Sunday, July 4, 2010

Old Delhi - In Which Ms. Chapman Faces Death by Scooter

Hello, my wonderful students! I have missed you a great deal!

I've been in India for two days now. It was a 36 hour trip to get here from Madison, Wisconsin! We have been staying in New Delhi, the capital of India and one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of 16 million.

Yesterday, however, we visited OLD Delhi. This section of the city was where the Moguls, or Muslim rulers (who were descended from Genghis Khan) governed the city. Our visit was a little bit topsy-turvy - I've never seen so many people in one place! And apparently, the biggest danger in this city is the traffic - there's no such thing as a pedestrian right-of-way. Nevertheless, I thought our walk was beautiful. Shops were crammed next to one another, selling everything from beautiful cloth to electronics. Street vendors roasted all kinds of unfamiliar snacks. Motorcycles rode right into the middle of crowds of people - you had to be careful that your feet weren't run over! I even saw a few monkeys scurrying up and down the railings of apartment buildings, looking for bits of food to scavenge.

If you're interested, you can see a bit of my adventure for yourself!



A couple of links for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Delhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fort

And, because I still think of myself as your teacher, a few questions for you to consider (don't worry, you don't have to turn anything in!):

1. In what ways is day-to-day street life in Old Delhi different from what we experience in Houston? How is it the same?

2. What do you think the Red Fort means to the Indian people?

Until next time!

-Ms. Chapman

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