipur. We take bucket showers which are actually really easy and you realize that you do not actually need much water to shower with. I have also been doing my own laundry by hand even though I could get a maid to do it for me.

There is a pack of monkeys that live in the courtyard of our house, although I have not seen them in the past 2 days. Udit, my host brother, says they hang around this time of the year. The monkeys will actually come into the house and use the stairs that go up to roof. I think they are super cool but they are considered a nuisance here and can be dangerous.  

From left to right Caitlin, Josh, Ache (Caitlin and Peggy’s host brother), Udit, and Peggy. We were visiting the Birla Lakshmi Narayan Temple which is very near to our house.

The Moti Dungari Fort can been seen from the MSID office and my house. It is right next to the Birla Lakshmi Narayan Temple and the Ganeshji Temple. The fort is privately owned by the royal family and is not open to visitors.

On Sunday the 5th a few of us travel to the old city which is full of bazaars and other attractions. We also took a detour though a back alley where we found less touristy shops.

 

 The Ganeshji Temple is only a block away from my home stay house. Every Wednesday many people gather at the temple. This Wednesday was especially crowded because on Saturday is Genesh’s birthday and there is going to be a huge festival, parade and fair which thousands of people will attend. In front of the Genesh statue you can see giant balls of laddu which is a holly sweet.

Camels are HUGE!

Sites like this can be very common in Jaipur. There are many animals all over the city. I took this picture when walking in Raja Park which is a market street near my house.