Having an injury in Goa turned out to be not so bad. Since we had so long there we slipped nicely into a wonderful routine. Roll out of bed around 8 or 9, have eggs on toast with the cute mangy puppy. - seriously this puppy was one of the cutest in the entire world. - Then find a nice spot in the shade to read and sleep for the morning. Around 1:30 or two when the sun woke you from your nap you go back up to the restaurant (about 10 feet) and have a nice cheap beer or fanta and delicious food. Then you go back to the beach and read and sleep for a few more hours. If you feel ansy you stroll into town for the internet or some ice-cream and get back in time to watch the sunset. Then clean up a bit and find somewhere to eat a delicious dinner. Then go back to the room to read and listen to music for awhile and maybe take a night time stroll along the beach. If you are not injured you might take a swim because most likely the water is warmer then the air and go back to the room to shower and read and sleep. Wake up and repeat. Glorious.
After ten days we were all ready to get back on a train and head to the city. Mumbai is fantastic. It is probably my most favorite big city in India. I didn't get a good feel before because we were in the suburbs and stayed mostly with the family. They were wonderful and fed us fantastic food - but we didn't get a sense of the city. This time we stayed sort of by the University. On the train we picked up a copy of Time out Mumbai which is a sort of art and culture magazine you can get for most major cities. I had no idea what an arts and cultural hub Mumbai is. There are so many art gallaries and openings and dance and music and theatre performances going on. Its so cool. OUr first day we dropped our bags in our hotel and right accross the street is this great modern art gallery center with maybe 5 or 6 different rooms showing different artists. It truly was invigorating. There was an article in Time Out about this show "sweatopia" by this artist who right now I can't remember his name, but it was fantastic. His pieces really affected me. This one was four different frames with two sets of writing - two stories going on but you could read one from one angle then move a few feet and you could read the other. One story was about how the country is revolutionizing communication by making calls accross the country only cost 1 ruppee and how so many people will be able to call who never could before (it used to cost 24 rs then 9 rs and now 1). The other story underneath was about a 12 year old girl who killed herself because her mom couldn't afford to give her 1 ruppee for school lunch. Crazy.
Also in Mumbai accross from our hotel they were shooting a movie which was pretty exciting. I didn't recognize any of the actors, but still cool.
After a long and freezing train ride we are back in Delhi for the final two days. The boys catch a midnight flight tomorrow and I'm on a 3 am flight the following day. Its very strange. We all feel kind of wierd about it. It feels right to go home now, we're all exhausted and out of money. But at the same time I feel like I haven't really seen anything and NEED MORE TIME!
Ah well. Can't wait to get back to the ol' friends and family and holiday spirit. I keep forgetting its the holidays!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Always trust your intstincts
So, I made a vital error of judgement two days ago. I woke up feeling crappy. I contracted a mini flu from one of the kids in the wedding and was just starting to recover. I had gone mortorcycling with Matt a few days before, but Scott wanted to go today. I didn't want to go again, but felt bad leaving him to go explore the North all by his lonesome. You know, I knew where to get the fuel, how to get on the main roads, all that stuff. I got it in my head that he needed me to go and I couldn't let him down. I felt. Really. Crappy. Instead of telling Scott this I just sucked it up, popped a few pepto bismols and hopped on back. I thought, at least I'm not driving. I can just close my eyes and enjoy the cool breeze and take a day ride in the jungle. It was pretty hot that day and I didn't want to lie in the sun anyway. From the start I felt uncomfortable. Scott drives a lot faster then Matt and is much less careful of the potholes and speed bumps. Things didn't go right from the beginning. I told him to make a wrong turn and we ended up at this random village with no fuel and pretty far from Margao where the petrol stations were. We just got the expensive fuel from the roadside rental guys and hit the road. After about 25 minutes or so on the main road my nerves started to calm a bit, but I was still completely petrified. I had managed to get Scott to slow down a bit but not enough for my liking. Then, after we had pulled over for him to take some pictures he asked if I wouldn't mind driving for a bit so he can take pictures on the back. I was flabergasted. I had never driven one of these things more then 10 feet on an empty road and we were on a main highway. Instead of insisting no, I felt bad once again and agreed, I would just drive very slowly. So I get on the road and go 35 km/hr (scott was going 55 +) and everything is OK. Terrifying, but OK. Then he asks me to go around this round about and go back so he can take a picture. I was absolutely scared out of my mind. I didn't feel comfortable navigating this thing and there were trucks and cars everywhere- I made it around though and pulled over so he could take some shots. Then the bike woulnd't start. I was feeling anxious overall, the bike was so heavy I could barely move it and hold it up right. Scott walked it to the other side to start it and have easier access to the road again. My eyes were all watery so I put on his sunglasses under my glasses. The glasses kept falling off, the helmet was huge, everything just didn't feel right. So, he gets the bike going and we hop on to start on our journey. I wait for a big gap in the road but just as I'm starting to pull off the shoulder another bike pulls over to the side in front of us. Instead of stopping and waiting to see what they were doing i kept going. Since I'm no good at navigating these things i accelerated too much with out turning and almost ran into the other bike and swerved to the right and before I knew it the bike had tipped and we were grazing the ground. It was on top of me and I was squished. They picked up the bike and a crowd formed and I didn't realize how badly hurt I was. I could see a huge bump on my leg (thought it was a fracture) and I was all scraped up. I was crying hysterically. I felt faint, dizzy. Then scott came over and looked at my arm and said "don't look at your arm" that's when I started going nuts. Hyperventilating, crying, dizzyness, the whole thing. Before I knew it I was in a van going to the hospital.
The nurses were very nice. Tina, Tania, and Dr. Pooja - al women. They wiped me clean. I was completely covered in dirt and dust. I have a huge gaping gash in my right arm - really deep. Luckily its on the underside and I never got to see it. 9 stiches. I got x-rays for my leg but its fine - just a bruised muscle.
I feel like a compelte royal idiot statistic dumb american stupid head. I shouldn't have gone in the first place. Scott would have been fine without me and I didn't want to go. I shouldn't have driven - especially on a main road. So dumb. so dumb. Pretty much the only good thing I did was have a helmet on because otherwise things would be a lot worse.
The medical bills were not so much. For my stiches and medication and x-rays and everything it was 1,200 ruppees. about 30 bucks. The expensive part was the bike. It got pretty messed up in the sort of have to replace the whole bumper kind of way. That pretty much was my fancy hotel in Delhi money - but I'm a big stupid dummy face so I guess I deserve it.
Now I'm a gimp on the beach and a walking advertisement to be careful and not stupid. I can't go in the water anymore which kind of sucks, but I can still lie in the shade under the coconut umbrellas and read Henry Miller. The boys have lots of wonderful books that I have had the opportunity to read which is great. I have been exposed to many new authors - namely Milan Kundera and Henry Miller. I think I would have gone crazy without their extensive library.
but anyway, that's that. Never a dull moment. Not one. Even when you think you're bored on the beach.
The nurses were very nice. Tina, Tania, and Dr. Pooja - al women. They wiped me clean. I was completely covered in dirt and dust. I have a huge gaping gash in my right arm - really deep. Luckily its on the underside and I never got to see it. 9 stiches. I got x-rays for my leg but its fine - just a bruised muscle.
I feel like a compelte royal idiot statistic dumb american stupid head. I shouldn't have gone in the first place. Scott would have been fine without me and I didn't want to go. I shouldn't have driven - especially on a main road. So dumb. so dumb. Pretty much the only good thing I did was have a helmet on because otherwise things would be a lot worse.
The medical bills were not so much. For my stiches and medication and x-rays and everything it was 1,200 ruppees. about 30 bucks. The expensive part was the bike. It got pretty messed up in the sort of have to replace the whole bumper kind of way. That pretty much was my fancy hotel in Delhi money - but I'm a big stupid dummy face so I guess I deserve it.
Now I'm a gimp on the beach and a walking advertisement to be careful and not stupid. I can't go in the water anymore which kind of sucks, but I can still lie in the shade under the coconut umbrellas and read Henry Miller. The boys have lots of wonderful books that I have had the opportunity to read which is great. I have been exposed to many new authors - namely Milan Kundera and Henry Miller. I think I would have gone crazy without their extensive library.
but anyway, that's that. Never a dull moment. Not one. Even when you think you're bored on the beach.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Sunsunsunsunsun
Ok so F-book is having major techincal difficulties. Well, its more the computers i've been using. so I have switched to flickr, which makes more sense anyway because thats the whole reason for Flickr's existence, for people to upload massive ammounts of photos and share them with their families.
Frustrated with trying to upload I selected only a few pictures that range from Agra to this morning.
Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14110294@N04/
Frustrated with trying to upload I selected only a few pictures that range from Agra to this morning.
Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14110294@N04/
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Lost in Paradise
Well, the wedding was a fabulous wonderful success. I stayed with Shanti at her older brother's house and the boys stayed at the other brothers house. We were all fed extremely well (3 meals a day plus snacks) and were made to feel right at home.
We got there one day before the actual ceremony, we missed the big party the night before, but that's ok. We spent Saturday shopping for appropriate clothes and on Sunday were busy with festivities from 10 am to 11 pm. Now, busy might not be the best word. A lot of hurry up and wait action. Depending on how fancy you are you either had two or three changes of clothes. You arrive at the center around 11 in something nice and traditional (some men wore western clothes) and had a buffet lunch. Then you hang around for a few hours and if you are a woman change into fancy saris. All the sister in laws wore these beautiful red/maroon outfits with so much gold you would not even imagine. Then around two these drummers and musicians started playing outside and all the women are dancing in a circle and then some of the men started dancing all funny like and waving 10 ruppee notes everywhere to get the drummers all riled up. It was a blast. Then the ceremony, none of which we could hear because a band was playing pop hits in the background so loud. The bride looked amazing. She was so covered in henna and jewelry you could hardly see here. She just sat still and smiled for basically 7 hours. Kudos to her. At one point all the family members got up and started dancing around again to welcome the bride into the family and give her her family/wedding sari. There is really just too much to write. During the dancing and singing at the end of the ceremony, while scott was going wild with his camera, Matt and I were sipping Chai that was delivered. I guess its a long ceremony so you need to keep the guests alert. When we first sat down we were all served juice. Too wacky. Then after the 2 hour ceremony we all changed into our evening clothes. Shanti lent me a sari and we went to this apartment with all the other girls to get our makeup done and get all spruced up. I looked pretty darn amazing if I might say so myself. I couldn't walk in the traditional way you wrap a sari so they basically wrapped like a mermaid. It was great. I will upload pictures probably in Mumbai.
basically the point of this blog is to say I am out of commission for the next ten days or so because we are staying at a beach shack in goa. We literally rolled out of bed this morning to lie on the beach all day. The ocean water is warm. We aren't staying at the rowdy party beaches so its us and a bunch of old European tourists. its great. Its paradise. We are going to get seafood for dinner. I can't even describe how amazing it is here. If it wasn't for the women selling you sari's, fruit, and jewerly on the beach you wouldn't know you were in India. Not that India isn't nice...i mean..well, anyway. I'm going to continue working on my tan and will write again maybe towards the end..or maybe in mumbai. We weren't originally going to stay for so long, but because its busy season we couldn't get a train out of here until the 13th...oh well..too bad. not really.
