India - Day 9
January 15, 2019 | 11:59 PM
Alexia Helmer, Communications & Web Content Coordinator
It’s our last full day in India and it started with a trip to the mall so we could do some much needed shopping. We can’t leave India without a memento of some kind to either keep for ourselves, or give to family and friends as a souvenir. The mall they have in Ahmedabad has three floors and is filled to the brim with all kinds of jewelry, clothing, kitchenware and whatever else someone might need to get in one trip to the store.
After shopping, we toured the Jivdaya Cheritable Trust (JCT) Animal Hospital. The hospital has been open since 2007 and helps animals that are not owned by anyone. After seeing how many dogs, cats and cows freely roam the streets in India, it’s nice to see an amazing and lifesaving operation like JCT that treats around 650 birds and animals per day. While we were there we were able to see and hold many of the animals that JCT has helped nurse back to health. This organization is especially crucial during this time in Ahmedabad because the flying of the kites during the festival causes harm to a lot of birds, and, because of the festival, JCT opens a camp from January 13-17 specifically to help treat the birds that are harmed.
Our last evening in Ahmedabad was spent enjoying the company of the friends we’ve made during our time here. We drank tea with them and watched the kites fly above Ahmedabad as they were lit up by the fireworks and Chinese lanterns that littered the sky. We then went to dinner at a restaurant called Arabian Hub where we got the chance to try chicken shawarma and Arabian grilled chicken, which, for many of us, was our first time trying Arabian food.