My posterous site is no more. Don't be sad, and don't mourn. Be happy because a new site has been birthed - Life Out of a Suitcase! As a 20 something female traveler and expat, I find that there just aren’t enough resources or websites out there for us. There is a ton of travel websites, stuff for expat moms and families, but what about the young, single girls? The girls that just love traveling and seeing the world? That’s the goal of Life Out of a Suitcase.

We collect stories from women travelers and expats, sharing experiences from different countries and cultures. I hope that this website not only entertains you and gives you a laugh once in a while, but also inspires women to travel more, experience more, learn more and gain some perspective while they are at it.

That being said, the site is still entertaining and educational for all its readers (whether you are a male or female, 20 or 64). So please visit my new site, subscribe and follow it! 

Happy Travels,

Nithya 

(make sure you click play below before reading this post so you get in the mood!) the land of samba, beaches, hot men, capoeira and cachaça is my next destination. i received a very pleasant phone call at 6:30am yesterday, where the wonderful people on the other end told me that I was selected for an awesome job as an HR consultant for Artemisia in São Paulo, Brazil! I will be off to this land of wonder and beauty in mid January (yes, just in time for carnival!) to start my position by January 24th. The next few weeks will be consumed by preparations and holidays with the family. I just hope that the whole visa thing is easier this time around. I will also be attempting to learn Portuguese over the next few weeks but we all know that my discipline when it comes to languages is sketchy at best. 

Can't wait to get my samba on in carnival country! The next posts will be from lovely Brasil. 

We went as the cast of Futurama for Halloween this year. Yes, we did paint my hair purple!  Happy Halloween! 

On the 15th of September, I had a layover in Hyderabad for a few hours in the night. Lekha, Dipika and Harsha came to meet me in the airport for a while. It was really nice to see them and catch up with them before I left India. Dipika was my team leader during the conference and Lekha and Harsha were my party friends in Hyderabad. 

While waiting to board the plane, I also decided to text everyone still in India from the team in an effort to say goodbye (but also to use up my credit :P).

The flights itself were pretty awful. On the flight from Doha to London, these two Punjab kids sat behind me and just kicked and bugged me the entire time. Luckily, I made a friend next to me and she shared my pain. 

She also woke me up when we were about to land in London for a great bird’s eye view of London! I have never been there before so it was really cool to see the London bridge, the London eye and the Thames from the plane. It was my quick sight seeing tour of London. 

Now that I’m back in Edmonton, I’m waiting for the next steps. I have been painfully unemployed and bored but am trying to occupy myself with movies, tv shows, reading, talking to friends and of course looking for a job. 

Coimbatore is a little city in the state of Tamil Nadu in the South of India. It doesn’t have any famous sites, monuments, ruins or anything historical such that a tourist would come here. But this little place has our family history.

Being a first generation Canadian, you grow up with an exported version of your cultural values and traditions - what your parents decide to bring from their country. You also accept the fact that you don’t really have roots in “your” country, in my case, Canada. I never really had an identity crisis or was missing these so called roots, but when I went to Coimbatore, I realized where they were. It was a very cool sensation when I was in the car with my aunt and she would point out places and say, “this is where you grandpa lived as a child” or “this is where your grandmother went to school”. This place is where all of our family history is, on both my mom and dad’s side. 

The main reason I went to Coimbatore at the end of my trip in India (Sept 11th - 14th) was to see relatives. There are some relatives that I haven’t seen or talked to in 12 years! On the Sunday, my aunt and I did a whorl-wind tour of my family tree. We started at 8:30am and didn’t come home until 8:30pm. It was 12 hours of visiting (I guess that’s an appropriate number, an hour for every year I haven’t been there!). We couldn’t get a hold of some of my family on my dad’s side, so we decided to just go and see if they were home.

The first surprise visit was to my uncle. We couldn’t find the house and I was amazed I could still recognize where it was, identifying the gate to the driver. He was absolutely shocked and happy to see me. That was the theme with my relatives - which I was happy about. We decided to surprise most of relatives on my dad’s side. We saw my mom’s cousins as well and my second cousins that I grew up with. It was all very surreal! I met the kids of my cousins and one of my grand-babies. That’s right, my sister and I have grand-babies! The age difference between my dad and his oldest sister is something like twenty years, so some of my cousins are my parent’s age and their kids are older than my sister and I (so we are much younger than some of our nieces and nephews) and now some of them have kids! 