We got there one day before the actual ceremony, we missed the big party the night before, but that's ok. We spent Saturday shopping for appropriate clothes and on Sunday were busy with festivities from 10 am to 11 pm. Now, busy might not be the best word. A lot of hurry up and wait action. Depending on how fancy you are you either had two or three changes of clothes. You arrive at the center around 11 in something nice and traditional (some men wore western clothes) and had a buffet lunch. Then you hang around for a few hours and if you are a woman change into fancy saris. All the sister in laws wore these beautiful red/maroon outfits with so much gold you would not even imagine. Then around two these drummers and musicians started playing outside and all the women are dancing in a circle and then some of the men started dancing all funny like and waving 10 ruppee notes everywhere to get the drummers all riled up. It was a blast. Then the ceremony, none of which we could hear because a band was playing pop hits in the background so loud. The bride looked amazing. She was so covered in henna and jewelry you could hardly see here. She just sat still and smiled for basically 7 hours. Kudos to her. At one point all the family members got up and started dancing around again to welcome the bride into the family and give her her family/wedding sari. There is really just too much to write. During the dancing and singing at the end of the ceremony, while scott was going wild with his camera, Matt and I were sipping Chai that was delivered. I guess its a long ceremony so you need to keep the guests alert. When we first sat down we were all served juice. Too wacky. Then after the 2 hour ceremony we all changed into our evening clothes. Shanti lent me a sari and we went to this apartment with all the other girls to get our makeup done and get all spruced up. I looked pretty darn amazing if I might say so myself. I couldn't walk in the traditional way you wrap a sari so they basically wrapped like a mermaid. It was great. I will upload pictures probably in Mumbai.
basically the point of this blog is to say I am out of commission for the next ten days or so because we are staying at a beach shack in goa. We literally rolled out of bed this morning to lie on the beach all day. The ocean water is warm. We aren't staying at the rowdy party beaches so its us and a bunch of old European tourists. its great. Its paradise. We are going to get seafood for dinner. I can't even describe how amazing it is here. If it wasn't for the women selling you sari's, fruit, and jewerly on the beach you wouldn't know you were in India. Not that India isn't nice...i mean..well, anyway. I'm going to continue working on my tan and will write again maybe towards the end..or maybe in mumbai. We weren't originally going to stay for so long, but because its busy season we couldn't get a train out of here until the 13th...oh well..too bad. not really.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
So it turns out the James Bond flick Octopussy was filmed partly in Udaipur. The girl lives on the Lake Palace and the dude lives up in Monsoon Palace. Because of this there are loads of restaurants that show the film at 7 pm daily. Its great. last night we went next door and I had amazing Tandoori Chicken while watching James Bond. It was awesome. There was a supped up Rickshaw and all these other funny Indian quirks that we all experience on a daily basis. So funny. For some reason or other there was a puppy Dagtsund running around as well. We got to play with it a bit. So cute. After dinner we went back to our lovely guest house where we have a pristine view of the lake palace from our balcony and sat and looked out at the mesmerizing, serene and utterly delicious scene in front of us. Unreal. So cool.
Couldn't do it. Pictures upload taking too long. Sorry.
Couldn't do it. Pictures upload taking too long. Sorry.
More Chapati?
So, Bundi.
We had four glorious days in Bundi and three amazing Thali's cooked by the one and only Mama. The first day was very relaxing, just getting a feel for the place, that sort of thing.
The first morning a sweet talking kid named Romeo sweet talked Emily and I into going on his tour to this spectacular waterfall. We didn't see through all the smoke and mirrors until we were all ready on the road and Romeo gave us the run around on bus and train tickets. Scott was really pissed. Despite the fact that we paid too much for his taxi to the waterfall, it was completely worth it. The drive out there was wonderful. Just us and the open road. We stopped at a random shack and this kid made us chapatis from scratch. All you really need is water and wheat and that's about it. Add in some butter and a few bananas and your picnic is complete. After about 30 minutes we arrived at a block in the road and we had to walk the rest of the way. Around the bend is a huge huge huge waterfall. I didn't believe it. Right in the middle of the dessert. So great. Scott and Emily went swimming, but I stayed ashore. I was into this Milan Kundera book and didn't want to get wet. Anyway, some other Americans were swimming as well and when they all came back ashore one of the guys had this funny look on his face and said "This waterfall looks a lot like Red Rock, huh" I was utterly confused, I thought maybe he was referring to some place in California but was still in the dark. After a few minutes of me confused and him and scott laughing I found out I went to high school with this guy. Julian was his name. We were never close friends but definitly in the extended family if you know what I mean. Once he said his name I recognized him - sort of - you can tell its been four years of college and a year of travelling. He went to prom with one of my close friends Elizabeth Lee. Small small world. Anyway, we ended up hanging out a bit in Bundi and he is also here in Udaipur and going to Goa. Maybe we will see him there too. Funny. Small small world.
So, that was fun. The next day we rented motorcycles and tooled around the city. Since it was so small it was really easy to get around, and man was it fun. You will see some of the pictures. I never drove of course, just sat on the back. But going through the countryside on a sunny day, stopping off for some local thali, then coming home to a sleepy village shadowed by the great goblin palace was just perfect. Could not have imagined a better day. That night we put Emily on a bus to Jaipur where she hopefully would get a bus or train to Delhi where she had an 8 am flight. We were very worried about here. A small cute asian girl who all ready gets nervous travelling. I thought she probably would be OK, but there was a good chance buses would be late...we finally found out today she made it back fine. Even though her flight from Delhi was delayed 8 hours she still made it there by 7 am. Phew. What would we have done, i don't know. There was maybe a 5% chance she was still somewhere in Jaipur - ugh...anyway, she's fine. :)
Now we are in Udaipur which is really nice and relaxing. Fairly touristy but we are staying at a guest house right on on the lake and we can eat dinner overlooking the lake palace which is truly glorious. Because of wedding season it took some manuvering to get to Mumbai in time for the wedding, but we will make it just barely a couple days before to get acqainted and all. I have no idea what to expect. There have been weddings all over every where we go and lots of fireworks and marching bands. We'll see what happens.
But oh those dinners made by Mama. Three veg dishes, dahl, rice and chapati. Unlimited chapati and unlimited refils. Before you were half way done with your first with one more to go one of the hilarious daughters came out with a huge grin "more chapati?" sure why not. I could never eat more then 3, but then refils of all the other dishes. Too much. Too delicious. Yummy. Those daughters were hilarious. The younger one literally goes through life laughing at the world. Its all a joke to her. She is great. She couldn't speak english but would just say "hi" then burst out laughing. Ah. Good family.
More chapati?
We had four glorious days in Bundi and three amazing Thali's cooked by the one and only Mama. The first day was very relaxing, just getting a feel for the place, that sort of thing.
The first morning a sweet talking kid named Romeo sweet talked Emily and I into going on his tour to this spectacular waterfall. We didn't see through all the smoke and mirrors until we were all ready on the road and Romeo gave us the run around on bus and train tickets. Scott was really pissed. Despite the fact that we paid too much for his taxi to the waterfall, it was completely worth it. The drive out there was wonderful. Just us and the open road. We stopped at a random shack and this kid made us chapatis from scratch. All you really need is water and wheat and that's about it. Add in some butter and a few bananas and your picnic is complete. After about 30 minutes we arrived at a block in the road and we had to walk the rest of the way. Around the bend is a huge huge huge waterfall. I didn't believe it. Right in the middle of the dessert. So great. Scott and Emily went swimming, but I stayed ashore. I was into this Milan Kundera book and didn't want to get wet. Anyway, some other Americans were swimming as well and when they all came back ashore one of the guys had this funny look on his face and said "This waterfall looks a lot like Red Rock, huh" I was utterly confused, I thought maybe he was referring to some place in California but was still in the dark. After a few minutes of me confused and him and scott laughing I found out I went to high school with this guy. Julian was his name. We were never close friends but definitly in the extended family if you know what I mean. Once he said his name I recognized him - sort of - you can tell its been four years of college and a year of travelling. He went to prom with one of my close friends Elizabeth Lee. Small small world. Anyway, we ended up hanging out a bit in Bundi and he is also here in Udaipur and going to Goa. Maybe we will see him there too. Funny. Small small world.
So, that was fun. The next day we rented motorcycles and tooled around the city. Since it was so small it was really easy to get around, and man was it fun. You will see some of the pictures. I never drove of course, just sat on the back. But going through the countryside on a sunny day, stopping off for some local thali, then coming home to a sleepy village shadowed by the great goblin palace was just perfect. Could not have imagined a better day. That night we put Emily on a bus to Jaipur where she hopefully would get a bus or train to Delhi where she had an 8 am flight. We were very worried about here. A small cute asian girl who all ready gets nervous travelling. I thought she probably would be OK, but there was a good chance buses would be late...we finally found out today she made it back fine. Even though her flight from Delhi was delayed 8 hours she still made it there by 7 am. Phew. What would we have done, i don't know. There was maybe a 5% chance she was still somewhere in Jaipur - ugh...anyway, she's fine. :)
Now we are in Udaipur which is really nice and relaxing. Fairly touristy but we are staying at a guest house right on on the lake and we can eat dinner overlooking the lake palace which is truly glorious. Because of wedding season it took some manuvering to get to Mumbai in time for the wedding, but we will make it just barely a couple days before to get acqainted and all. I have no idea what to expect. There have been weddings all over every where we go and lots of fireworks and marching bands. We'll see what happens.
But oh those dinners made by Mama. Three veg dishes, dahl, rice and chapati. Unlimited chapati and unlimited refils. Before you were half way done with your first with one more to go one of the hilarious daughters came out with a huge grin "more chapati?" sure why not. I could never eat more then 3, but then refils of all the other dishes. Too much. Too delicious. Yummy. Those daughters were hilarious. The younger one literally goes through life laughing at the world. Its all a joke to her. She is great. She couldn't speak english but would just say "hi" then burst out laughing. Ah. Good family.
More chapati?
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Mama's House
There is much to tell.
After hanging around Delhi for a few days we decided to complete the so called 'Golden Triangle' and head to Agra, Jaipur and then down to Pushkar. I was not at all excited about going back to the dreaded city of Jaipur, but it was the only way to get to Pushkar, and because this is travel season all the morning Agra trains were booked and we ended up in Jaipur at midnight, hotel-less, and all the hotels were booked. We eventually found a really sketchy place that let us in - but it turned out to be pretty darn nice. one word. Cable. So I watched rugrats (cartoons) while the boys watched News in the other room and we got a good nights sleep before heading to the fair.
