December 31st 2012

Back to Benares


I'm back home. Home? I'm back in Benares, after a ten day "vacation" or excursion in Rajashthan, and coming back to Benares feels a lot like coming back home. For now anyway, Benares is home.

I love the holidays. I love the special drinks that Starbucks features each season, I love watching Elf and It's a Wonderful Life with my sister, I love shopping for Christmas presents, I love waking up to a stocking stuffed with reese's peanut butter cups, and I love eating my mom's prime rib (that's right, cow) for Christmas dinner. My favorite tradition that my family has is making and then eating a huge breakfast for dinner feast on Christmas Eve. This year, on the evening of December 24th, I found myself not in my California kitchen, but on an overnight bus going from Jaisalmer to Jaipur. Besides the fact that I was more than a thousand miles away from where I wanted to be on that night, I wasn't a big fan of the bus. The seats were stuck at an awkward angle, the bus itself didn't smell great, the seats weren't as cushioned as I would have preferred, and it was inhumanely cold as the bus was not properly insulated. I was not in the holiday spirit on Christmas Eve. I wouldn't have thought a year ago, that on an overnight bus in India was where I'd be spending my next Christmas Eve, and this holiday season wasn't filled with the traditions that I'm used to. But I have to admit that, contrary to my dismal description of how I spent Christmas Eve, I would say that I had a great holiday season. It wasn't
ideal, but it was, surprisingly, pretty fun.

Rajashthan is an amazing state. In Jodhpur we embodied the typical tourist with audio tour headsets when we toured the Maharangarh fort. The fort was beautiful, and overlooked the blue city that is Jodhpur. After touring the fort, Hannah, Mackenzie, and I wandered aimlessly through the alleys of the city and into bangles shops, shoe shops, and Rajashthani clothing shops. I may have bought too many bangles, but I really enjoyed wandering through the alleys and experiencing a city so different from Benares.

In Jaisalmer, we stayed INSIDE a fort. But the most exciting part about our stay in Jaisalmer was riding camels through the desert. The camels weren't as comfortable as I thought they'd be, and they're much uglier than llamas, but our desert camel safari was amazing. I had never seen sand dunes before, or slept under the stars in the desert. It was a really amazing experience.

Jaipur was more of a city than Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. We visited the Amber palace, which was really beautiful. But the best part of Jaipur was...RIDING ELEPHANTS. We rode elephants up a hill to the Amber Palace. Within a 2 week spanse I saw an elephant on the streets of Benares (the first one I've seen outside of a zoo) and ridden on one. I'd call that an accomplishment.

Today is the first day of 2013!! I have several "resolutions" and I'm excited for this next year. At the beginning of 2012 I thought I'd be in college by September, but here I am spending a gap year in India. So we'll see how 2013 goes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog once every two weeks, so I'll (hopefully) be posting soon!

Until next time

Ada

Oh, and I will post pictures eventually, but there are great pictures on facebook if anyone's interested!!

December 14th 2012

The Holiday Season


It's 11 days 'till Christmas, and I feel like I'm one of the few counting down here. The weather changed overnight, to what I would describe as cold. Although I didn't do a great job in packing for the cold back in August, I'm really loving the weather because it reminds me that it's the holiday season. I haven't watched Elf, made pumpkin muffins, or played Christmas songs on the piano, but I have managed to buy my family Christmas presents, and draw Christmas trees, snowmen, etc. on every piece of paper in my Hindi notebook. So that's good enough for me.



Since I last blogged (which was too long ago, sorry mom), I have had some really great experiences and some not so great experiences. I've been asked "How's India?" a lot recently and I don't know how to reply to that question anymore. I can describe India on any given day as nearly every adjective except for maybe "clean." So I'll try to give everyone a depiction of my "not so great" and "great."



The not so great: It's Tuesday, around 4 PM, the third and final bike ride of the day, heading home from the Guria after school center. I pass Maudawadi railroad crossing just after the center, which is jammed as usual. I make it out of the traffic and begin to ride my bike again, when I feel the back of my bike seriously jolt. I stop, get off, can't see anything wrong, and continue on the route home. But something is wrong. I can't be THAT tired on JUST Tuesday. I'm really struggling to pedal. Then it's
as if my back tire is repeatedly riding over a sharp bump in the road. I stop once again, assess the situation, STILL don't see anything wrong, hopelessly unravel some caught string, and attempt to continue. But I can't continue; I can barely pedal. So I dismount again, and reassess the situation more carefully, and finally figure out the problem: my bike tire is completely flat. At this point, I'm far away from Assi, which is where I want to be.
Begrudgingly, and on the brink of tears, I accept that I have to walk at least until I find a mechanic. So I begin the journey and the search. I go through the list of landmarks to mark my progress as I walk. After much walking I hit the "crazy intersection." I haven't found a mechanic yet. More walking, squeezing myself and my bike to the side of the road to avoid oncoming traffic until I hit the "Red temple" where I make a "Right." Still no mechanic. I continue on, suppressing my frustration, I hit the fancy fruit stand, and still no mechanic to be found. I hit the rest of my landmarks: Kerala Cafe, IP Vijya Mall, and the blue sign pointing to Assi. And I'm in Assi. I don't find a mechanic until I make it all the way back, after I've walked my bike for around an hour.
During the journey home, I couldn't help but think about what I WOULD be doing at home in America. Ideal images of sitting by the fire, decorating the Christmas tree, and eating food that's not subji, roti, daal, chaval, filled my head. I asked myself during that walk why I had decided to come to India. And even in the midst of my frustration, I had to admit that I came to India because I wanted to come to India, and I'm here because I want to be here. The point is, when I have one of these "not so great experiences," I try to put things in perspective, laugh about whatever I'm upset over (because I know an angry-looking foreigner walking her bike through a crowded street would probably be funny to an Indian), and remember why I'm here.



