A Typical Day?

So I haven't posted in a while because, to be honest, I've had a rough time since my last post. A lot of things are starting to get to me. The pure chaos of Delhi, the constant nastiness from men whenever I am in public, and just some basic traveler's bad luck. But one of my close friends wisely advised me to stop getting frustrated and try my best just to let go. And now we come to today. This morning, instead of taking the bus to SPOWAC (an experience worthy of its own blog entry) I hopped in an autorickshaw (which is basically a bumper car) and headed to the bus station to buy my ticket for this weekend's excursion. While stuck in traffic on the freeway I noticed a woman walking in the opposite direction on the side of the freeway, no more than 10 meters from me, a strange sight even for Delhi. All of a sudden a man appeared running after her and literally started beating the crap out of her--punching her in the face, stomach, chest. This was all in plain daylight on a crowded, slow-moving freeway, and no one stopped to do anything about it. A woman getting beaten, whether on TV, in the newspaper, and especially in front of me, is something that just instantly triggers me. It's never happened to me, but I've just never been able to comprehend how a man can do such a thing. I immediately started crying and tryed to get my rickshaw driver's attention. He shrugged and said something about it just being marriage. I mean, honestly! The woman had started walking away from the man in the direction of traffic now and when she passed my rickshaw I asked if she was ok and yelled at her to get in my rickshaw. She hopped in immediately, the traffic gods somehow cleared a path for us, and we sped off. I gave her one of my baby wipes to clean her face and asked her what had happened. She told me everything. That he was her boyfriend of three years and had been beating her the entire time. She didn't know what to do because he had managed to cut her off from all her friends and family. It is worth noting that this woman was well-dressed, spoke excellent English, and works at the University of Delhi. She is also absolutely beautiful. After she finished talking, I didn't know what else to do except demand that she leave this man and cite the little research I've done on domestic violence. That his behavior will never stop, that she should not feel ashamed because this happens to women all over the world, and that she must take the risk of not knowing what would happen if she leaves him. I dropped her off at a metro station, took her phone number, and told her I would call her this afternoon to check in. All this before 10am. I'm not sure what is going to happen with this woman, Kawaljeez, but hopefully I can get in touch with her soon. . Fast forward to after work....I guess on Monday I agreed to go to dinner at the house of one of the girl's at SPOWAC. I don't remember this, but then again I do say yes to a lot of Hindi phrases that I don't understand. At 2:30pm the girl, Annu, picked me up and took me straight to her apartment. We walked through a maze of the narrowest crowded streets in Delhi for about 15 minutes until she pointed to a steep staircase that seemed to just appear out of nowhere from the wall. Each stair was about a foot and a half apart and there were three levels so I was definitely working my thighs. I honestly don't know how many family members were there but everyone immediately started bringing me loads of chai and snacks (spiced and dried chickpeas, cookies, mystery foods, etc.). I drew the line when they offered water. Five of us sat on the tiniest bed playing cards and taking pictures for literally three hours. At one point the girls turned on some music and asked me to dance with them. It was all pretty ridiculous, but so fun. Dinner finally came at about 6pm and everyone sat around me watching me eat. I kept pleading for someone to join me, especially since there was cilantro everywhere UGH!, but they kept saying "Guest is God, Guest is God" and just sat and watched with giant grins on their faces. After dinner they took me up onto the "terrace" which is a tiny roof on top of every apartment. Each apartment is almost on top of each other so you could literally shake hands with the person on the next terrace. And the sight was absolutely amazing. The sun was setting and you could see Delhi for miles, children were flying hundreds of kites in the air, and I became an instant attraction. Everyone was waving at me, yelling "Halloo!" and "Namaste," and begging me to take their picture. Honestly, this was the happiest I've been since my arrival in India. There was music on the street so we danced a little, and every so often I would stop and stare at all the kites floating over me. A great afteroon. And this was just one day. Everyday is like this: Intense, chaotic, emotional. And I'm trying to do more than just endure it.

......OMG Kawaljeez JUST CALLED ME!!!! She seriously just called me and told me that she went straight home after work, packed up all her stuff, moved to a friend's house, and even changed her phone number so the man cannot contact her. I can't believe it!! We are getting coffee tomorrow!!! OMG ok what a high! Thans to everyone for the well-wishes, especially those I've vented to about some of the rough stuff. The photos posted are from the roof this evening. My favorite are the two little boys: One doing a handstand and the other break-dancing :)