The main topics of conversation with my relatives were:

1) How is your mom and sister
2) “Oh, you are so dark!” (unfortunately I was not fair and lovely enough for them)
3) “When are you getting married?”

Wonderful. 

I also got to take pictures of the cows on my aunt’s farm. They thought I was crazy, but they were adorable black and white cows! Couldn’t resist. Other than visiting my family, I got some cheap beauty treatments (yes, i love my pedicures) and went shopping for Indian clothes for my family and I also got to spend some quality time with my aunt, which I haven’t really done before, so it was nice to get to know her. I also spent time with my cousin Nandeetha who was three years old when I saw her last! 12 years is definitely a long time to be away from your family. 

After the crowd, the dirt and the general unfriendliness of the North, I felt relieved when my plane landed in Cochin on September 8th. While the plane was landing, I realized I just love the South so much more than the North. My family is from the South, so I may be biased, but thats ok! While the plane was landing, I could see palm trees, a gorgeous sunset and a life that seemed so much simpler. I also encountered friendly people - someone helping me with directions in the airport, helping me with my bags, the taxi driver trying to find my hotel... the south is just much clear and friendlier.

I was meeting Nico (Romania), Danny (Romania) and András (Hungary) in Cochin. They had arrived a few hours earlier by train and found a hotel near the train station. I was texting and calling those guys while they walked around Fort Kochi so I could get to the right place. The taxi driver dropped me off at the hotel. I walked in and the receptionist didn’t speak English. I busted out my Tamil skills (they speak Malayalam in Kerala, but a lot of people speak Tamil as well) and I thought he understood me but he had no idea what I was talking about. Turns out there is a hotel with the SAME name a block down. So I jumped in a rickshaw, we couldn’t find it and he took me back to the same place. The rickshaw driver, who spoke great Tamil, was so shocked that these people from Europe would be staying in a low budget hotel near the train station. When I got back to the same hotel I first encountered, they were trying to convince me that my friends weren’t there and I was trying to convince them of the opposite. Then these 3 guys that were staying at the hotel (and who spoke English) came to save the day! They explained that there are 3 more hotels with the SAME NAME! and in the SAME AREA and it causes confusion! Why would someone do that? I couldn’t and still don’t understand it. So they called the right hotel, gave directions to a rickshaw driver and I finally got there and my friends finally showed up as well.

The four of us hung out that night, got dinner, talked, listened to music and I also discovered that Danny and Nico were leaving the next day! I was a little shocked since I was supposed to be there for another 2 days. But András was staying, so I wasn’t alone. We said some heartfelt goodbyes that night and they left the following morning.

We spent the morning of the 9th in an internet cafe, looking for András’ train tickets and canceling my flight. I had a flight booked for Coimbatore for something like Rs. 2500. That’s not too expensive by Canadian standards, but when a train ticket costs Rs. 300 and is only 3 hours, it is cheaper and more convenient to go by train (considering the train station was 5 mins from where we were staying and I would have had to pay Rs 500 to get to the airport and 2 hours in a cab).

The main sight seeing spot in Cochin in Fort Kochi. We walked along the water to see the fishing boats and fishing nets (Chinese Fishing
Nets). There were vendors selling fresh (and fresh smelling) fish and seafood along the promenade. We visited a church (St. Francis Church) that was built by Portuguese and walked around the main area. I really liked Fort Kochi because you could walk everywhere! You didn’t have to take a rickshaw or a cab (like most places in India), but could just walk long the streets to see the sights and relax. Fort Kochi is built with European flavour with walkable streets, cafes and Euro style buildings - which was a nice change. We also visited Mattancherry Palace which was built by the Portuguese and then renovated by the Dutch (aka Dutch Palace). It was really cheap to get in (like Rs. 5) and they had an impressive collection of clothing from Kerala - what the kings/queens wore. They also had a room that had four walls covered in paintings and carvings from years past. It almost seemed as if they were to be on cave walls, but they were on the walls of this palace.

There is an area of Fort Kochi called Jew town which also has a synagogue. It was something really random, but cool to see nonetheless. The streets of Jew town are covered in shops that sells antiques, trinkets, spices, etc. We did have shop keepers telling András and I that we were a very nice couple and asking if we were married. We played it up sometimes, calling each other honey, but mostly to entertain ourselves.