The great: I think I made friends. When I moved into my homestay, I met 4 girls that live on the same floor as me, all studying at Benares Hindu University. And for a long time I didn't say much to them, and they didn't say much to me, besides for the customary "hi"'s, "bye"'s, "how are you?"'s and "I'm fine."'s. I was intimidated by them, and I didn't think they liked the American girl that lived in their "hostel" too much. But as my host family has been away on trips off and on, I've found myself around them, and talking to them.
About a week ago, I was in one of their rooms, sitting on her bed, using her blankets. We were just talking. Talking about our families and friends, things we liked and didn't like,
boys, school, and life in general. During the conversation I realized that I wasn't talking to "one of the BHU girls," I was talking to my friend Prachi. So now my interactions with them extend past "how are you?" and that's pretty exciting for me.



We went to Khajuraho, to see the famous temples constructed during the 9th-12th centuries. The temples were beautiful, and because I know I won't be able to describe what they look like, I've included pictures (though they're much more impressive in real life). Be warned, the temples depict erotic images, and so do my pictures.

On the way back from Khajuraho we ended up in sleeper class on an 8 hour train ride, jamming five people onto a one-person bunk, making sleep nearly impossible. And ironically, I thought it was fun. Work has continued at Guria. Hannah and I are working on the Guria blog (guriafreedomnow.blogspot.com), a facebook page, a grant, and teaching the kids at the center typing and English. Teaching English has really made me appreciate that English is my first language. We also recently visited a rural village for a Guria concert of marginalized artists.

But I love teaching the kids. One of the highlites of my week was when a few of the girls ran up to Hannah and I and eagerly asked if we could have English class that day.



We are leaving for Rajashthan on Monday. I'm happy to have this ten day break from biking, and I'm very excited for our
desert camel safari.


Until next time

Oh, and Happy Hanaukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays from India!!!

Ada

November 22nd 2012

Catch Up


I have to apologize to those that have stuck around long enough to be reading this post, for neglecting to write for so many days. I am very happy to be maintaining contact with everyone in the states whether that be through e-mails, facebook messages, or phone calls. So I apologize for my recent lack of updating on what I am doing here.

It feels like October ended just a few days ago. But here we are in the middle of November, with Diwali behind us and Thanksgiving quickly approaching. I have continued my Program House, Guria office, Guria school, Hindi class schedule since the beginning of November, which I am happy to report was only interrupted by Diwali rather than sickness. When I go to "work" in the office, a lot of what I do is not what I would call work. We talk a lot in the office. A simple question to Ajeet Ji about the price of art therapy cards turns into an hour and a half conversation (or lecture might be a more accurate word) about the corrupt machinery that is the Indian government. At times, I've been frustrated because things don't always get done on a timely basis, and communication (even in English) is often drawn out and ineffective. Nevertheless,
I love going to the office and love talking to Ajeet Ji and Tom Sir (another full time volunteer from Ireland) because I always gain a new insight or learn something new. Recently Hannah and I have been working on making improvements to the Guria website and blog, selling art therapy cards, and getting in contact with past volunteers and visitors.

In the week leading up to Diwali, we started preparing for our Guria after school center Diwali celebration. Hannah and I were put in charge of a building each, and a pack of children to decorate the building with. The kids in my building decided it would be a wonderful idea to make "clay world" and then light it up with dias on the night of the celebration. I was not as excited about the idea, but I let them bring in buckets of clay and begin construction. In about 20 minutes I found myself caked in clay. My arms, feet, and hands were completely covered in dirt. My pants were stained with brown streaks and marks. I had clay on my face, courtesy of the kids building with me. And I was having a lot of fun. I wasn't excited about the idea
of being covered in clay before it happened, but once I was in the middle of the construction project I thought that "clay world" was a great idea. The week continued with preparations: making signs, writing on walls, gluing colored paper to buildings, and making Rangoli art. The kids in my building were extremely competitive, and the prize of the title "better building" was of the utmost importance (so important that at one point they snuck into the other building to steal ideas). Our Diwali celebration was a success; all of the children had a great time. There was a large display of fire crackers that, at times, came dangerously close to the crowd. But the kids didn't seem to notice how many times they came close to being burned, and really enjoyed the display.

