You went to a deli for Passover?

My dad and I have the same sense of humor....and the same nose. When saying goodbye on gchat last week he said "wait, you're going to a deli for Passover?" I had made the same joke weeks before. Oy.

So yes, we went to Delhi for Passover. Not the corned beef type, the capital of India type. A city with more green open space that I have seen anywhere else in India, cleaner, more expensive, sometimes with a feel of a cosmopolitan European city, not the developing world. We had a great time sightseeing and shopping with Molly and Orna, a fellow AJWS volunteer who joined us from Mumbai. The highlight of the trip was the seders, and the seder preparations. We had plans to cook at a friends house but when he fell ill, we went to Plan B. While eating breakfast in our hotel's restaurant, I had a thought...and the hotel kitchen staff were glad to have us! Dan, Molly, and Orna bought all of the ingredients from the nearby produce market and we were off. Orna made a delicious mango charoset and when the rest of us started preparations for salad, lentils, and curried eggplant, the chef took over with his professional chopping skills. The whole restaurant staff watched the action. Holidays and traditions are a big deal here so when they learned it was a holy time for us, they were incredibly welcoming and helpful.

Our fellow volunteer and friend Abby, who is based in Delhi, arranged seder at her friends home for all of us. We had all the essentials, including matzoh that Abby and her friend Noah procured from a synagogue in Mumbai. The seder was a mix of the traditional elements and contemporary readings including the story of Susannah Heschel's orange on the seder plate and AJWS'version of dayenu. We sang funny well known songs with Passover lyrics that Noah's dad wrote and talked about our own family seder traditions. Oh, and I found the afikoman.
Fot the second seder Molly, Dan, and I hosted at our hotel's rooftop restaurant. Abby and our new friends Rachel and Kyle came and instead of doing the seder we talked about concepts that Elie Wiesel raises in his hagaddah and how they impact the work and life we are experiencing in India. Nice food, nice discussions, nice people.

I took time during the seders appreciating where I was and the people I was with- such a a unique and wonderful experience! For me Passover is a holiday full of tradition. I have spent almost all of my Passovers with my New York family and every year I cherish the laughter, the spilt wine, the tambourines, and finding the afikoman. But part of what comes with being away on this adventure, is missing those things at home. I missed my family a lot and I know that Dan and I were missed as well, but as they say, next year in New York.
Here are the photos!