We decided to walk a little off the beaten path and started to walk through the neighbourhoods of Fort Kochi. There weren’t a lot of people around, but it was nice to see how people really live in this part of India. At one point we came across a truck (lorry) and András decided this would be his moment to ride one. So he started poking his nose around, made friends with the drivers and jumped right in! The truck drivers were excited to share what they did with a foreigners and were trying to tell us where they were coming from.

Instead of paying over Rs. 150 for a rickshaw to the hotel from Fort Kochi, we decided to take the ferry across to the mainland. The ferry was Rs. 2.50 each (I think that is something like C$0.05!). It was nice to be on the water and we could see some of the bigger buildings and hotels as well.

While Nico, Danny and András had been traveling together throughout southern India, they didn’t sample the food that much in fear of their stomachs. I thought this very very unfortunate so I made sure András tried some great south Indian food - shrimp curry, paratha, dosas, roasted peanuts, traditional south Indian lunch etc. We went to really cheap places but ate so well. I was really happy for this change of pace after all of the garlic naan we had eaten up North.

On the 10th, we went on a backwaters cruise. Kerala is known for all of the small water channels that connect the villages, houses and land
and is a huge tourist attraction. We were on a boat full of French people but it was awesome. It was a full day affair where we got to cruise around on a covered boat, visit some sites where they showed us local means of living, went on an open canoe and ate lunch. It was peaceful and calming and really relaxing. One of the sites they took us to was to show us how they harvested shell fish and how they use every part (the fish and the shell) for different industry. We were also taken to some ladies that make rope out of coconut husk. We also tried palm wine when on the open canoe and it was disgusting - I don’t know how people drink that stuff.

The guys that make the boat go are intense. They put a huge pole in the water and walk it back and forth - even though they were old, they were ripped! The “driver” was chatting with us during lunch and decided to read my palm. He said that my life line was short. This was the second time someone in India had said that to me - well I guess that answers why I travel so much, I want to live it up before their predictions come true!

I was really happy to practice my Tamil in Kochi - with servers, rickshaw drivers and shop keepers. Many of them did ask if we were married and what we were doing there. But I guess we should have expected that. András referred to it as Dengele and would say things like, “go over to that guy and dengele with him” etc etc. Aside from the new name for the language, the practice came into use when I got to my next stop - Coimbatore.

Please post your comments! There is also a video of our backwaters cruise under the photos 

A video of our backwaters cruise

On September 6th, we did a day trip to Agra to see arguably the most famous site in India - the Taj Mahal. We hired a cab to take us there and back (since there was 5 of us, it was cost effective and more convenient than taking a train or bus). But we had to leave at like 5:30am to take advantage of the day trip. The drive is 4 hours (without traffic) so obviously more because it’s India and there is of course traffic. I was in and out of sleep the entire drive there. But at one point we stopped because the driver had to go the bathroom and all I remember is a monkey licking the window. I couldn’t even get words out because of my sleepiness. I think I woke up Elroy (Singapore) and said, “window, monkey licking, what?” There was a guy with a monkey on a leash, trying to get money from us because we looked at his monkey. The monkey licked OUR window!

As soon as we stepped out of the car in Agra, we were surrounded by people that wanted to sell us crap - everything from books to bangles to batteries. A tour guide took us to the place where tickets were sold. We were really sketched out by the place in general, but trusted it in the end for lack of a better option. I almost bought Indian ticket for Rs. 20 (vs. the foreigner ticket of Rs. 750) but chickened out at the last minute because the tour guide said they would start asking you about India and talking to you in Hindi and all trying to prove that you are Indian. Until we reached the gate of the Taj Mahal, we were hassled to buy useless junk, so going in we weren’t in the best of moods. I was expecting the Taj Mahal to be over rated since you see so many pictures of it and hear so many things about it - its been around for hundreds of years! 

When finding your way to the Taj Mahal through the Taj Ganj, you see just a glimpse of the Taj Mahal. I was blown away in that instant. I tried to capture it in my pictures, but I don’t think they do it justice. You just see the gleaming marble of the Taj Mahal contrasted against the brown of the Taj Ganj. Every preconception of the Taj Mahal that you had just goes away and you begin to appreciate the beauty of the building. 