 Guria firecrackers

clay world at night

 India Rangoli Art

 G-U of GURIA

 Sahid Bhagat at night

Rangoli art

On the day of Diwali I wore my sari for the first time, and spent the night celebrating with my host family. The sari is still a mystery to me. It consists of a small blouse, a skirt, and a stretch of fabric. The fabric is wrapped around the skirt and then draped over the blouse. I don't understand how women wrap their own saris, how they walk and work comfortably in saris, and why I never see any Indian women struggling with keeping their fabric from unraveling. But I have to admit, I really like saris. I can't wait to wear mine again, and buy another one.

For my host family, the most important part of Diwali is the puja, or Hindu prayer. To prepare for the puja, my host sister and I made a Rangoli art peacock on the floor of the living room. After that, everyone washed themselves and dressed up. On a table next to the Rangoli art were two small effigies of gods (Ganesh and Lukshma), sweets, and books. Behind the table was a small tulsi tree. During puja, a member of my family would take a plate of dias, move it in circles in front of the table, remove a dia and hold it for a few seconds, pray, and then set it in front of the table. My host family told me that the books are to bring knowledge to the family, the sweets are to bring a steady supply of food, and the Tulsi tree to bring good health. I really enjoyed learning about the importance of puja and what it means to my host family. After puja, my host sister and I lit tons of dias and put them all over the outside of the house. Our house was completely lit up from the rooftop, to the bottom floor with dias and strung lights. And because everyone else in Varanasi was too, we went onto the rooftop and set off fireworks. If I hadn't seen the exploding colors in the sky, I would have sworn someone was shooting a gun outside. The fireworks went off all night. Everyone was infected with the
spirit of Diwali, especially the kids setting off fireworks directly below my window into the early morning.

 outside my house

my room

The other day we got to go on a sunrise boat ride during the Chatt Puja. People gathered from all over Varanasi, and outside the city to take part in the puja on the Ganga Ji.

Upcoming events we have planned include a trip to Kujaraho which I'm very excited for.

Until next time

Ada

November 1st 2012

Settling In


Upon arrival in India, one of the things that shocked me was the chaos that is the traffic flow. How did the pedestrians, bicycle rickshaws, autorickshaws, cars, buses, bicyclists, and various animals even fit on the same road? And beyond that, how did they all manage to get from one place to another successfully? Bicycle rickshaws hit bicycles, autorickshaws bump cars, and sometimes a herd of water buffalo causes a traffic jam. The other day I found myself biking completely on the wrong side of the street against the flow of traffic, and I realized that I have begun to adjust, in general, to how things are done here. (I don't want to scare anyone by saying that I was biking on the wrong side of the street into oncoming traffic because that's normal here. Minor accidents/bumps may occur relatively often but the good news is that they occur at slow speeds and there is never an exchange of insurance information.)

After being sick for a while, I spent a very short amount of time in the hospital...or nursing home, as it's called here. The doctor was great, the IV didn't hurt badly, the place was comfortable and clean, and I made friends with a little boy who had just had surgery, yet was very concerned about my health. The worst part about being sick was that I missed several days of work. I'm not saying I don't enjoy free time, but it was frustrating while I was getting better to know that not only was I not well enough to go to work, but I also wasn't sick enough to sleep all day. But I am feeling much better now. I love
not being sick.

My stay in the nursing home was followed by one of the best nights I've had so far in India. Our group attended Dandia, which is basically a big dance party. After trying several different kinds of food, we went onto the dance floor. We found ourselves holding sticks, not knowing how to dance with them, and dancing with them anyways, among several experienced Indian dancers wearing amazing kurtas and saris. It was so much fun. The only bad thing about Dandia is that it doesn't happen every week. It was a great precursor to the beginning of the festival season.

Dishera was on October 24th. It is a Hindu holiday celebrating Raam's killing of Raaven, and in general, the triumph of good over evil. My host mom spent the day making special sweets which were amazing. On Dishera, and the days leading up to it, I was awoken several times during the night by music. Huge speakers and effigies were carried on the back of trucks, followed by a group of dancing Indian men, throughout the night. It was an interesting site from the windows in my room at around 10:00 pm, but not so much at around 3:00 am. On the night of Dishera we went into the city and watched a giant effigy of Raaven burn to the ground as fireworks (or crackers) exploded above it.

Bakri Eid was on October 27th. It is a Muslim holiday on which goats are slaughtered and then eaten. We went into the Muslim part of town and met a man named Salman who talked about the importance of Bakri Eid and let us sit in on the "festivities" in his family's home. I'd rather not go into detail on everything I saw, but what I will say is that I watched a goat slaughter and something that reminded me of the cat dissection I did in high school. I didn't throw up, and I ate some of the freshly cooked goat meat.

