Halfway Home
We're 50%, half-way, through our Bridge Year. Actually a little more than 50%. And a lot more if you don't count May when we will be in Laddakh. But half-way is a strange idea. It feels like a lot of time and too little time. If I look at it through a "relive everyday, every meal, every bike ride you've already had in India" kind of perspective, then it seems like there's SO much time left. But if I look at it through a "I only have 4 months left to make an impact at my work site, establish meaningful relationships, and "learn" Hindi" perspective, then it seems like I need a lot more than 4 more months.
We've recently visited Bodhgaya (where the Buddha was enlightened), attended our second wedding as a group, and celebrated Makar Sankrati (a festival dedicated to bathing in the Ganga Ji and flying kites). In Bodghaya we got the chance to see the tree under which (supposedly) the Buddha gained enlightenment, Buddhist temples and monasteries established by countries with a significant Buddhist presence, and an 80 foot tall statue of Buddha--in addition to tons of adorable Tibetan Buddhist monks under 12 years old. Bodhgaya was interesting, and clearly very important to the visiting Buddhists who
surrounded the main stuppa spinning prayer wheels, meditating, and doing rituals. I'd have to say that I much prefer Varanasi to Bodhgaya, which wasn't particularly pleasant outside of the temples. I saw several beggars in Bodhgaya with deformities, missing limbs, and other inflicted injuries that were most likely trafficked to the religious tourists's hotspot, and that was really sad to see.
Makar Sankrati took place on January 14th. And what is Makar Sankrati? It is the kite flying festival! That's right, India has a kite flying festival. It also has religious purposes for Hindus, and so the ghats were packed with kite flyers and people bathing in the Ganga Ji. I might have flown a kite twice in my life. Kite flying here is a serious deal. The kites themselves are made of flimsy paper and can be purchased at many stores for less than $0.50. The kite string is basically a weapon as it is coated in a thin layer of glass, all the better to cut the kite strings of neighboring kites while in flight. It's like a sport. When you succeed in cutting the string of another kite, everyone yells, in exuberation, "BAAL KUTA!" On Makar Sankrati there were more kites than usual in the sky, more kite string than usual on the ground, and more people than usual on the ghats. In honor of the holiday, I flew a kite, before it was taken away from me after a few seconds because my string was about to be cut, and ate the traditional dish of Kichari. Also in honor of the holiday, two days later, I had to get my bike repaired due to an excess of kite string stuck in my back wheel.
The wedding we attended was fun, I especially enjoyed watching the groom enter the reception on horseback after riding through the streets of Varanasi accompanied by a marching band. Work has continued as usual, and I have started my ISP (Independent Study Project) for which I am doing painting. It was a pretty impulsive decision to do painting, but I've always liked drawing despite any real talent for it, and I wanted to do an ISP that might help me capture my experiences so that I could bring them back home with me. I've drawn a saddhu and the ghats among other things so far, and I'm enjoying it.
We are visiting a village this weekend, and mid-February we are returning to Dehli and then going to Agra to see the TAJ MAHAL which I am very excited for.
Until next time!
Ada
We're 50%, half-way, through our Bridge Year. Actually a little more than 50%. And a lot more if you don't count May when we will be in Laddakh. But half-way is a strange idea. It feels like a lot of time and too little time. If I look at it through a "relive everyday, every meal, every bike ride you've already had in India" kind of perspective, then it seems like there's SO much time left. But if I look at it through a "I only have 4 months left to make an impact at my work site, establish meaningful relationships, and "learn" Hindi" perspective, then it seems like I need a lot more than 4 more months.
We've recently visited Bodhgaya (where the Buddha was enlightened), attended our second wedding as a group, and celebrated Makar Sankrati (a festival dedicated to bathing in the Ganga Ji and flying kites). In Bodghaya we got the chance to see the tree under which (supposedly) the Buddha gained enlightenment, Buddhist temples and monasteries established by countries with a significant Buddhist presence, and an 80 foot tall statue of Buddha--in addition to tons of adorable Tibetan Buddhist monks under 12 years old. Bodhgaya was interesting, and clearly very important to the visiting Buddhists who
surrounded the main stuppa spinning prayer wheels, meditating, and doing rituals. I'd have to say that I much prefer Varanasi to Bodhgaya, which wasn't particularly pleasant outside of the temples. I saw several beggars in Bodhgaya with deformities, missing limbs, and other inflicted injuries that were most likely trafficked to the religious tourists's hotspot, and that was really sad to see.
Makar Sankrati took place on January 14th. And what is Makar Sankrati? It is the kite flying festival! That's right, India has a kite flying festival. It also has religious purposes for Hindus, and so the ghats were packed with kite flyers and people bathing in the Ganga Ji. I might have flown a kite twice in my life. Kite flying here is a serious deal. The kites themselves are made of flimsy paper and can be purchased at many stores for less than $0.50. The kite string is basically a weapon as it is coated in a thin layer of glass, all the better to cut the kite strings of neighboring kites while in flight. It's like a sport. When you succeed in cutting the string of another kite, everyone yells, in exuberation, "BAAL KUTA!" On Makar Sankrati there were more kites than usual in the sky, more kite string than usual on the ground, and more people than usual on the ghats. In honor of the holiday, I flew a kite, before it was taken away from me after a few seconds because my string was about to be cut, and ate the traditional dish of Kichari. Also in honor of the holiday, two days later, I had to get my bike repaired due to an excess of kite string stuck in my back wheel.
The wedding we attended was fun, I especially enjoyed watching the groom enter the reception on horseback after riding through the streets of Varanasi accompanied by a marching band. Work has continued as usual, and I have started my ISP (Independent Study Project) for which I am doing painting. It was a pretty impulsive decision to do painting, but I've always liked drawing despite any real talent for it, and I wanted to do an ISP that might help me capture my experiences so that I could bring them back home with me. I've drawn a saddhu and the ghats among other things so far, and I'm enjoying it.
We are visiting a village this weekend, and mid-February we are returning to Dehli and then going to Agra to see the TAJ MAHAL which I am very excited for.
Until next time!
Ada
I want to see some pictures of those kites!
ReplyDeleteYour Mom wants to see pics of the kites - and I want to see the pictures you are painting/drawing. That is GREAT! And I'm also interested at how those weirdly-spelled words of cities, areas, items, are flying from your fingers into the blog...you probably don't even realize at this point how much of the culture you are absorbing through simply being at ease with the language. That's wonderful too! Love you...
ReplyDeleteGrandma
I will try to get pictures for you guys soon!! And thank you, I'm trying my best haha. Love you!
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