While Elroy and I were taking pictures, a man came up to us and said that we were doing it all wrong. He promptly said, “I am the Gardner here, I know best.” He hijacked my camera, went into a little alcove under the platform and took great pictures of Elroy and myself in front of the Taj Mahal. Being eternally skeptical, we thought he would ask for money, but he didn’t. I think he just wanted to be a photographer? Maybe in another lifetime old man. 

Inside the Taj Mahal, another old man grabbed us and showed us the things about the mausoleum - the marble, the tombs, the echo of the dome. This time he did ask for money. 
We just hung around the Taj for a while and soaked it all in. It really is an incredible place to be. But it was boiling hot and I was dying a little bit from the heat. 

We wanted to grab some lunch and thought that leaving from the main gate would give us some luck in finding restaurants (since there are like 2 million tourists that go to Agra every year). As soon as we left the main entrance of the Taj we were in this dingy alleyway full of shops that sold cheap souvenirs. At this point we just needed air conditioning because of the heat and we fully expected to find a decent place to eat. We were VERY VERY wrong. Every place we saw looked dirty, unsanitary and worst - no A/C! A man saw us wandering around and said he had a hotel above the restaurant. He said he would open up a hotel room for us with air conditioning at no extra charge and we could eat there! So we ended up in this sketchy hotel room with green felt on the walls and enjoyed a great lunch of garlic naan, koftha and parathas. We then went on a quest for an ATM, souvenirs and the red fort. 

Considering there are something like 2 million tourists that go to Agra every year, you would expect some level of development or infrastructure in the city. This is a very wrong assumption. When you are in the compound of the Taj Mahal, its pristine but as soon as you leave the gate you are plunged into under development and poverty at its finest. There were countless homeless people, dirtier streets, people walking around without basic clothing or shoes - it was one of the greatest points of disparity I had seen in India - from the Taj Mahal to abject poverty. 

On the way back from the ATM to the taxi, we caught some “human” rickshaws. These are guys that cycle you to your destination. Man were they struggling. The boys (Gaby - Brazil, Amor - Germany/Tunisia and Elroy) decided to try it out and cycled most of the way back to our taxi. Yes, we paid for the boys to do all the work, but it was very entertaining. Elroy was cycling the rickshaw I was in and I just kept thinking, “Man, Renee (Kenya) would be SO jealous!”

After briefly visiting the Agra Fort (aka Red Fort), which I entered as an Indian and bought the ticket for something like Rs. 20 (vs. 250), we headed back to Delhi. The traffic delayed us, but Nakul’s family had a great meal prepared for us, which was very welcome after a hectic day. 

Please comment below - i would love to hear your thoughts on monkey licking windows and sketchy green felt hotel rooms! 

We stayed at Nakul’s (India) place in Gurgaon. It was the first time we had a home cooked meal since July and you could definitely tell the difference. Nakul’s mom was a whiz in the kitchen and as famous Indian hospitality dictates, catered to our every need.

The metro stop near Nakul’s place luckily opened a few days before we got there so we could get into Delhi much easier. The problem was that the metro station was over 6km away from his house and there was no easy way to get there. The metro itself was great and comparable to European metro lines. They were clean, air conditioned, all automated and ran on schedule. But of course the Indian way of pushing and fighting to get on the metro was ever present. Something that really annoyed me was when an older woman or man was standing, none of the younger people would get up to give them their seat. So much for respecting your elders.

We walked around Connaught Place to meet up with some of the other people from the conference. Connaught Place is a giant circle that has shops and restaurants and is a place to just chill. Unfortunately there was a ton of construction so there were blocked paths, mud and general inconvenience in several spots. However, our end destination was saying one last goodbye to some great people like Ivan (Malaysia), Monika (Croatia) and Akshay (India).