Halloween was on October 31st. Halloween is clearly not an Indian celebration; I had to explain to my host mom what it was. But we celebrated it anyway. Mackenzie, Hannah, and I were rickshaw walas; it was Mackenzie's brilliant idea. We bought lungis (a piece of cloth tied into a man skirt) and wore them with button up shirts, eye-liner facial hair and scarves tied around our heads. After we got ready, we ran into our counterparts, the real rickshaw walas. They were definitely confused, but very willing, to let us take pictures with their bicycle rickshaws and with them. We bought meeta paan, which is the non-tobacco version of paan and the reason that every rickshaw wala has red teeth and a lisp. Mackenzie and Hannah were much stronger than I was. I kept the meeta paan in my mouth for all of 3 minutes, until I spit it out. But it was a lot of fun saying "Rickshaw madam?" while the paan was in my mouth. We celebrated Halloween with food and dancing at the Where There Be Dragon's program house, and it was a lot of fun.

Work has been going well, as I continue to learn the routes to the office, to the center from the office, to the center from home, to home from the office, and to home from the center. The routes are pretty straight forward, but I will say that I've had a few experiences asking for directions. Much of my day at the office is spent talking to Ajeet. I've realized that much of what you say is going to get done in a certain time frame, will not get done in the desired time frame. It seems like that's just the way India...and Guria...works. I've been going to the center as much as possible, and trying very hard to learn the kids' names, which is more difficult than I thought it would be, probably because most of their names I've never heard before. I've been leading/teaching a typing "class," which involves moving the kids not on the computer out of the room, and trying to get the word per minute count up to 15 for all of the kids. Although I get frustrated with it from time to time, I am really loving work.

Diwali is a five day festival that begins on November 10th, and ends on November 15th. I get to break out my sari for the first time, take part in a celebration at Guria, and take part in the festivities with my host family. So I am very excited for this upcoming festival, as everyone else in Varanasi seems to be.

Besides everything that I have mentioned, I have to say that I really like my host family. I think I have an inside joke going with one of my host grandmas, I've been talking to my host mom a lot, and they've made me feel a lot better while I've been sick.

I will try to post pictures soon of the festivities and our Halloween costumes!

October 16th 2012

The Monkey in the Program House


On Saturday morning I arrived at the program house at 7:30 for breakfast. I noticed on the roof opposite the program house a greater number of monkeys than usual. I went into the program house and sat down. A minute later, a monkey ran in the door, grabbed a bunch of bananas off of the table, and ran out. It all happened so fast. When I looked outside I saw him mockingly eating the bananas on the opposite roof. A subtle reminder that I'm not in the United States anymore.

Our 7:30 breakfast, 10:00-5:00 work day, 6:00-8:00 Hindi schedule continued as usual this week. On Tuesday Hannah and I bought bikes and rode them to work on Wednesday. What is riding a bike like in Beneras? It's crazy. There's not an organized pattern of traffic that the bicyclist falls into place with, there are no bikers' lanes, and there is a number of unfamiliar obstacles that regularly present themselves. By unfamiliar obstacles I mean cows and water buffalo (who don't seem to move much, biker or no biker), and the bicycle and autorickshaws that run the road. Tom led Hannah and I from his
motorcycle to work so that we could learn the route. There aren't many turns, but I am direction-ally challenged and I am in India so I expect the learning process to be a long one. I somehow managed to get lost at one point while Tom was leading us.

The festival season is approaching. This gave Mackenzie, Hannah, and me a good excuse to go sari shopping--something we've been anticipating since before we even got to India. We found a recommended store in a crowded part of town, and when we walked in we found sari heaven. Red couches surround shelves upon shelves of fabrics from synthetics to silks on three stories. I bought my first sari, and am not revealing any details about it until I wear it.

I have been pretty sick for the past few days but I am happy to say that I am feeling much better today. I made a visit to the doctor. He was very nice, and didn't rush to throw me in the hospital, so I am very thankful for both of those things.

I'm including mostly pictures of the ghats and the Ganga Ji. I have yet to take very many pictures of the city itself or my homestay.

October 5th 2012

Guria


On Monday we started work at our service sites! This week's schedule...which is essentially the rest of the year's schedule...has been incredibly busy: breakfast at 7:30, work from 9:00 to 5:00, Hindi from 6:00 to 8:00, followed by dinner and Hindi homework and then finally sleep.

Hannah and I are working at Guria. Guria is an NGO dedicated to fighting forced prostitution, second-generation prostitution, and human trafficking. The organization is headed by Ajeet Singh who is our mentor. He is really passionate about what he does, and I love just listening to him talk about his beliefs and his goals for the organization. Our work at Guria is self-initiated, and this week we began archiving newspaper clippings. The internet is down right now at the organization, which limits the amount of work we can do at the office. There is also an after-school center in the red light district in Varanasi. We visited the center yesterday and got to hang out with the kids. It was great. The kids were so much fun. I made a lot of failed attempts to have conversations with them in Hindi, and when they realized my Hindi
wasn't great, they took out a notebook and had me work on pronouncing letters. Pretty soon I was surrounded by kids, all around seven years old, excitedly yelling out letter pronunciations that I had to repeat. I can't wait to get to know the kids better and make improvements to the center.