Agra - is - dirty, smelly, crowded and all around an icky place. So many tourists, so many people hassling you all the time - we only spent 7 hours there but it was more than enough time I can tell you that much. However, despite the dismal nature of the town, the Taj Majal is pretty spectacular. It is not particularly huge - it is just breathtakingly beautiful. The marble just radiates all around - its as if the whole building is surrounded and protected by an angelic glow. As Emily put it, each square foot is like a work of art. Just amazing. All of the inlaid detail work of precious gems (whatever that means...) - beautiful. I'm having some trouble with this computer uploading pictures, but when I do get them up you will see how crazy it is. The pictures of us standing in front look like we are in front of a blue screen. Unreal. The hazy blue of the sky behind adds to the allure as well. Apparently the dude was going to build a matching black one for himself behind the white one, but his son decided he was crazy and had him imprisoned - or something like that.
Anyway, it was worth the trip for sure to see that amazing place.
Now, camel fair. What a great time. It is just what it says it is - a camel fair. It is like the Indian Camel desert man version of a county fair. Vendors selling camel accessories, street food, clothes, cheap goods, ferris wheels and of course, camels. So many camels. Everywhere. There are some in the main grounds that people can ride around a bit, or just take pictures of. But in the fields behind the main grounds there are just makeshift camp sites with the men and their camels. Hundreds, thousands, its hard to say. Its great. This is like their yearly vacation to go to Pushkar, meet up with old friends, sell and buy some camels, maybe make some money in a race or two. Ah. These desert people are truly amazing. The women. Oh the women. They are so sturdy and amazing. they wear the giant hoops through their noses, bangles up to their armpits, and a particular kind of sari that I like much better then those around other states. They are colorful and bright (lots of hot pink) without being tacky. They hardly have any teeth, most don't wear shoes and have a fire burning in their eye. I didn't take any pictures of them because it didn't feel right. There might be some in the background somewhere though. Then there were the men, they wear loose white shirts and pants, with a tan or brown scarf and a warm dark shawl at night. Then they have a bright pink or green or grey turban and an amazing mustache. The mustaches. On the second day we saw the mustache competition. Not as impressive as we had hoped, but there were four or five great ones. The winner had a sort of a giant twirly thing and on the end of each side were two stringy dread locks that went down to his knees. Once again, pictures to come.
The computer is acting funny so I have to cut it short. One more thing though - as well as all the real desert camel men and women, there are also hundreds of thousands of INdian tourists and about 30,000 westerners who pass through Pushkar during this week. So lots of people. We stayed at this funny hotel kind of out of the way which was nice. I talked to the owner so many times on the phone to haggle for a good price we were practically best friends when we arrived. They had a sign that said "CATHERINE" written when we got off the bus. priceless. way better then any welcome GVN could have given me in Calcutta. I'm pretty sure this guy does some shady business though. He's fairly wealthy and said he had to change the name of his hotel a few times for tax purposes. ha.
Basically - Camel Fair - great - strange - weird - fun times.
Now were are in this amazing sleepy town (90,000) called Bundi. There's not a lot going on here (Kipling spent a long time here writing..) but we are staying at RN Haveli which is this guest house run by three women. This is rare here - for women to own and run their own business - Mama and her two daughters. For dinner last night; That is, for thanksgiving dinner last night, Mama made us the most amazing Thali I have ever had. It took three hours. Lots of butter. mmm.
After hanging around Delhi for a few days we decided to complete the so called 'Golden Triangle' and head to Agra, Jaipur and then down to Pushkar. I was not at all excited about going back to the dreaded city of Jaipur, but it was the only way to get to Pushkar, and because this is travel season all the morning Agra trains were booked and we ended up in Jaipur at midnight, hotel-less, and all the hotels were booked. We eventually found a really sketchy place that let us in - but it turned out to be pretty darn nice. one word. Cable. So I watched rugrats (cartoons) while the boys watched News in the other room and we got a good nights sleep before heading to the fair.
Agra - is - dirty, smelly, crowded and all around an icky place. So many tourists, so many people hassling you all the time - we only spent 7 hours there but it was more than enough time I can tell you that much. However, despite the dismal nature of the town, the Taj Majal is pretty spectacular. It is not particularly huge - it is just breathtakingly beautiful. The marble just radiates all around - its as if the whole building is surrounded and protected by an angelic glow. As Emily put it, each square foot is like a work of art. Just amazing. All of the inlaid detail work of precious gems (whatever that means...) - beautiful. I'm having some trouble with this computer uploading pictures, but when I do get them up you will see how crazy it is. The pictures of us standing in front look like we are in front of a blue screen. Unreal. The hazy blue of the sky behind adds to the allure as well. Apparently the dude was going to build a matching black one for himself behind the white one, but his son decided he was crazy and had him imprisoned - or something like that.
Anyway, it was worth the trip for sure to see that amazing place.
Now, camel fair. What a great time. It is just what it says it is - a camel fair. It is like the Indian Camel desert man version of a county fair. Vendors selling camel accessories, street food, clothes, cheap goods, ferris wheels and of course, camels. So many camels. Everywhere. There are some in the main grounds that people can ride around a bit, or just take pictures of. But in the fields behind the main grounds there are just makeshift camp sites with the men and their camels. Hundreds, thousands, its hard to say. Its great. This is like their yearly vacation to go to Pushkar, meet up with old friends, sell and buy some camels, maybe make some money in a race or two. Ah. These desert people are truly amazing. The women. Oh the women. They are so sturdy and amazing. they wear the giant hoops through their noses, bangles up to their armpits, and a particular kind of sari that I like much better then those around other states. They are colorful and bright (lots of hot pink) without being tacky. They hardly have any teeth, most don't wear shoes and have a fire burning in their eye. I didn't take any pictures of them because it didn't feel right. There might be some in the background somewhere though. Then there were the men, they wear loose white shirts and pants, with a tan or brown scarf and a warm dark shawl at night. Then they have a bright pink or green or grey turban and an amazing mustache. The mustaches. On the second day we saw the mustache competition. Not as impressive as we had hoped, but there were four or five great ones. The winner had a sort of a giant twirly thing and on the end of each side were two stringy dread locks that went down to his knees. Once again, pictures to come.
The computer is acting funny so I have to cut it short. One more thing though - as well as all the real desert camel men and women, there are also hundreds of thousands of INdian tourists and about 30,000 westerners who pass through Pushkar during this week. So lots of people. We stayed at this funny hotel kind of out of the way which was nice. I talked to the owner so many times on the phone to haggle for a good price we were practically best friends when we arrived. They had a sign that said "CATHERINE" written when we got off the bus. priceless. way better then any welcome GVN could have given me in Calcutta. I'm pretty sure this guy does some shady business though. He's fairly wealthy and said he had to change the name of his hotel a few times for tax purposes. ha.
Basically - Camel Fair - great - strange - weird - fun times.
Now were are in this amazing sleepy town (90,000) called Bundi. There's not a lot going on here (Kipling spent a long time here writing..) but we are staying at RN Haveli which is this guest house run by three women. This is rare here - for women to own and run their own business - Mama and her two daughters. For dinner last night; That is, for thanksgiving dinner last night, Mama made us the most amazing Thali I have ever had. It took three hours. Lots of butter. mmm.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
No laundry for you.
So Emily is here now. She is super super cool and I really like her and am happy to have a fellow female travel companion. I will be sad to see her go in a few short days.
Yesterday we saw Om Shanti Om. Probably one of the best movies I've ever seen. Hilarious, sad, scary, action packed, beautiful, colorful, good music good dancing. It was better than I could have ever dreamed. If you ever get the chance to see this movie, please do. I might even buy a copy of it here to share with the world.
Here is a link to random pictures from Varanasi Jaipur and Delhi. A lot of them are just us goofing off.
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024714&l=29d88&id=17701665
Yesterday we saw Om Shanti Om. Probably one of the best movies I've ever seen. Hilarious, sad, scary, action packed, beautiful, colorful, good music good dancing. It was better than I could have ever dreamed. If you ever get the chance to see this movie, please do. I might even buy a copy of it here to share with the world.
Here is a link to random pictures from Varanasi Jaipur and Delhi. A lot of them are just us goofing off.
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024714&l=29d88&id=17701665
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Delhi
I forgot to give more examples of the many ways in which OK No problem can be used Here are a few:
"Is it better to use internet now or later?"
"sure, ok, no problem"
"Is the hotel to the right or left?"
"can I have 1 samosa, how much does it cost?"
the list goes on...
it actually says something about the way of life here, or the attitude. Despite the problems and hardships and lack of opportunities, people are very...crafty.creative...you know they have so much to deal with on a regular basis, things that we (I) would consider problems really aren't problems at all. Not enough chairs, just squeeze in close. Bag broke, find something to tie it with. Very good at problem solving and finding solutions quickly and efficiently. Car broke down, gather a group of people and push it till it works again. The examples are so small and seemingly insignificant, but its just something I've noticed a lot..you know - use what resources you have at your disposal to make it work..i like it.
Anyway, not much new to report. Jaipur was nice but a bit overwhelming. Walking along the streets you just get hassled so much its almost unbearable. The tactic is to come and start talking like your friends, "namaste, how are you, which country are you from" they hold your hand and don't let go. We call it the long hand shake. Then after awhile when you think you've just made a curious and outgoing new friend they tell you about their jewelry shop. When you don't want to go they get agitated and ask why you are so high and mighty and have so much pride. We had one guy follow us for a few blocks and got so mad he called us racist bcause we are mean to Indians. He said "if you treat us like shit we will treat you like shit. White people don't respect Indian people" he went on and on. But I mean...he was trying to get us into his shop and we didn't want to go...it was wierd...
But, when we hiked up this hill to see Tiger fort (pictures to come sometime) looking down the city was so much bigger than I realized. It really did look like LA though, sprawling desert city - instead of ocean on one side low mountains on both. Given more time I think I would like the city alot, but since we were only there three days and only saw tourist area it wasn't so special. HOwever, I had probably the best meal of the trip so far. It was a hole in the wall with a smll menu written in HIndi. We just ordered Thali - which basically means "food". It was one dish of dal and one potato curry and two pieces of fresh naan. The curry's were perfectly spicy and completly delicoius. Everything had multiple refils and it only cost 30 rupees. Thats about 75 cents. Amazing. Yum. Now that we are in Rajastan you can get Naan or Chapati (Chapati is like a small tortilla) and tandoori chicken. Still mostly veg, but I can't wait to try some tandoori.
Early yesterday morning we hopped on a train to Delhi which is a great city. Really polluted and huge - but less crowded then Kolkata. We accidently got off at the Old Delhi train stop so we had to get a bicycle rickshaw to our hotel, but it was nice to get a mini tour of the city first. It has a lot to offer and I'm not going to see nearly all of it, but it has a good feel. The usual mix of middle class prosperity contrasted with huge slums and street children...Today we went to KFC for lunch - I know - but it was actually really great....it was in this area called Connauhlt place which is a sort of square. A park in the middle with layers of circles of shops. Stores like nike, levis, puma - typical western outdoor mall. We sat in the park for awhile to watch the sun set. It is so polluted here you can stare directly the sun no problem...
So, nothing too exciting. Long term travelling is really interesting. We basically just go to different cities and hang out and get to know the place. Walk around, get lost, meet random people ..almost everywhere you stay there is a rooftop and you can just sit on the rooftop and get a feel for the city. Bcause of Diwali fireworks go off all around all the time - very exciting. There were some last night tht looked like shooting stars - pretty cool.