Later in the day, we went to Akshardham Temple.The amount of security measures at this place seemed absolutely ridiculous to me, but apparently there had been terrorist attacks/attempts there, so in the end I guess it was justified. There was a board with a huge list of things you couldn’t take inside the temple. This included cameras and phones, guns and blades but also pen drives and CDs! This temple was inaugurated in 2005 and is made of salmon coloured sandstone and white marble. It contains around 20,000 carved deities! I wasn’t expecting a whole lot when I walked in, having heard nothing about this place and having been violated by the security woman who questioned the underwire in my bra. I walked in and was blown away. I was really sad that I wasn’t allowed to have my camera! When you walk in, you feel like you are transported to some olden time where palaces and temples are really built with a purpose. I felt like I was in some 15th century Indian place that only kings and queens visited. The focal point was the temple itself which simply took you breath away. The outside was covered in sandstone carvings of elephants, deities, scenes from Hindu scripts and general carvings. The inside was floor to ceiling (30 feet high domes) marble that was also carved from the floor to the center of the domes. The temple was surrounded by a mote that apparently had water from all the holy rivers of Hinduism. This was all encased by a corridor made of sandstone that had windows you could sit in and stare at the temple. It was incredible and definitely something to see in Delhi. If you could take pictures there, I’m sure its stock would rise with tourists!

That night, we met up with Malvika (India) to have dinner at a food court in an upscale mall. The food courts in India are pretty decent - you get a wide variety of food from all over the world (from pasta to Chinese food to McDonalds) and the Indian food is actually quite decent. The system of payment is very interesting though. You walk around, pick what you want and then go to the cash counter. At the counter, you put money on a card. Then you go to the food vendor, they swipe the card and then put in your order. Then you pick up your order and at the end if you have money left on the card, you go back and get a refund. Apparently it is more effective than conventional food courts, but it just seemed like a hassle to me! This was the system we saw in most malls and even at the food court at a bus station.

We went to Agra in the middle of our Delhi trip, but that deserves its own post. 

Our last day in Delhi, Christina (Germany), Amor (Germany/Tunisia) and Gaby (Brazil) went to stay with one of Christina’s friends in Delhi. Elroy (Singapore) and I were going to meet Malvika at noon to go shopping and do some sight seeing. Remember I said that getting from Nakul’s to the metro was complicated? Well, I called a cab for 11 to take us to the metro so we could go to meet Malvika at another metro station for noon. The cab just never showed up. The company gives you the cab driver’s number - he decided to just not answer his phone. Another complication is that you can’t just get a rickshaw on the street as they were all shared rickshaws in that area. We had gotten so used to just going to the street in Hyderabad and grabbing a rick. So we walked to the main road in the rain and mud and stood in the middle of the traffic trying to get a rick. After 25 minutes of waiting, paying double the amount we should have, getting stuck on the metro and finally getting to the the stop we needed to, we were an hour late! Malvika thought it was a huge revenge for all of the Indian people that were ever late on us. 

Malvika took us to Sarojini Nagar market. This market specializes in selling export surplus clothing. So all of the stuff that the companies don’t export from the factories in India are dumped in this place. The labels are ripped off and you can bargain for western clothes for as low as Rs. 100 (or C$2). I found shirts from designers and from popular stores like H&M, Pimkie (a Spanish brand) and much more and it was all super cheap! They also have Indian clothes, shoes, suitcases, everything and anything. And you guessed it, I bought a new suitcase which I proceeded to fill during my trip in India. 

After my shopping debauchery (Elroy and Malvika really didn’t buy that much), we met up with Mannan (India). Both Malvika and Mannan were appalled we hadn’t seen the main sights of Delhi (like the Red Fort or India Gate for example). To make up for it, we did a food tour of Delhi. We went to Khan market, which has some of the highest property values in the world, to start the tour. We tried kabobs, iced coffee and more. It was an eating frenzy! We sat down in an American restaurant for some drinks. I was shocked to see poutine on the menu. I was even more shocked to see the description of said poutine - fries with BBQ sauce, cheddar and jalapeños. WHAT?! I was outraged - there are like two typically Canadian edibles - maple syrup and poutine and they are messing with poutine! Seeing my outrage, Malvika ordered it anyways despite my protests. Ok, so in the end it tasted fine, but they should change the name to be true to REAL poutine! 

Later that evening, we went to try REAL butter chicken. My outrage during the poutine incident was shadowed by Mannan but his outrage was about butter chicken. Most people pride themselves on being cultural experts, seeing museums and historical sites when they travel but not Mr. Mannan Abrol - he is a self proclaimed food expert and historian. And I will fully vouch for these credentials. After telling us the history of Butter Chicken (Cole’s Notes version: it was invented in Delhi) and expressing his distaste for butter chicken (or fake butter chicken) in other parts of India, he took us to a restaurant to try the real deal. Let me tell you, it was the best butter chicken I have put in my mouth. As someone with Indian roots, I have had a lot of butter chicken in my life and nothing even compared to it! The flavour, the colour, the smell - everything was better. Even though we didn’t see the main sights in Delhi, we experienced one of the most important things - the real butter chicken. 