Transportation to Guria has been...interesting. Guria is pretty far from the program house, and to minimize transportation costs, Hannah and I take shared autorickshaws and bicycle rickshaws. And since there is no direct route on a shared rickshaw to the office or the school, we take multiple rickshaws. We go from the Program House to Lonka, from Lonka to Kutchary, from Kutchary to Cante, and from Cante to the office. Every time we try to get a shared rickshaw, we get surrounded
by rickshaw drivers all trying to figure out where we are going. It's always a little overwhelming, and I'm definitely glad I didn't have to face the transportation issue alone this week. We are looking to get bikes soon, which will cut down on transportation time...and hassle...significantly.

On Wednesday, we were sitting in the Guria office when we heard thunder which was followed by a downpour. We didn't think much of it, because it all ended before we had to leave. We were in our third rickshaw when we found ourselves in the middle of a flooded street, stopped by a wall of traffic. I thought that drivers in California couldn't handle the rain...but post-rain traffic in India is on a completely different level. The wall of traffic was composed of standing people, bicycle rickshaws,
auto rickshaws, cars, motorcycles, cows, and water buffalo. Our autorickshaw driver kicked us out because he wasn't willing to wait in the traffic, so Hannah and I found ourselves right in the middle of the wall of traffic. We worked our way slowly through the crowd, which was very difficult. It took some mental strength on my part at least to just accept the fact that I didn't know...and probably didn't want to know...what I was stepping on under the several inches of murky water that filled the streets. After about a mile and a half of walking, we were able to find another rickshaw.

I feel my Hindi improving to a certain extent, and I am able to use it more everyday in my homestay which is fun. I've developed a passion for Indian serials, which are soap operas, and I get really excited when I pick out words I know or recognize verb tenses in the sentences. We went on a sunrise boat ride this week and said goodbye to Kristen, our co-leader who is going back to the United States for a little while. Until next time!

I'll be posting more photos in a separate post as soon as possible because my internet access is limited and posting pictures takes a long time.

September 29th 2012

You're Looking at Home


I am sitting overlooking the Ganges from Assi Ghat during a fire offering to the river as the day ends along with our first week in Varanasi and our first month in India. Our days have been full of activities, so I am really appreciating this free time. We start our day with breakfast at the program house,
spend the day touring service sites, conclude our group activity with Hindi, and have dinner at our homestays. Dinner in my homestay usually happens around 9:00 and I usually get to sleep around 11:30 after Hindi homework, journaling, and reading.

After a week in Varanasi I can conclude that the cow population seems to increase significantly everyday, making samosas is a lot of fun, internet access is going to be more limited than I anticipated, and being healthy can easily contribute to staying happy. Beyond that, there is a lot about the city that I don't know and a lot about my time here that I don't know. I know near to nothing about the extensive history of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, and I have yet to find out which service site I will be placed at. So there is a lot to learn over the next seven months.

I've gotten sick twice since we got here, most recently was last night. It has been difficult to maintain a positive attitude when I just don't feel good. Today I found myself frustrated with my immune system and its interference with my experience here. But I think it's important to remember that it is part of the experience and hopefully these sicknesses will help my immune system develop into a super immune system.

I am really enjoying the proximity to the Ganges. I can't say that I can see myself bathing in the river anytime soon or ever, but I love just sitting on the ghats and witnessing the effect that the river has on other people. The traffic is India-crazy, but I really like walking around the city. There is always something to look at and a motorcycle or cow to dodge.

Until next time

September 25th 2012

24-Hours-on-a-Train Later


After a long 24 hour train ride we arrived in Varanasi at around 5:00 pm on Saturday. We were met by Sarab, who works with the Where There Be Dragons groups, and took taxis to our program house. Varanasi, from my taxi window, at first appeared to  be very similar to the cities I had already seen in India, like Dehli and Dehradun. That was, until we got to the program house. After a much anticipated dinner and introductions to Dolly Ji and her children, I walked outside. Our program house is right on the Ganges River, and for me, this river is what initially separated Varanasi from the other cities I have seen in India so far. Having spent a lot of time at the beach in California, there was just something calming and reassuring about being so close to a body of water.

The heat made sleeping difficult in the Program House, and I started my first full day in Varanasi feeling rather overwhelmed. At some point though, after spending the day exploring the city with a scavenger hunt, I began to appreciate my surroundings and acknowledge that seven months here wouldn't be so bad.

This week we are visiting the work sites and on Friday we are finding out which NGO we will be working with. Tonight is my first night in my homestay. We had a homestay meeting yesterday after our scavenger hunt, and Debby announced the names and gave information for four people in my group of who they would be staying with. Then she got to me and told me that my homestay family's house had recently burned down so they were living out of tents at the moment, but I would get my own tent and be able to use the bathroom and bathe on the Ganges. Luckily she was joking, but I'm not going to say that I wasn't extremely nervous during the minute that I thought I would be living out of a tent in India. I was just introduced to my host mother who is extremely nice, and am spending my first hour here unpacking and enjoying my great view.