Tonight a friend of Matt and SCott's is flying into Delhi to travel around with them for 10 days. We will do Dehi for a few more and then down to Agra and over to Pushkar for the camel fair. Woo.
"Is it better to use internet now or later?"
"sure, ok, no problem"
"Is the hotel to the right or left?"
"can I have 1 samosa, how much does it cost?"
the list goes on...
it actually says something about the way of life here, or the attitude. Despite the problems and hardships and lack of opportunities, people are very...crafty.creative...you know they have so much to deal with on a regular basis, things that we (I) would consider problems really aren't problems at all. Not enough chairs, just squeeze in close. Bag broke, find something to tie it with. Very good at problem solving and finding solutions quickly and efficiently. Car broke down, gather a group of people and push it till it works again. The examples are so small and seemingly insignificant, but its just something I've noticed a lot..you know - use what resources you have at your disposal to make it work..i like it.
Anyway, not much new to report. Jaipur was nice but a bit overwhelming. Walking along the streets you just get hassled so much its almost unbearable. The tactic is to come and start talking like your friends, "namaste, how are you, which country are you from" they hold your hand and don't let go. We call it the long hand shake. Then after awhile when you think you've just made a curious and outgoing new friend they tell you about their jewelry shop. When you don't want to go they get agitated and ask why you are so high and mighty and have so much pride. We had one guy follow us for a few blocks and got so mad he called us racist bcause we are mean to Indians. He said "if you treat us like shit we will treat you like shit. White people don't respect Indian people" he went on and on. But I mean...he was trying to get us into his shop and we didn't want to go...it was wierd...
But, when we hiked up this hill to see Tiger fort (pictures to come sometime) looking down the city was so much bigger than I realized. It really did look like LA though, sprawling desert city - instead of ocean on one side low mountains on both. Given more time I think I would like the city alot, but since we were only there three days and only saw tourist area it wasn't so special. HOwever, I had probably the best meal of the trip so far. It was a hole in the wall with a smll menu written in HIndi. We just ordered Thali - which basically means "food". It was one dish of dal and one potato curry and two pieces of fresh naan. The curry's were perfectly spicy and completly delicoius. Everything had multiple refils and it only cost 30 rupees. Thats about 75 cents. Amazing. Yum. Now that we are in Rajastan you can get Naan or Chapati (Chapati is like a small tortilla) and tandoori chicken. Still mostly veg, but I can't wait to try some tandoori.
Early yesterday morning we hopped on a train to Delhi which is a great city. Really polluted and huge - but less crowded then Kolkata. We accidently got off at the Old Delhi train stop so we had to get a bicycle rickshaw to our hotel, but it was nice to get a mini tour of the city first. It has a lot to offer and I'm not going to see nearly all of it, but it has a good feel. The usual mix of middle class prosperity contrasted with huge slums and street children...Today we went to KFC for lunch - I know - but it was actually really great....it was in this area called Connauhlt place which is a sort of square. A park in the middle with layers of circles of shops. Stores like nike, levis, puma - typical western outdoor mall. We sat in the park for awhile to watch the sun set. It is so polluted here you can stare directly the sun no problem...
So, nothing too exciting. Long term travelling is really interesting. We basically just go to different cities and hang out and get to know the place. Walk around, get lost, meet random people ..almost everywhere you stay there is a rooftop and you can just sit on the rooftop and get a feel for the city. Bcause of Diwali fireworks go off all around all the time - very exciting. There were some last night tht looked like shooting stars - pretty cool.
Tonight a friend of Matt and SCott's is flying into Delhi to travel around with them for 10 days. We will do Dehi for a few more and then down to Agra and over to Pushkar for the camel fair. Woo.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
OK No problem
As sad as I was to say goodbye to Varanasi and the kids - the children of the inn keepers were absolutely hilarious. I have some pictures that will come shortly, but they would come up to us and put their hands out and say 'jump!' we would lift them up into the air, twirl them, tickle them, they couldn't handle it. They were so giggly it was great. Two 7-9 year old cousins and a young baby. man they were cute.
Anyway, the train ride to Jaipur was long, but not too terrible. Slept most of the night and in the morning this Israeli girl serenaded us on her guitar. The first song she played was Leonard Cohen's Susan. it was cool. What a hippy. There are a lot of Israeli tourists about - we ran into one buying our train tickets, he was going to the Andaman Islands. It seems to be a common trend among European backpackers in India. Can't handle the hustle bustle and pollution of the cities, not to mention the chaos and tireless hastlers - so they hop on a train to Calcutta and then fly down to the beautiful Islands to chill out.
So far Jaipur is nice. It is a big city but seems a bit calm compared to Calcutta. Its Diwali right now, so that might have something to do with it. - Quick note on Diwali. I can't quite figure out what the story behind this holiday is, but it is basically like Christmas and New Years combined. A holiday celebration as well as a fresh start. Everyone gets new clothes and presents, the shops are painted with a fresh coat of paint and accounting books start a new. The part that affects us the most are the dozens of lights and fireworks. Every night there are fireworks throughout the city - throughout the country. It was beautiful to see Varanasi lit up with candles and lights and fireworks from our rooftop. Our first night in Jaipur we went to our hotel's rooftop to watch the fireworks shows around the city. Kind of cool but all the bangs and booms - a bit startling. The festival goes for awhile - I think this Friday is the last day, I'm not sure...
But Jaipur - One of the first things we did was to get tickets to the big Raj Mandir Bollywood movie theatre. The movie was terrible - really sappy and boring and confusing - it was actually based on a Dostoyevsky short story, white house, but it was strange. The second half was better because it had more dance numbers. The theatre though - absolutely stunning. The entry way was a huge circle in Art Deco styling - sculptures and lights everywhere, really cool. Today we are going to walk around the old city to see the Palace - I didn't realize royalty is still up and running and living in the palaces - weird..and then we will do a short walk/hike up to Tiger HIll to see the sunset and view of the city.
I can't shake the feeling that I am in Los Angeles though. This city really reminds of Southern California. I mean, its a crowded metropolitan desert city with lots of block like buildings and low lying hills in the background. If it wasn't for the Mosque next door, sitting atop this rooftop internet cafe I feel almost like I'm just at home! Funny. Almost at home.
The final thought for this entry are the two phrases one hears the most in Varanasi and Jaipur. First - shopkeepers - as you walk down the street you hear at least 5 guys in front of their respective shops "hello madam. hello. hello. come in. just to look not to buy. no harm in looking. look today buy tomorrow. no problem. ok no problem."
The shortened version of this which works in a variety of situations is "Ok no problem." You ask someone if you can use the internet "ok. no problem." you ask the rickshaw driver if they know where a place is
"ok. no problem."
"so, does that mean you know where it is?"
"sure, ok. no problem."
"wait, is that a yes or a no"
"OK no problem, just get in, no problem."
"wait, i'm confused...oh nevermind..." then you get in and hope for the best. It bothered me at first, but now its just hilarious. Anything to calm whitey down.
Ok. No Problem.
Anyway, the train ride to Jaipur was long, but not too terrible. Slept most of the night and in the morning this Israeli girl serenaded us on her guitar. The first song she played was Leonard Cohen's Susan. it was cool. What a hippy. There are a lot of Israeli tourists about - we ran into one buying our train tickets, he was going to the Andaman Islands. It seems to be a common trend among European backpackers in India. Can't handle the hustle bustle and pollution of the cities, not to mention the chaos and tireless hastlers - so they hop on a train to Calcutta and then fly down to the beautiful Islands to chill out.
So far Jaipur is nice. It is a big city but seems a bit calm compared to Calcutta. Its Diwali right now, so that might have something to do with it. - Quick note on Diwali. I can't quite figure out what the story behind this holiday is, but it is basically like Christmas and New Years combined. A holiday celebration as well as a fresh start. Everyone gets new clothes and presents, the shops are painted with a fresh coat of paint and accounting books start a new. The part that affects us the most are the dozens of lights and fireworks. Every night there are fireworks throughout the city - throughout the country. It was beautiful to see Varanasi lit up with candles and lights and fireworks from our rooftop. Our first night in Jaipur we went to our hotel's rooftop to watch the fireworks shows around the city. Kind of cool but all the bangs and booms - a bit startling. The festival goes for awhile - I think this Friday is the last day, I'm not sure...
But Jaipur - One of the first things we did was to get tickets to the big Raj Mandir Bollywood movie theatre. The movie was terrible - really sappy and boring and confusing - it was actually based on a Dostoyevsky short story, white house, but it was strange. The second half was better because it had more dance numbers. The theatre though - absolutely stunning. The entry way was a huge circle in Art Deco styling - sculptures and lights everywhere, really cool. Today we are going to walk around the old city to see the Palace - I didn't realize royalty is still up and running and living in the palaces - weird..and then we will do a short walk/hike up to Tiger HIll to see the sunset and view of the city.
I can't shake the feeling that I am in Los Angeles though. This city really reminds of Southern California. I mean, its a crowded metropolitan desert city with lots of block like buildings and low lying hills in the background. If it wasn't for the Mosque next door, sitting atop this rooftop internet cafe I feel almost like I'm just at home! Funny. Almost at home.
The final thought for this entry are the two phrases one hears the most in Varanasi and Jaipur. First - shopkeepers - as you walk down the street you hear at least 5 guys in front of their respective shops "hello madam. hello. hello. come in. just to look not to buy. no harm in looking. look today buy tomorrow. no problem. ok no problem."
The shortened version of this which works in a variety of situations is "Ok no problem." You ask someone if you can use the internet "ok. no problem." you ask the rickshaw driver if they know where a place is
"ok. no problem."
"so, does that mean you know where it is?"
"sure, ok. no problem."
"wait, is that a yes or a no"
"OK no problem, just get in, no problem."
"wait, i'm confused...oh nevermind..." then you get in and hope for the best. It bothered me at first, but now its just hilarious. Anything to calm whitey down.
Ok. No Problem.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Hindi Hussle
Pictures:
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024432&l=6a268&id=17701665
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024397&l=3a641&id=17701665
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024393&l=d0ca6&id=17701665
This blog entry is mostly just links to pictures. But here is a taste of the last few days....A few nights ago we stumbled upon a music ashram in this really nice area. hardly any tourists, just beautiful alley ways with wonderful people. anyway, the tabla man was great, immediately asked us to sit and have tea with him. The room was about 12x15 square feet. He told us about his ashram, how he tours internationally and how there was a concert that night we should attend. Of course we returned later that night to find two other Americans from Lake Tahoe awaiting the performance. So five americans, four Indian dudes ranging from age 30-60, 5 tablas, 5 sitars, and loads of flutes sitting in a tiny tiny boxy room on the ground; hanging out. Thirty minutes later, after the main tabla man smoked about 5 cigarettes, after we all had our chai masala tea, after the tabla man cursed the sitar player for being late, and after he cursed all musicians for always being late, the concert began. It was more of a show case off the different instruments to try and get us to take lessons, but it was still cool. Started with Indian Oboe, then Flute, then voice and air piano, and then guitar and voice. While this one old guy was singing and playing air piano the power went out, but they just kept going. Didn't miss a beat.