Post your comments below! 

Our last day in Hyderabad was September 2nd. We spent the day sleeping, packing, eating delicious drilled chicken, eating baskin-robbins, running errands and saying our goodbyes. Some of the team had already left, but the mass exodus of people was on the 2nd. It was filled with “keep in touch” “I'm going to miss you” “thank you” and lots of hugs. There may have even been a few tears here and there.

Christina (Germany), Amor (Germany/Tunisia), Gabriel (Brazil), Elroy (Singpore) and I headed to the airport to start our travels, exploring India. Our first stop was Jaipur. Jaipur is in the state of Rajasthan and very close to Delhi and Agra. Tourists usually do the route called the “Golden Triangle” because it is only around 4-5 hours between each point. Our plan was to do this as well.

A member of AIESEC Jaipur picked us up from the airport and took us to the intern house that we were going to stay in for a few nights. We got to experience the famous AIESEC India “Quality”. The house wasn’t that bad, but when at capacity, its 14 people sharing the bedrooms (2 per room), 2 bathrooms and one little kitchen. There were a ton of bugs, salamanders and the rooms were poorly ventilated. For me, a few nights was fine, but I don’t think I could have lived there for a year.

After a sleep in (which we needed after the conference) we started to explore. Amor always wanted to try something new which was great! But Christina and Gaby were hooked on garlic naan. I think we tried it at almost every restaurant we were at!

We made our way to the Old City (Pink City). The Pink City is known for its town planning as its organized in perfect rectangles with each area specializing in something different. My impression of the Pink City was that it was dirty and polluted and overcrowded. I was expecting something like the Medinas in Morocco - being able to walk around easily; but it was quite the contrary. We saw one area and checked out the Hawa Mahal. We went to a great viewpoint and could admire the building.

I was wearing my bed beaded necklace that is made from Hawaiian nut. This necklace got a lot of attention in India and especially in Jaipur. The area we were in was where jewelry and precious stones were sold. Most merchants thought the necklace was made of onyx and therefore thought I had money to buy their stuff, so the heckling was a little intense sometimes. In this area of the Pink City, there were alleys lined with jewelry shops and with artisans making pieces in the streets as well.

While we were in Jaipur, it was also the Krishna pooja. The streets were full of people dressed up, celebrating, performing plays on mobile theaters (the actors and props were loaded on the back of trucks). On India Day, during the conference, András (Hungary) and I were on the search for the elephant which was promised. In the end the elephant couldn’t come because it got stuck in traffic. Since that day, I was super disappointed that I didn’t get to hang out with an elephant! That all changed when I saw not 1 but 2 elephants in the street in Jaipur!

My Lonely Planet book recommended a night tour that the state tourism office ran. It was only Rs. 200 for a few hours of sightseeing around Jaipur and a dinner included. It was the Worst. Tour. Ever. The bus was supposed to go into the PInk City but because of the puja, we couldn’t get in. Ok, thats fine and very understandable. Then the bus just  stopped for a few minutes at 2 different places for us to take pictures. The first landmark was a library turned museum. The second one was a palace that was built like an island and is now converted into a hotel. They stopped the bus off way too far away so we could barely see it. Then they took us to one of those tourist trap craft places where they sell everything under the sun. First there was a demonstration of how block printing was done. After that they gave us time to shop. Even though the place had a bazillion signs that said it was “fixed price!” the price of items changed every time - the price of a set of bangles changed between 3 people and those people changed the price within 10 minutes. Then we were dropped off outside of a Fort (because the bus couldn’t go in the entrance) and had to walk in the pitch-blackness for 1KM in the pouring rain to have our dinner. What was super frustrating was watching other vehicles drive by us while we were walking. I was definitely grumpy by time we got to the top. After dinner and walking in the dark and the rain again, we were taken to see another fort, but the lights didn’t work so we saw - nothing.