Last night we had the chance to go on a boat ride and watch a fire offering to the river. It was a beautiful experience. It made me excited for all of the things this city has in store for me, and appreciative of the place I will be living in.

September 21st 2012

Goodbye Mussoorie


In a few hours we are leaving the finally-familiar Mussoorie to get on a train that will take us to Varanasi. It has been a good three weeks here but I am excited for the change that Varnasi will bring. I am especially excited to get more permanently settled and begin my service work. We arrive on Saturday and move into our homestays on Monday.

After the two days we saw the Dahli Lama, our schedule continued as usual. We finished up our time at Landour Language School with a Hindi test, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We sawed, watched the carpenters, weeded, and harvested during the last few days at Turner Garden. We celebrated Hannah's eighteenth birthday with great food (especially compared to Woodstock) and multicultural birthday songs at Darab's house. We spent our last night at our tutor Youssef Ji's home for an amazing dinner and a great time.

This morning it was unusually clear and I was able to will myself out of bed to run and see the amazing view one more time. Most of the day has been consumed with skype calls and packing. I'm still confused on how all of my stuff originally fit into my bag, because it isn't fitting so well now.

 So I will return to packing, and the next time I post I will be in Varanasi!

September 17th 2012

The Dahli Lama


Both yesterday and today we had the chance to see the Dahli Lama: at Woodstock and in Happy valley. It was really cool to see him and hear him speak, and especially to see the reactions of the people around me. At Woodstock, several people ran up to the Dahli Lama as soon as he entered to receive a blessing or just get a closer look. He spoke about compassion, and took questions at the end of the speech from selected students and from the audience. He had a contagious laugh and spoke light-heartedly.

the Dahli Lama at Woodstock

The atmosphere was very different in Happy Valley, which is a Tibetan settlement and the first place the Dahli Lama went to in India after his exile. When the Dahli Lama entered everyone stood up and put their hands in front of them like they would if they were saying "namaste." The Dahli Lama sat to watch a Tibetan Opera and interrupted a few times for commentary. The Tibetan Opera was very interesting: there was a lot of very loud singing/yelling and the costumes were amazing. Afterward, the Dahli Lama spoke in Tibetan to the crowd.

Tibetan opera & the Dahli Lama in Happy Valley

When the Dahli Lama spoke at Woodstock, Nick bravely pushed his way through the crowd to hand him a Princeton mug. So now (as unrealistic as it might be) I think of the Dahli Lama enjoying chai out of our mug.

We have been continuing Hindi class as usual and tutoring with Youssef Ji who teaches at Woodstock school. Progress is definitely slow for me; I am procrastinating on my homework as I type.

Tonight we walked briskly to dinner at Woodstock in the rain, hopeful that the food would make up for our uncomfortable walk and soaking clothes. To be honest, dinner was terrible, bahut kharab. It serves as a prime example of an attempt at Western food with little Western cooking knowledge and only Indian ingredients. This morning we were woken up at the ungodly hour of 6:00 am by our recently moved in 8th grade dorm neighbors, who are here from Dehli for a writing convention. It was especially annoying when we noticed, at dinner, that their food looked a lot better than ours.

After dinner we went to tutoring with Youssef Ji, which is always fun. When we left we discovered (after walking down a few flights of stairs in pitch black darkness) that we had been locked in from the outside. We waited for someone to get the key and walked/ran back to Hanifl Center through the rain.

All of my complaints here are menial, and I just have to remember that the uncomfortable and annoying situations add to the experience. And that includes future sicknesses and far more uncomfortable situations.

September 15th 2012

Meanwhile in Mussoorie...


We walk a lot. Hike up to language school, quick hike down from language school to chaar dukaan, hike down from chaar dukaan to Woodstock School, hike down from Woodstock School to Turner Garden, hike up from Turner Garden to Woodstock School, hike up from Woodstock School to Hanifl Center, usually another hike to Woodstock School for dinner/tutoring/gym followed by a final hike up to Hanifl Center. That has been my walking schedule for the past week, more or less. It seems that the lengths of the walks change everyday.

I really enjoy reading the Devanagari script. I gain immense satisfaction when I can sound out a word correctly, and even more satisfaction when I can recognize the word I have sounded out (but that's a rare occasion). My vocabulary is limited, and I take a pretty long time to process a question asked in Hindi and formulate a response. But overall I am enjoying learning the language, and especially the chai in between grammar and writing classes.

I like working at Turner Garden a lot more than anyone would guess from my complaining (which is almost always about the walking). I am not a big fan of the leeches or the 90 degree walk/climb up from the garden to the street, but I like weeding. It's nice to look back and see that you made somewhat of a difference in the clearance around crops. It's also sort of calming as long as you're not squatting too much. We started building a greenhouse today. Well I guess it would be more accurate to say that we watched a greenhouse
be built, but we had the chance to pound a few posts into the ground and practicce our Hindi.

