A very full day in Delhi Part 1…taxi rides, museums, mosque ruins, nature centers, shopping, and Starbucks!

Thursday July 5th
Some in our group decided to go to some temples and other sites, but I was dying to get into Delhi. The International School for Jain Studies campus is beautiful, but I wanted to venture out (of course with a group…I promised my family I would be safe). One of our group leaders Christopher Chapple from Loyola Marymount University organized our trip into Delhi. I am not sure that I would be able to navigate the city without people who are experienced with travel in India. We hired two taxis for ten of us to drive us around all day into the night. Divided 10 ways it was only Rs. 500 (500 rupees) each which is equivalent to $7.35. The current exchange rate is 68 rupees to the dollar. Once again the taxi ride was harrowing as the cars seem to drive millimeters from each other with motorcycles weaving in and out. I took all of these pictures from the taxi.

We went straight to shopping at Fab India which is very much like a department store. Kind of like a Nordstrom in the US. I wanted to buy some clothes and the women there help you shop. I wanted to get three Kurtis which are long shirt like dresses with block printing and embroidery and all kinds of designs. I also needed pants and some long scarfs called dupattas that women wear in many different ways with Kurtis and Salwar kameez. I ended up with three outfits and two beautiful dupattas. It was so fun shopping. I also got some souvenirs and the prices were quite reasonable. Honestly, it was too hot to bargain out in the street! It was around 100 degrees with a “feels like” temperature of 110! I also got to go to Starbucks which everyone knows is my favorite.