The next day, we packed up, bought bus tickets and tried to see one last spot before leaving to Delhi. While we were buying tickets, we were being hassled by beggars trying to get money. Earlier in Jaipur, a little girl had come to us begging but wanted the pop we had and was happy with that. My policy is that if I can give someone like that a drink or food, I’m totally ok with it. It’s when they want money and only that that really frustrated me. While traveling, the beggars would continually come to me - the women, the old men, the women holding babies - and it really really frustrated me. They generally targeted Christina and I and it bothered me so much. I just tried to leave. Elroy had to take me away from the situation a couple of times.

We tried to see the City Palace before leaving to Delhi. Unfortunately, the tickets were something like Rs. 500 each for foreigners. That is something like C$10 to see this palace! It really didn’t seem worth it, so we skipped it.

The bus to Delhi wasn’t too bad. The bus itself was comparable to what I had been on in Turkey and Spain. The weird thing is that we had to pay Rs. 2 per bag that was stored under the bus! Not a lot, but just weird. The very Indian thing about it was that the traffic was so bad, that the bus was 3 hours late to Delhi. Once we finally got there, we got off at the Gurgaon “Stop”. Gurgaon is part of the greater Delhi area and we were staying at Nakul’s (India) house. The stop was the middle of an intersection, near a road divider. That’s where the Delhi adventure begins!

Post your comments below!

August 21st - September 1st was the pre-conference and conference called AIESEC International Congress 2010. I was in India as a Congress Committee member on the communications team. As a teamster, I was responsible for Brand Management, Content Development (for example writing blog posts and creating videos) and managing the official documentary film crew and the official photographer.  A portfolio of my work can be found here.

In an AIESEC context, this specific IC was special because it was a celebration of AIESEC 2010 - the midrange vision for AIESEC that was set in 2005. It was also momentous because it was the launching of AIESEC 2015 - the next mid range vision that AIESEC will use globally to grow and evolve the organization. AIESEC 2010 was celebrated by showing the achievements to the global plenary as well as fireworks! Yes, there literally were fireworks on one of the first nights of the conference. 

In a personal content, this specific IC was special to me because it was my last stint in AIESEC. After 5 years, 4 ICs, over 20 conferences, Canada, a year in Spain and 6 countries later, I feel my time in AIESEC as an active member is done. I have gotten a lot of the organization and have grown immensely from my experiences. The organization has also allowed me to meet some of the most amazing people and go to some of the most breath taking places - but that’s it! I am searching for an internship currently but that’s taking a passive role in AIESEC. I will no longer be applying for leadership positions, international teams or as conference facilitator. 

My experience as CC was an interesting one and one that I don’t wish to document fully in a blog (but if you are interested in knowing, contact me!). What I do take away from the conference are some amazing experiences and friends from all over the world - here are only some: having chai with Dipika (India), fist pumping with Priya (US), going for legendary ice cream chats with Elroy (Singapore) and Renee (Kenya), having philosophical discussions with Nico (Romania), talking about the economy with Maitreya (India), singing in rickshaws with Ines (Portugal), talking until 2 in the morning with Andras (Hungary), Katy (Hong Kong) saying HONG KONG, hanging out with my brother, Saman (Iran), gossiping with Janina (Italy), dancing with Philip (Ghana), shopping with Malvika (India), making fun of Danny’s (Romania) short shorts, talking in Spanish with Nathie (Colombia), calling Angie (India) a young girl, the CanTurk partnership with JD (Turkey), speaking in heavy Rrrrrrrussian accents with Lena (Russia), being grumpy at parties with Monika (Croatia), partying with Gaby (Brazil), watching Qing (China) dance, complaining about everything with Freyja (Iceland), complaining about comms with Nakul (India), taking pictures with Chau (Viet Nam), making fun of gimpy - Shibani (India), hearing about how Natasha (India) always wanted to eat dominos & party, listening to Mannan (India) talk about butter chicken, SIM card adventures with Megha (India), Soma (India) saying WOW Experience, talking to Kay (Australia) about people we know, watching Pallak (India) and Preetika (India) be mesmerized by everything that was IC, sight seeing with Ramon (The Netherlands), Ashish (India) punching me in the arm every time he saw me, laughing with Myeriem (Tunisia) and trying to understand what she was saying, Jarka (Slovakia) drinking Mirinda everyday, promising Akshay (India) alcohol, talking in an Indian accent with Ankush (India), setting up launches with Steve (UK), making fun of Enoch’s (HK/UK) accent, beating Mat (Poland) and Ernst (The Netherlands) at envelope races and so so so much more. 

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