My favorites were the voice and tabla and air piano trios. This guy sang a traditional Pakistani song, so beautiful. Of course the Sitar was amazing and the finale between the tabla and sitar was fantastic. All the duets were very improvisational and sometimes one person didn't agree with the style of the other, for instance the flute player kept resisting what the tabla guy wanted, and tabla guy made transitions to beats that didn't make any sense with what flutey was playing. HOwever the sitar player and the tabla player fed off each other in an almost seamless fashion. One slowed down, the other slowed down. One sped up and gained intensity, so did the other. It was amazing.
This morning we took a boat ride along the Ganga at sunrise. Painful at first, but worth it. Celebrations for Dilwali are starting which means lots of people at the river in the morning to bathe. Near one of the burning Ghats we saw a dead baby floating. I forgot to tell you that there are 4 groups of people who are not burned. Brahmins - they are all ready pure. Children - still pure. Pregnant Mothers: have pure baby inside them. Lepers- will spread disease. Anyway, so we saw a floating dead baby. It was gross. I wanted to take a picture but couldn't move.
Moving to Jaipur in a few days and camel fair at end of november.
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024432&l=6a268&id=17701665
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024397&l=3a641&id=17701665
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024393&l=d0ca6&id=17701665
This blog entry is mostly just links to pictures. But here is a taste of the last few days....A few nights ago we stumbled upon a music ashram in this really nice area. hardly any tourists, just beautiful alley ways with wonderful people. anyway, the tabla man was great, immediately asked us to sit and have tea with him. The room was about 12x15 square feet. He told us about his ashram, how he tours internationally and how there was a concert that night we should attend. Of course we returned later that night to find two other Americans from Lake Tahoe awaiting the performance. So five americans, four Indian dudes ranging from age 30-60, 5 tablas, 5 sitars, and loads of flutes sitting in a tiny tiny boxy room on the ground; hanging out. Thirty minutes later, after the main tabla man smoked about 5 cigarettes, after we all had our chai masala tea, after the tabla man cursed the sitar player for being late, and after he cursed all musicians for always being late, the concert began. It was more of a show case off the different instruments to try and get us to take lessons, but it was still cool. Started with Indian Oboe, then Flute, then voice and air piano, and then guitar and voice. While this one old guy was singing and playing air piano the power went out, but they just kept going. Didn't miss a beat.
My favorites were the voice and tabla and air piano trios. This guy sang a traditional Pakistani song, so beautiful. Of course the Sitar was amazing and the finale between the tabla and sitar was fantastic. All the duets were very improvisational and sometimes one person didn't agree with the style of the other, for instance the flute player kept resisting what the tabla guy wanted, and tabla guy made transitions to beats that didn't make any sense with what flutey was playing. HOwever the sitar player and the tabla player fed off each other in an almost seamless fashion. One slowed down, the other slowed down. One sped up and gained intensity, so did the other. It was amazing.
This morning we took a boat ride along the Ganga at sunrise. Painful at first, but worth it. Celebrations for Dilwali are starting which means lots of people at the river in the morning to bathe. Near one of the burning Ghats we saw a dead baby floating. I forgot to tell you that there are 4 groups of people who are not burned. Brahmins - they are all ready pure. Children - still pure. Pregnant Mothers: have pure baby inside them. Lepers- will spread disease. Anyway, so we saw a floating dead baby. It was gross. I wanted to take a picture but couldn't move.
Moving to Jaipur in a few days and camel fair at end of november.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Monkey Mahem
Well, Bodhgaya was wonderful. Serene and relaxing. Not much going on except for lots of monasteries and monks. I could easily picture 2000 years ago a lone monk sitting and meditating under a tree, contemplating the beauties and joys of life. Very nice. There were also a few beggars hassling us which is simply a part of life here. The strangest thing to see is a beggar asking monks for money, and the monks having to refuse. Strange huh...We stayed at an isolated guest house down this 'residential' 'street'. Basically we walked through peoples front yards, tripping over little children, goats, chickens, cows, pigs, (and all of their baby counter parts)all the while children and adults yelling "hallo, hALO, haaloo, halow, halow!!!!". It was great. Very friendly people.
After a gruesome 5 am train ride to Varanasi, and struggling to get an auto rickshaw to take us where we wanted, and winding down alley ways to our recommended guest house, we are now officially in heaven. We are pretty much at an Indian home stay. A family runs the tourist lodge, apart from 2 Barcelonians who arrived this morning we are the only ones there. The first thing we did was get a pot of Masala Chai and go up to the Roof to see the Ganges and the rooftops of the city. After a few minutes we realized we were not alone. Monkeys. At first just three. Two males and one female. It was obvious who was in charge as they struggled over some scraps of food. Then. A few more trickle in from another building. Its ok; they don't look too hostile, keeping at least 5 or 6 yards away. Then, more. Some moms with babies, some children, other males. Then more. Then more. At least two or three dozen monkeys descend from buildings around us and climb all over our roof and other roofs and nearby walls; just climbing and jumping and hanging out. It was insane. So - Many - Monkeys. You could see them some 50 meters away on other buildings, climbing around, hanging, fighting. One major fight happened on a roof nearby. It was like we were in the middle of a turf war. We actually weren't sure if we were going to make it back downstairs alive, but eventually the innkeeper man came up with a big stick and scared them away. This morning we were attacked a few times (just play, but still...) Best to carry a stick around just in case.
Walking along the Ganges by all the Ghats was truly magical. I really did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. There is a very particular, serene, joyous, feel to the place. We went just before sunset and the air seemed to have a purply-bluish glow. Truly radiant. That might have to do with all the toxic chemicals and dead bodies floating in the water. Yet, it didn't seem disgusting. It didn't smell that bad. Just hundreds of people milling about. Sitting. Just sitting and watching the river. Kids flying Kites from atop a large 19th century building. I mean. This city is one of the oldest cities in the world. Dates back to 1500 BC. I'm not sure how much of it actually remains, but still. Old.
After wandering around more ally ways we stumbled upon the Ghats where they burn dead bodies. We stayed for at least an hour, just watching. There are three tiers of fires burning 24 hours a day. Your caste determines which place you are burned. We could see 9 fires burning (roughly the size of a medium bonfire). That means 9 bodies. It takes about 3 hours for a body to burn. We saw almost every stage of the process among different bodies. A procession of priests/shamans/family members carry the body from the temple down the street chanting and burning incense, sometimes there are drums. (We saw this on our way out) Then, you dip it in the river to cleanse sins, then you take it out and perform some ceremony and place it on all ready hot coals. Then you place the wood on top and light the fire using the flame of another fire. No matches, lighters, any artificial means. Every fire is started by a constantly burning pit. This pit is said to have been started by Shiva 3000 years ago. Pretty cool. I spent awhile just watching it. Anyway, the oldest brother and other family members stand around and throw stuff in. The bodies are wrapped in a sort of foil, but after awhile you can see the feets and the skull and the body crumbling away. I never saw actual flesh melting.. a part of me wanted to, but I think ultimately its better this way. Then after a few hours when it is all burnt they pick out the left over bones and the eldest brother/son throws the remains in the river. Or something to that effect. We were totally mesmerized. About 50 people milling around, weighing wood, transporting wood, tending the fires, 24 hours a day.
So, then we walked around more of the city. There was a kind of protest going on, people chanting and doing call out/return type stuff. We asked around but couldn't figure out what was going on. We eventually found out they were outside the police station. Who knows. We were ready for a riot to break out.
After winding and getting lost down more alley ways we eventually made it back. After about 15 minutes the innkeeper man came up and knocked on our door. "just checking to make sure you are back oK"... "yup, we're back. thanks dad. see you in the morning for breakfast!" Then his brother came with a map of the city and told us about all the sights and places to go. Tonight his wife is going to give me Henna. I mean. Come on. This is great.
Yet - Some of this city is actually worse then Kolkata. More noise, more chaos, fewer signs written in English, more crooks and scam artists with more intricate and clever schemes. Not as many people living on the streets. But then other parts are much much much better. All the mysticism surrounding the river permeates through the entire place. People really love this city and want you to enjoy it. On the train this guy said to me, "please have good feelings about my country. Don't have bad feelings" He could tell I was annoyed with these young dudes sitting next to me, and just made me feel better. After deciding he like me and we were friends, to show he wasn't a creep (or maybe just because) he showed me a picture of his wife. "here is my beautiful wife. We have wonderful love marriage. she is my heart my life my joy".
Ah. These are the moments I live for here. I've only had a few where truly gentle people have just touched me. He was one. The Muslim man who sold me my glasses case was another, as well as the two guys at the foreign train booking office in Kolkata. Just amazing, gentle, funny, caring people. I hope those are the ones I remember, rather then the cheap two timing con artists on the street just trying to make a buck.
After a gruesome 5 am train ride to Varanasi, and struggling to get an auto rickshaw to take us where we wanted, and winding down alley ways to our recommended guest house, we are now officially in heaven. We are pretty much at an Indian home stay. A family runs the tourist lodge, apart from 2 Barcelonians who arrived this morning we are the only ones there. The first thing we did was get a pot of Masala Chai and go up to the Roof to see the Ganges and the rooftops of the city. After a few minutes we realized we were not alone. Monkeys. At first just three. Two males and one female. It was obvious who was in charge as they struggled over some scraps of food. Then. A few more trickle in from another building. Its ok; they don't look too hostile, keeping at least 5 or 6 yards away. Then, more. Some moms with babies, some children, other males. Then more. Then more. At least two or three dozen monkeys descend from buildings around us and climb all over our roof and other roofs and nearby walls; just climbing and jumping and hanging out. It was insane. So - Many - Monkeys. You could see them some 50 meters away on other buildings, climbing around, hanging, fighting. One major fight happened on a roof nearby. It was like we were in the middle of a turf war. We actually weren't sure if we were going to make it back downstairs alive, but eventually the innkeeper man came up with a big stick and scared them away. This morning we were attacked a few times (just play, but still...) Best to carry a stick around just in case.
Walking along the Ganges by all the Ghats was truly magical. I really did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. There is a very particular, serene, joyous, feel to the place. We went just before sunset and the air seemed to have a purply-bluish glow. Truly radiant. That might have to do with all the toxic chemicals and dead bodies floating in the water. Yet, it didn't seem disgusting. It didn't smell that bad. Just hundreds of people milling about. Sitting. Just sitting and watching the river. Kids flying Kites from atop a large 19th century building. I mean. This city is one of the oldest cities in the world. Dates back to 1500 BC. I'm not sure how much of it actually remains, but still. Old.