Food in general at Woodstock is not my favorite thing. Occasionally the lunches and dinners completely surpass my meager expectations which is always exciting. We have gone out a few times to eat which is usually very good and always very cheap. I love playing soccer, ping pong, and badminton in the gym and having the chance to play the pianos in the music room.

                                       

We have less than a week left here. I'm excited for a change but also nervous because leaving here to Varanasi marks the real beginning of the program. We will be in Varanasi for 7 months, and the idea of 7 months in a new place that isn't my house is a lot to take in. I'm worried I won't find fulfillment and be helpful at my service site, and that my homestay family won't like me, but I guess these worries are typical.

Tomorrow we see the Dahli Lama! I'm excited especially because I have a complete set of clean clothes to wear. Until next time!

Ada

September 7th 2012

Mussoorie


Mussoorie is the most scenicly beautiful place I have ever been. We are in the foothills of the Himalayas, wearing our kurtas, sipping chai. Mist covers the mountains for most of the day, but when it clears we can see far down into what appears to be all of India. We are staying at the Hanifl Center of the international Woodstock School, which has great facilities, including a music room with several pianos which Allen and I are very excited for. It is a reprieve I am extremely grateful for after our 2 days (but what seemed like at least 2 weeks) in Dehli. We will be here for around 3 weeks in total, and then we will head to Varanasi which I imagine will be nothing like Mussoorie.

We have started Hindi classes, and my group has started service work in the Woodstock School Turner Garden; I will be joining them as soon as possible. My first impression of Hindi: it's not like spanish, which is the only language besides English that I "know" and "can speak." Hindi uses a different alphabet, a script, which looks more like random lines than letters. The masculine adjectives end in "a," which is counter intuitive to my Spanish knowledge of the feminine "la" article.

I have spent the last two days in bed with a fever and flu-like symptoms. One thing I recall clearly from orientation at Princeton is the multitude of "You will get sick" warnings from past participants and leaders. So as bad as it seems sometimes, I try to remind myself that I am just following in the steps of 3 years of BYP India volunteers. I went to the doctor today and was prescribed antibiotics which I hope will make me feel better soon.

The downside to being sick is having to drink Oral Rehydration Salts which taste terrible. But yesterday I discovered the plus side to being sick: Bollywood movies. Hannah, who was also not feeling well, and I watched "No One Killed Jessica" and "Om Shanti Om," and skipped to the dance numbers in a few other movies. For anyone looking for elaborate dance numbers and an extremely catchy theme song, I highly recommend "Om Shanti Om."

I am also extremely thankful to my supportive group and group leaders who have put up with my complaints, hung out with me, brought me food, woke up in the middle of the night for me, and helped me whenever I needed it. I am really focused on getting better so I can be 100% by the 16th when we meet the Dahli Lama!

September 3rd 2012

New Dehli and the Wealth Gap


The day started hecticly as we loaded into autorickshaws. Autorickshaws are driven by gutsy men and powered by something similar to a lawn mower motor. We stopped at the New Dehli Train Station to meet a tour guide from the NGO Salaam Baalak . In short, this NGO strives to get street kids off of the street and onto a path towards a productive life. We saw organized garbage bags piled in front of shops where kids came daily to trade articles of garbage (plastic, aluminum, etc.) for a  small profit. This scene gave life to the images I had in my head after reading Beyond the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo which centered around the lives of street kids in India.

We walked through narrow alleyways lined with shops, small restaurants, and homes, all of which were dirty and falling apart. Stray and diseased-looking dogs roamed making there way through the several sleeping people also bordering the alleyways. I have experienced many new smells since my arrival in India, but nothing compares to what I smelled in those alleyways. I couldn't begin...I wouldn't want to begin...guessing at what sort of things made up those smells. I found myself breathing through my shirt and speeding my walk to shorten my exposure. Those conditions in which I was so uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get out of are the conditions people live their daily lives in.

Part of our tour included a look inside a home for boys off of the street. Immediately upon entering, we were greeted by several young boys. They shook our hands, introducing themselves, played quick games of thumb war (in which they were highly skilled) and derivatives of patty-cake with us. They were adorable. As soon as our cameras came out, a new wave of excitement hit. They all wanted pictures taken of themselves and with us, and several of us became human jungle gyms on which the boys posed for pictures. They were so much fun to be around, and it's hard to think that those boys are of the very few that have been pulled off of the street.

After our Salaam Baalak tour, we ventured to Khan Market in upscale New Deli. There were pricey and relatively clean restaurants (pricey for India anyway), designer stores I recognized from home, nice Indian clothing stores in which we made our first purchases, and several foreigners besides myself and my group. The contrast between what we had just seen on our tour only a few minutes away walking distance and the upscale part of New Dehli is astounding. It serves as an example of the incredible wealth gap in India.

Our day in New Dehli was exhausting both physically and mentally. The images of those living in poverty are vivid and the problems related to the wealth gap keep resurfacing in my mind.

Next stop the Hanifl Center at the Woodstock School in Mussoorie.