After wandering around more ally ways we stumbled upon the Ghats where they burn dead bodies. We stayed for at least an hour, just watching. There are three tiers of fires burning 24 hours a day. Your caste determines which place you are burned. We could see 9 fires burning (roughly the size of a medium bonfire). That means 9 bodies. It takes about 3 hours for a body to burn. We saw almost every stage of the process among different bodies. A procession of priests/shamans/family members carry the body from the temple down the street chanting and burning incense, sometimes there are drums. (We saw this on our way out) Then, you dip it in the river to cleanse sins, then you take it out and perform some ceremony and place it on all ready hot coals. Then you place the wood on top and light the fire using the flame of another fire. No matches, lighters, any artificial means. Every fire is started by a constantly burning pit. This pit is said to have been started by Shiva 3000 years ago. Pretty cool. I spent awhile just watching it. Anyway, the oldest brother and other family members stand around and throw stuff in. The bodies are wrapped in a sort of foil, but after awhile you can see the feets and the skull and the body crumbling away. I never saw actual flesh melting.. a part of me wanted to, but I think ultimately its better this way. Then after a few hours when it is all burnt they pick out the left over bones and the eldest brother/son throws the remains in the river. Or something to that effect. We were totally mesmerized. About 50 people milling around, weighing wood, transporting wood, tending the fires, 24 hours a day.
So, then we walked around more of the city. There was a kind of protest going on, people chanting and doing call out/return type stuff. We asked around but couldn't figure out what was going on. We eventually found out they were outside the police station. Who knows. We were ready for a riot to break out.
After winding and getting lost down more alley ways we eventually made it back. After about 15 minutes the innkeeper man came up and knocked on our door. "just checking to make sure you are back oK"... "yup, we're back. thanks dad. see you in the morning for breakfast!" Then his brother came with a map of the city and told us about all the sights and places to go. Tonight his wife is going to give me Henna. I mean. Come on. This is great.
Yet - Some of this city is actually worse then Kolkata. More noise, more chaos, fewer signs written in English, more crooks and scam artists with more intricate and clever schemes. Not as many people living on the streets. But then other parts are much much much better. All the mysticism surrounding the river permeates through the entire place. People really love this city and want you to enjoy it. On the train this guy said to me, "please have good feelings about my country. Don't have bad feelings" He could tell I was annoyed with these young dudes sitting next to me, and just made me feel better. After deciding he like me and we were friends, to show he wasn't a creep (or maybe just because) he showed me a picture of his wife. "here is my beautiful wife. We have wonderful love marriage. she is my heart my life my joy".
Ah. These are the moments I live for here. I've only had a few where truly gentle people have just touched me. He was one. The Muslim man who sold me my glasses case was another, as well as the two guys at the foreign train booking office in Kolkata. Just amazing, gentle, funny, caring people. I hope those are the ones I remember, rather then the cheap two timing con artists on the street just trying to make a buck.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Leaving Kolkata
The month in Kolkata ends. Tonight I take a train up to Gaya and a bus to Bhodigaya, which is supposidly where Buddha reached enlightenment. Plans have changed.
On Friday I had a realization that in no way did I have the funds, or energy, to travel around the South as well as do the North. This is due to a number of factors. First of all, I realized a train from Mumbai to Udaipur is 24 hours...hmmm...Also, the girls I was going to travel with down south are not on a shoe-string budget. They might be on a budget, but still enjoy going to 100 plus rupee dinners, having 'spa' days, and in general not fully emerging yourself in the culture. If I went with them I would be the only one eating street food and wanting to search out for the cheapest lodging. Anyway, Scott and his friend Matt, who I was going to meet in Goa at the end of the NOvember showed up in Kolkata on Sunday, and I jumped ship and joined there's and am now travelling with them up NOrth.
Basically I had to make a decision, North or South, and ultimately I decided I wanted to see Rajastan and that probably wouldn't happen if I went South. Similarly, the South is huge and dawnting and a lot of the stuff to see down there are places I would not understand the significance of. HOly sites from 2000 years ago that Hindus flock to - I would just see a piece of sand and not quite understand. I am still a bit sad and wondering if I made the right decision..but its too late now. It will be a nice change of pace travelling with Scott and Matt, they have been all over Asia the past 3 months (mongolia, china, tibet, myanmar, nepal...other places I can't remember) and I like the speed at which they travel, it should all work out.
Unlike many of the people here, I am not in any way sad to leave Kolkata and right now cannot think of anything I will miss, other than the party rickshaw. Maybe next month I will feel differently, maybe not. A big part of it has to do with how isolated I was the whole trip. It was only until last week that I even tasted the real local food. I didn't make great friendships with the people I worked with either. There's more I could have done to immerse myself in the city, but really, I didn't want to that much. I don't hate the city. Don't get me wrong. It is a great city with a lot to offer, a lot to love and a lot to hate. But as they say, not my cup o' tea.
Anyway, I am excited about the next part of my adventure. Blog's maybe be slightly less frequent depending on where we stay, but I will keep careful notes and take lots of pictures. I am very excited to see more of the country.
wahoo!
On Friday I had a realization that in no way did I have the funds, or energy, to travel around the South as well as do the North. This is due to a number of factors. First of all, I realized a train from Mumbai to Udaipur is 24 hours...hmmm...Also, the girls I was going to travel with down south are not on a shoe-string budget. They might be on a budget, but still enjoy going to 100 plus rupee dinners, having 'spa' days, and in general not fully emerging yourself in the culture. If I went with them I would be the only one eating street food and wanting to search out for the cheapest lodging. Anyway, Scott and his friend Matt, who I was going to meet in Goa at the end of the NOvember showed up in Kolkata on Sunday, and I jumped ship and joined there's and am now travelling with them up NOrth.
Basically I had to make a decision, North or South, and ultimately I decided I wanted to see Rajastan and that probably wouldn't happen if I went South. Similarly, the South is huge and dawnting and a lot of the stuff to see down there are places I would not understand the significance of. HOly sites from 2000 years ago that Hindus flock to - I would just see a piece of sand and not quite understand. I am still a bit sad and wondering if I made the right decision..but its too late now. It will be a nice change of pace travelling with Scott and Matt, they have been all over Asia the past 3 months (mongolia, china, tibet, myanmar, nepal...other places I can't remember) and I like the speed at which they travel, it should all work out.
Unlike many of the people here, I am not in any way sad to leave Kolkata and right now cannot think of anything I will miss, other than the party rickshaw. Maybe next month I will feel differently, maybe not. A big part of it has to do with how isolated I was the whole trip. It was only until last week that I even tasted the real local food. I didn't make great friendships with the people I worked with either. There's more I could have done to immerse myself in the city, but really, I didn't want to that much. I don't hate the city. Don't get me wrong. It is a great city with a lot to offer, a lot to love and a lot to hate. But as they say, not my cup o' tea.
Anyway, I am excited about the next part of my adventure. Blog's maybe be slightly less frequent depending on where we stay, but I will keep careful notes and take lots of pictures. I am very excited to see more of the country.
wahoo!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Corrections...
So, I concede a bit of my rant yesterday. It turns out its a very very good thing that the 14 year old girls we were with were not allowed down to the docks where they dropped the idols. When mobs of drunk and overlly excited males are out in full force, girls should not be let in. It turns out a few girls (young girls) were gang raped at night and one person even got killed. Icky. It makes me feel gross just thinking about it, and even typing it, but I thought I should clear the name of...I don't know who. But I guess sometimes these rules are useful, and really do protect the women of this country.
Today we made dozens of journals. so satisfying. the majority of mine were perfect. It feels good, real good, to produce something tangible. I think I'm going to become a book binder...
Just kidding, hahaha, scared some of you didn't I? Just like in college when I was a sign makers assistant and decided to open a sign making busines...
Today we made dozens of journals. so satisfying. the majority of mine were perfect. It feels good, real good, to produce something tangible. I think I'm going to become a book binder...
Just kidding, hahaha, scared some of you didn't I? Just like in college when I was a sign makers assistant and decided to open a sign making busines...
Monday, October 22, 2007
Last day of Puja and Jain Temple
After that perfect morning I recently described we went out to dinner in the evening. We always do this on Sundays because that is the one meal our cook mary has off. So after dinner walking down the street we saw on of the trucks bringing the Idols to the river. In front of the trucks were drummers and about thirty guys dancing around. They all were having a total blast. "come join the moment!" they said to us. Stacey and Adam immediatly went in and started dancing with them, but the rest of us stayed behind, a bit embarrased. Eventually we decided we couldn't pass up this opportunity and ran up and jumped on the back truck with a bunch of teenage girls. They were very welcoming and immediatly demanded we start dancing and cheering at the top of our lungs. They asked us the usual questions, "what country. how long in kolkata. where are youstaying. why are you here. first time in india?' all of that, but most of our time driving along the street was spent dancing and yelling. it was a sort of roll call, one girl would yell something, than we say "jaaaaa" then she says something "jaaaa!!!!!" then she says something "habat mada" (something like that) then over and over again. it was great. then. 'why aren't you dancing, dance, please dance, dance somemore...why aren't you dancing more" they covered us in this pink powder, from the ganesh idol i think. All along the street other trucks would zoom by and we would yell out 'jaaaaaa!!!!!". We were going really slow because we were a truck full of kids, but eventually we made it to the Ghat (next to the giant Cricket stadium...) with about 10 other trucks in line ready to put the idols in the water. Women were not allowed to watch the dunking or leave the truck - we might fall in...
i'm having more trouble than i thought accepting the discrimination against women in this country. its really starting to get to me. I mean - there are some temples where women aren't allowed during 'that' time of the month. COME ON. are you serious? its just hard for me to accept a belief system that thinks women are so mentally unstable they aren't allowed in a holy place. its insane. Anyway, i'm sure it wasn't that exciting anyway, it was dark...
So...we dumped the idols and then literally raced back. We got back to their apartment complex and danced and danced..and had more pink powder dumped all over us..had some sweets..then the music stopped, and it was over. "ok, its done. Puja's over, have to wait until next year.." There was a huge fuss about us leaving, we kept trying to leave, and then a mob of 40 some people rushed towards us and said - no no, wait wait, we will take you home, you can stay here, its too far to walk. you joined our festival we can take you..", "no no, its ok, we can walk, its not that far" then they all rush towards us again. Eventually we piled in one of their cars with 4 of the girls and they drove us home. it was almost too much. They were just soo excited that we had chosen their truck and wanted to go with them. They couldn't believe it. "never forget us" they pleaded as we got out of the car. "don't worry, we difinitely will not forget you"..
So, that was amazing.
yesterday we went to the Jain temple. it is hard to describe how breathtaking it was. From head to toe, inside and out, covered in sparly mosaic and mirrors. So beautfiul. There were just a few pieces of stained glass and the light shown in so perfectly that there were a few rainbows on the ground.. i took some pictures of the outside, not allowed to take photos on the inside. But if you can see the sparkly mosaic pictures, imagine a building completely covered in that. Every inch accounted for. All walls, the ceilings were exquisite - a emerald green chandelier..So amazing. Still - There are a few sects of jainism - one thinks that women can be saved, another says they can't...i just...the men in this country are taught to be pushy and boss women around...
Actually..i digress...Anubhav's cousin is a really perfect example of this point. When we were walking he would say, "you walk here, come over here" even when I didn't think I really needed guiding...all the usual stuff. he even took a few pictures for me when he thought i didn't have a good enough view, or was taking the wrong angle. Anyway, typical Indian male behavior..but then as we were walking back he was saying he still lived with his mom, and how it is not uncommon for men to live with their moms until the age of fifty. and i quote "indian men don't grow up" "we are all little boys" - he was only 19 so is is just a kid, but still. They are taught to have confidence and be controlling and have an air of knowing - but they don't..they are scared little boys whose mommies tell them what to do...
another example - when you start asking one guy for directions, or show him a map, after about thirty seconds there is a crowd of dudes all trying to tell you what to do. They see you talking and strut down the streen "lets see what all the fuss is about, I be I can help figure out this mess.." They all know. You know nothing. ugh..
I keep managing to end on a rant. its ok; here is the link to the pretty pictures. the first bunch are of different pandals. They are a bit tedious and repetitive, i just want to show how many of them are, and how different they can be. Next is a few of the cemetary - I don't think I mentioned they were all Scottish, and a bunch of them were boys who died around age 33 at the turn of the century...Then there are pictures of the Jain temples.
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023787&l=622e6&id=17701665
i'm having more trouble than i thought accepting the discrimination against women in this country. its really starting to get to me. I mean - there are some temples where women aren't allowed during 'that' time of the month. COME ON. are you serious? its just hard for me to accept a belief system that thinks women are so mentally unstable they aren't allowed in a holy place. its insane. Anyway, i'm sure it wasn't that exciting anyway, it was dark...
So...we dumped the idols and then literally raced back. We got back to their apartment complex and danced and danced..and had more pink powder dumped all over us..had some sweets..then the music stopped, and it was over. "ok, its done. Puja's over, have to wait until next year.." There was a huge fuss about us leaving, we kept trying to leave, and then a mob of 40 some people rushed towards us and said - no no, wait wait, we will take you home, you can stay here, its too far to walk. you joined our festival we can take you..", "no no, its ok, we can walk, its not that far" then they all rush towards us again. Eventually we piled in one of their cars with 4 of the girls and they drove us home. it was almost too much. They were just soo excited that we had chosen their truck and wanted to go with them. They couldn't believe it. "never forget us" they pleaded as we got out of the car. "don't worry, we difinitely will not forget you"..
So, that was amazing.
yesterday we went to the Jain temple. it is hard to describe how breathtaking it was. From head to toe, inside and out, covered in sparly mosaic and mirrors. So beautfiul. There were just a few pieces of stained glass and the light shown in so perfectly that there were a few rainbows on the ground.. i took some pictures of the outside, not allowed to take photos on the inside. But if you can see the sparkly mosaic pictures, imagine a building completely covered in that. Every inch accounted for. All walls, the ceilings were exquisite - a emerald green chandelier..So amazing. Still - There are a few sects of jainism - one thinks that women can be saved, another says they can't...i just...the men in this country are taught to be pushy and boss women around...
Actually..i digress...Anubhav's cousin is a really perfect example of this point. When we were walking he would say, "you walk here, come over here" even when I didn't think I really needed guiding...all the usual stuff. he even took a few pictures for me when he thought i didn't have a good enough view, or was taking the wrong angle. Anyway, typical Indian male behavior..but then as we were walking back he was saying he still lived with his mom, and how it is not uncommon for men to live with their moms until the age of fifty. and i quote "indian men don't grow up" "we are all little boys" - he was only 19 so is is just a kid, but still. They are taught to have confidence and be controlling and have an air of knowing - but they don't..they are scared little boys whose mommies tell them what to do...
another example - when you start asking one guy for directions, or show him a map, after about thirty seconds there is a crowd of dudes all trying to tell you what to do. They see you talking and strut down the streen "lets see what all the fuss is about, I be I can help figure out this mess.." They all know. You know nothing. ugh..
I keep managing to end on a rant. its ok; here is the link to the pretty pictures. the first bunch are of different pandals. They are a bit tedious and repetitive, i just want to show how many of them are, and how different they can be. Next is a few of the cemetary - I don't think I mentioned they were all Scottish, and a bunch of them were boys who died around age 33 at the turn of the century...Then there are pictures of the Jain temples.
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023787&l=622e6&id=17701665
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Chai Cha
Ah, this is a brief interlude. Best morning ever. Since I didn't have to go to work the last few days I allowed myself to sleep in. This means not getting up at 7:30 am to stuff my face with white bread and watery oatmeal, and sugar. It's great.
So, I woke up at 9 am and after a day of rest needed to get out and move around. Hardly anybody is out that early in the morning, and its a major holiday, so the streets were almost empty. just the people who live there and maybe 20 cars and 1/4 the ammount of honking.
I just walked down AJC Bose rode farther than I usually do and came accross a cemetary. It was totatlly grown over and the gate was locked, but these sorts of places have caretakers that pretty much live in a hut by the property just waiting to let random people like me in. So he let me in and it was very small, all the paths except for the main one were grown over. It was a Scotttish cemetary. Isn't it interesting how everything takes on a greater significance when in a cemetary? There were all these dogs lying around and they trotted away when I came near them. Spooky dogs, guarding the graves, friends with the ghosts? maybe? Crows hovered around, at least one on each tree, crowing as I walked by. Souls of the dead not ready to move on? I think so!
Anyway, I moved on and kept walking and walking and I turned down a street parallel to one i knew - I wasn't totally lost - and found a place to get Chai. This chai was 4 rupees instead of the usual 1, which at first I was angry about, but it turned out to be the best chai in the city. The perfect amount of spice and sweet, and a generous serving at that. Not too much sugar, mm mm good. For the first time it actually tasted like tea, not just sugar milk. Yummy. Then a little but further down I got a delicious simosa. Now I know what they are so I can get them with confidence, along with the sweet sauce. It was soo spicy. My head was hot and sweaty, but I felt all cleared up and a little more alert afterwards. Delicoius. Then I went a round about way home along Ripon street. There are about 15 ripon streets in the area so its hard to know if you are actually going the right way..I just kept walking knowing I was going sort of the right direction. Eventually I made it to my new favorite ice-cream/sweet shop and got a refreshing ice-cream and some sweets for later. I'm really getting anxious to taste all the local food. As of yet we have been eating the same veggie/potato mush and cadbury chocalates, its time to expand the horizons.
Anyway it was such a great morning I just had to write about it. This afternoon I hope to find which Ghat they dump the idols in and make sure I get there. It should take all day to dump all of them since there are so many, so I am confident we will succeed.
I will leave with a link to one of the videos I took at the dancing ceremony the other night -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwxgGl46sds
So, I woke up at 9 am and after a day of rest needed to get out and move around. Hardly anybody is out that early in the morning, and its a major holiday, so the streets were almost empty. just the people who live there and maybe 20 cars and 1/4 the ammount of honking.
I just walked down AJC Bose rode farther than I usually do and came accross a cemetary. It was totatlly grown over and the gate was locked, but these sorts of places have caretakers that pretty much live in a hut by the property just waiting to let random people like me in. So he let me in and it was very small, all the paths except for the main one were grown over. It was a Scotttish cemetary. Isn't it interesting how everything takes on a greater significance when in a cemetary? There were all these dogs lying around and they trotted away when I came near them. Spooky dogs, guarding the graves, friends with the ghosts? maybe? Crows hovered around, at least one on each tree, crowing as I walked by. Souls of the dead not ready to move on? I think so!
Anyway, I moved on and kept walking and walking and I turned down a street parallel to one i knew - I wasn't totally lost - and found a place to get Chai. This chai was 4 rupees instead of the usual 1, which at first I was angry about, but it turned out to be the best chai in the city. The perfect amount of spice and sweet, and a generous serving at that. Not too much sugar, mm mm good. For the first time it actually tasted like tea, not just sugar milk. Yummy. Then a little but further down I got a delicious simosa. Now I know what they are so I can get them with confidence, along with the sweet sauce. It was soo spicy. My head was hot and sweaty, but I felt all cleared up and a little more alert afterwards. Delicoius. Then I went a round about way home along Ripon street. There are about 15 ripon streets in the area so its hard to know if you are actually going the right way..I just kept walking knowing I was going sort of the right direction. Eventually I made it to my new favorite ice-cream/sweet shop and got a refreshing ice-cream and some sweets for later. I'm really getting anxious to taste all the local food. As of yet we have been eating the same veggie/potato mush and cadbury chocalates, its time to expand the horizons.
Anyway it was such a great morning I just had to write about it. This afternoon I hope to find which Ghat they dump the idols in and make sure I get there. It should take all day to dump all of them since there are so many, so I am confident we will succeed.
I will leave with a link to one of the videos I took at the dancing ceremony the other night -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwxgGl46sds
Friday, October 19, 2007
Pictures
Durga puja pic's...they are not the best, but i think you can get the idea..
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023668&l=1e4b8&id=17701665
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023668&l=1e4b8&id=17701665
Durga puja
Hm, where to begin.
A city of 17 million people, crowded, congested, turns into a city of 40 million for the 5 days of durga puja. Walking down Park Street, a street normally covered with people and cars honking honking honking honking, is deserted at 4 pm. once again this city is the queen of paradoxes. more people. less noise. But, if you are at one of the thirty plus parks/areas/alley ways home to a beautiful pandal (temporary structure thing) home to an ornately painted and decorated sculpture of the idols, and if you are at this location after 6 pm, you wont be able to move through the crowds and crowds of people. Everyone goes freakin nuts. The bigger Pujas are at parks and are like mini carnivals. Stands selling food and drinks, there are even carnival rides, the whole deal. There are at least 10 of these big parks throughout the city. Then you turn a corner and a drab alley way has been transformed into a lighted festive scene drawing you in towards their own special pandal. Apparently each district or area is supported by a given organization, some have more money, others don't. Regardless, the pride and joy and love that goes into making each pandal is breathtaking. They call it pandal hopping, going from one to the next, looking at the scene of idols, giving a short prayer. I went Pandal hopping with my Internet buddy Anubhav of Thursday. he took me to the biggest ones in the city that were close by. unfortunately, i forgot my camera because i didn't know that's what we were going to do - however, the big ones all kind of look the same. There are two molds of the idols - well, let me explain about the festival.
This is a meshing together of the many varied stories and takes on the festival i have heard from locals. Durga is the mother goddess. She is married to Shiva. She is the one with 10 hands. She has four children; Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth), Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge), Ganesha (God of Prosperity) and Kartikeya. The sculpture has Shiva in the middle, with two children on either side. Shiva rides a lion and is killing a demon. From what i could understand from Anubhav, the demon came up and took over the world, and Shiva was the one who defeated him. Then from Anubhav's cousin - she went on a killing spree and killed everyone and didn't notice who she was killing. At one point trampled on Shiva and killed him (almost killed him?) - when she realizes she is standing on Shiva her tongue sticks out - that's the incarnation of the goddess kali. Kali puja is next month some time.. Anyway, during Durga Puja Shiva comes down to visit us mortals and gives us good luck for four days, then on the 5th day we dump all the idols in the river as she has to return to her husband Shiva. During the first two days a priest/shaman goes around to all the different pandals breathing life into the idols. Anubhav took Kate and I there on Thursday night. It was sooo cool. I have a couple videos that I am trying to upload to youtube so you can see. Mere pictures can't describe the mood of the event. So many people. So much drumming. So much incense. There are groups of drummers all around the city - practically going 24 hours a day. Sometimes the rhythm is a bit off - they're going all day long - but the spirit is always there.