Until next time,
Ada

September 1st 2012

I'm in India!


We arrived in Dehli at around 8 pm. The minute we landed I noticed the air smelled just a little bit spicy and felt very humid. Then we began our adventure to our guest house. Traffic laws do not seem to exist in India. Lane lines are just for decoration, and driving into oncoming traffic is no big deal. I was impressed that our Indian taxi driver was not phased by the multiple almost-accidents we were involved in. I, meanwhile, was not able to keep such a composure.

traffic in Old Dehli

Our guest house is in a Tibetan colony in Dehli: home to Tibetan refugees and several scrawny dogs. The narrow "roads" are lined with vendors selling everything from hand made jewelry to cell phones inside small shops or under flimsy shelter.

The first day was spent orientating and touring Old Dehli. It can best be described as sensory overload. The smell: heavy pollution, trash, strange food, body odor. The sounds: music (Justin Bieber and Bollywood), people yelling in Hindi and English, car horns, barking. Most notably, the sights: people, cars, auto and bicycle rickshaws, mosques, multiple-storied buildings, shops, street vendors, animals. I was disappointed whenever I took a picture because my camera couldn't seem to accurately capture all of what I was seeing.

a street in Old Dehli

I was captivated by everything around me; there was so much to look at. But people were captivated by us. The stares followed our group wherever we went. People even took pictures. It is difficult to get used to the fact that I am the strange looking one, I am the foreigner.

It is hard to comprehend that I will be spending the next 9 months in this country. 9 months seems like a very long time.I have never felt as dirty as I feel after today. Today was exhausting and overwhelming but a remarkable experience. I discovered the greatness of Tibetan bread and chicken momos and saw a man sitting on a sidewalk combing his leg hair with a pink comb.

Tomorrow we are touring New Dehli, and the next day we are taking a train up to a school in Mussoorie where we will spend a couple weeks.

Until next time,
Ada

August 26th 2012

Orientation


I finally said the tear-inducing yet inevitable goodbyes to my friends and family and headed off to Princeton on Friday. Orientation began on Saturday where I met the people that I will be spending these next nine months with as well as the people who are coordinating this journey. Already we have participated in meaningful discussions on topics surrounding the types of service we choose to do, the goals we set for ourselves, and the poop scale (don’t ask). Earlier today my India group had a private meeting with one of the directors where we talked about how important it is to remember that we are allowed to be frustrated with, and even hate, the program. We are going to be frustrated with ourselves, the people around us, and the culture we are immersing ourselves in while we adjust to a new life, and an automatic “this experience is awesome” with a smile is not expected. But the tough parts are what make the trip so great...or so I’ve heard. My group has adopted an “It’s all in your head (except typhoid)” mantra, which I’m hoping will at least lessen the hardships we face.

In addition to the mental preparation, we are receiving physical preparation. Earlier today, we also had a packing party. This party consisted of our group sitting outside and completely unpacking our bags so that our directors could identify all of the useless stuff we had packed to send back to our parents before we leave. So now my backpacks take up a little less space and I’m not completely falling over while carrying them! 

it's nine months of equipment not a person in my backpack

We have two more days of orientation and then we are the last group to leave at 7:30 pm on Wednesday. Until then I will be getting last minute shots (not excited), listening to as much advice as possible, and trying to mentally prepare myself for the journey ahead.

Until next time.. in India!
Ada

August 29th 2012

What am I doing?

Hi everyone!

As the title of my blog says (in the few Hindi words I know), my name is Ada. In five days I will leave my home in Southern California for an orientation at Princeton. Five days after that I will leave the United States for the first time to spend the next nine months in India. I am participating in the Princeton University Bridge Year Program in India with six other students. We will be learning Hindi, completing service projects, and experiencing culture shock. 

India is both intriguing and very foreign. I have a small familiarity with the country only through my yoga practice, which I am happy I will be able to continue. I always answer the question “why India?” with “why not India?” The culture is fascinating, the history is extensive, and c’mon, who doesn’t love a little bit of curry every now and then?

I am writing this blog to keep those that are interested informed on the progress of my journey, to offer a look at India through the eyes of a naïve eighteen year old, and simply for myself so that I can document my experience. I am already feeling a paradox of emotions. I am prepared and hesitant, excited and scared, confident and worried. But I am sure of one thing: I want to go to India with the Bridge Year Program to help people and learn all that I possibly can. So I’ll suck it up. 

It’s been a bit of an adventure this summer, just in the preparations. I am a teenage girl, and adjusting to the concept of packing only what I need is a challenge. Beyond that, my Indian visa application was rejected the first time, the insurance company was not immediately onboard with giving me a year’s supply of malarial pills, and worst of all, I had to get shots. 

my dining room table turned temporary India storage space

Here I am in the home stretch of my preparations for departure. It’s about time to stuff all of my equipment in my backpack, say goodbye to my friends and family, and leave as many of my hesitations behind as possible. And now I am off to enjoy every American thing I can before I leave for India…mostly pertaining to food. 

Until next time! 

Ada