Another thing. This holiday compares to the Christmas of western countries. Universities get the month off. People buy each other gifts. Woman - oh the woman - where beautiful new outfits. A new outfit for each day. Sometimes two. They looked amazing. Some of the jewelry...all to match...wow...
So I only got to see the big Pandals, but these other two girls went on pandal hopping north of the city, and the stories they told. These weren't as big, had less funding, but were more creative. The structures are less traditional, - we saw one shapped like an old Tall Ship! - and the inside decor more orginal. They said one had hundreds of hand crafted birds floating from the ceiling. When you see just a few pictures of these buildings you will see. Everything is made from bambu and cloth - what! - bambu and cloth. man. its cool.
So, Anubhav. My almost travel companion. He is such a sweatheart. He is just a loveable guy who's friends with everyone and is a total law nerd and just hilarious. He took me around to see the pandals on Wednesday, and showed me some amazing traditional Bengali food - simosas with a special bengali touch - fried fish things - mmmmm good. he told me all about the city and the festival and was just truly gracious. Then he invited me and whatever friends wanted to tag along with his friends for the celebration on Thursday - the first official night. His friends were mostly lawyers - his cousin just got her masters in international relations - and were all really nice. They spoke mostly in English which was really great of them. Sometimes they spoke so fast you couldn't understand anyway..So, we hung out at his house awhile, went to see the dancing priest dude, then got egg/chicken rolls. Soooo good. yum. They came from this random alley stand with a menu written with magic marker on cardboard. We never would have known to go there before. it was a lot of fun walking through the city with locals. These were kids our age who grew up here, went off to university around the country and returned home for the holidays. Anyway, later we went back to Anubhav's to hang out. It was so interesting. They were all talking and gossiping about law school kids and what happened one night at the bar - at one point this girl said, "oh, I think we're boring them" but we said "no!, this is hilarious", really, all we had to do was subsitute our own friends names for their's and we were talking about the same people. We are all the same. its truly amazing.
As nice as Anubhav is, i don't think we will end up travelling together. I need to experience this country for the first time. He wants to explore places off the main grid. While at one point in my life that might sound good - not now. Now, I want to go to the tourist places in the south, even if he thinks its a bad idea. i think we both understand that so its cool. He's also one of those people always talking about grand plans and what they're going to do - but the plans change constantly and most of it never gets done. A lot of his e-mails make more sense to me now, the listing of all the random cities, not wanting to book train tickets yet...it will all work out. For a few days I was really nervous about cancelling our plans, to be honest, I'm not sure he ever thought it was going to work out...ah well...it was great having him show us around.
Now - work is off for a few days. The past few days we have busilly been glueing notebooks for the imminent order. Basically I am extra factory help so the girls can go on vacation - but, if I can support this organization that is ok by me. They are trying to expand and are currently working on a water purifaction project...i just have to keep reminding myself...
happy Durga Puja! yay!!
A city of 17 million people, crowded, congested, turns into a city of 40 million for the 5 days of durga puja. Walking down Park Street, a street normally covered with people and cars honking honking honking honking, is deserted at 4 pm. once again this city is the queen of paradoxes. more people. less noise. But, if you are at one of the thirty plus parks/areas/alley ways home to a beautiful pandal (temporary structure thing) home to an ornately painted and decorated sculpture of the idols, and if you are at this location after 6 pm, you wont be able to move through the crowds and crowds of people. Everyone goes freakin nuts. The bigger Pujas are at parks and are like mini carnivals. Stands selling food and drinks, there are even carnival rides, the whole deal. There are at least 10 of these big parks throughout the city. Then you turn a corner and a drab alley way has been transformed into a lighted festive scene drawing you in towards their own special pandal. Apparently each district or area is supported by a given organization, some have more money, others don't. Regardless, the pride and joy and love that goes into making each pandal is breathtaking. They call it pandal hopping, going from one to the next, looking at the scene of idols, giving a short prayer. I went Pandal hopping with my Internet buddy Anubhav of Thursday. he took me to the biggest ones in the city that were close by. unfortunately, i forgot my camera because i didn't know that's what we were going to do - however, the big ones all kind of look the same. There are two molds of the idols - well, let me explain about the festival.
This is a meshing together of the many varied stories and takes on the festival i have heard from locals. Durga is the mother goddess. She is married to Shiva. She is the one with 10 hands. She has four children; Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth), Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge), Ganesha (God of Prosperity) and Kartikeya. The sculpture has Shiva in the middle, with two children on either side. Shiva rides a lion and is killing a demon. From what i could understand from Anubhav, the demon came up and took over the world, and Shiva was the one who defeated him. Then from Anubhav's cousin - she went on a killing spree and killed everyone and didn't notice who she was killing. At one point trampled on Shiva and killed him (almost killed him?) - when she realizes she is standing on Shiva her tongue sticks out - that's the incarnation of the goddess kali. Kali puja is next month some time.. Anyway, during Durga Puja Shiva comes down to visit us mortals and gives us good luck for four days, then on the 5th day we dump all the idols in the river as she has to return to her husband Shiva. During the first two days a priest/shaman goes around to all the different pandals breathing life into the idols. Anubhav took Kate and I there on Thursday night. It was sooo cool. I have a couple videos that I am trying to upload to youtube so you can see. Mere pictures can't describe the mood of the event. So many people. So much drumming. So much incense. There are groups of drummers all around the city - practically going 24 hours a day. Sometimes the rhythm is a bit off - they're going all day long - but the spirit is always there.
Another thing. This holiday compares to the Christmas of western countries. Universities get the month off. People buy each other gifts. Woman - oh the woman - where beautiful new outfits. A new outfit for each day. Sometimes two. They looked amazing. Some of the jewelry...all to match...wow...
So I only got to see the big Pandals, but these other two girls went on pandal hopping north of the city, and the stories they told. These weren't as big, had less funding, but were more creative. The structures are less traditional, - we saw one shapped like an old Tall Ship! - and the inside decor more orginal. They said one had hundreds of hand crafted birds floating from the ceiling. When you see just a few pictures of these buildings you will see. Everything is made from bambu and cloth - what! - bambu and cloth. man. its cool.
So, Anubhav. My almost travel companion. He is such a sweatheart. He is just a loveable guy who's friends with everyone and is a total law nerd and just hilarious. He took me around to see the pandals on Wednesday, and showed me some amazing traditional Bengali food - simosas with a special bengali touch - fried fish things - mmmmm good. he told me all about the city and the festival and was just truly gracious. Then he invited me and whatever friends wanted to tag along with his friends for the celebration on Thursday - the first official night. His friends were mostly lawyers - his cousin just got her masters in international relations - and were all really nice. They spoke mostly in English which was really great of them. Sometimes they spoke so fast you couldn't understand anyway..So, we hung out at his house awhile, went to see the dancing priest dude, then got egg/chicken rolls. Soooo good. yum. They came from this random alley stand with a menu written with magic marker on cardboard. We never would have known to go there before. it was a lot of fun walking through the city with locals. These were kids our age who grew up here, went off to university around the country and returned home for the holidays. Anyway, later we went back to Anubhav's to hang out. It was so interesting. They were all talking and gossiping about law school kids and what happened one night at the bar - at one point this girl said, "oh, I think we're boring them" but we said "no!, this is hilarious", really, all we had to do was subsitute our own friends names for their's and we were talking about the same people. We are all the same. its truly amazing.
As nice as Anubhav is, i don't think we will end up travelling together. I need to experience this country for the first time. He wants to explore places off the main grid. While at one point in my life that might sound good - not now. Now, I want to go to the tourist places in the south, even if he thinks its a bad idea. i think we both understand that so its cool. He's also one of those people always talking about grand plans and what they're going to do - but the plans change constantly and most of it never gets done. A lot of his e-mails make more sense to me now, the listing of all the random cities, not wanting to book train tickets yet...it will all work out. For a few days I was really nervous about cancelling our plans, to be honest, I'm not sure he ever thought it was going to work out...ah well...it was great having him show us around.
Now - work is off for a few days. The past few days we have busilly been glueing notebooks for the imminent order. Basically I am extra factory help so the girls can go on vacation - but, if I can support this organization that is ok by me. They are trying to expand and are currently working on a water purifaction project...i just have to keep reminding myself...
happy Durga Puja! yay!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Pictures
Here they are:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023586&l=8468b&id=17701665
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023585&l=9a512&id=17701665
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023586&l=8468b&id=17701665
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023585&l=9a512&id=17701665
Monday, October 15, 2007
Cicada Sunrise
Ah, Darjeeling. Sitting a top a hillside station in a cafe with the capacity to make one dish at a time, overlooking a fog hidden view of the Himalayas, sipping my cup of deliciously strong coffee and eating french toast made from home made wheat bread with honey and sesame seeds, I realized how happy I was. I quickly realized how much I did not want to go back to Kolkata. We could breath fresh, the people were friendly, no unashamed stares by the young men; an aura of peacefulness and tranquility radiated throughout the whole town of Darjeeling. Don't get me wrong, this is still India. People live humbly and there are dirty squat toilets and sad disease ridden roaming dogs, but it is different. No honking horns, unless you are turning a windy corner, no one hassling you for anything - pure bliss.
The first two days we were there it was fog covered. We walked around the one path, went to the small shops, went to this great little Hindu/Buddhist prayer center covered in prayer flags with little buildings where you could offer a few rupees and get blessed by the men there and get the third eye paint stuff. I watched for awhile before I had the guts to go in, but I eventually did, and someone gave me incense and said to walk around the building three times. Shiva, Buddha..and something/someone else I couldn't quite figure out. Anyway it was great. The whole place was covered in monkeys as well. Real monkeys. The cutest little babies running and playing and being cuddled - it was great. When I get my pictures to upload I will send the link. They were soo cute. We did get attacked a few times though. At one point we were trapped at the bottom of this stairwell surrounded, but a guy gave us some banana to feed them as a peace offering and we made it out alive. It was close.
So on Sunday morning we got a tour up to tiger hill to see the Sunrise. We had to get to the car at 4 am so we could get up to tiger hill on time. After a sleepless night we made it to the van and proceeded on a very bumpy journey up the hill. Side note - the jeep ride from the train station to Darjeeling was 4 hours of bumps and turns - we were all nauseous - but compared to that this was cake, even after 1 hour of sleep. Anyway, we got to the top of this hill where there were all ready at least a hundred people gathered. WE found a spot right up front facing where we thought the mountains were going to be, and waited. It was almost pitch black. Slowly the sun rose to our right, and straight a head we see that those clouds off in the distance aren't clouds, their freakin the Himalayas. Imagine being in Seattle on top of a hill and seeing other hills in Portland. It was insane. They were so far away, but we could see the details and the shadows...I can't even describe. We were so gitty. And that was just the beginning, almost the whole landscape in front of us was filled with rolling hill tops and the Himalayas poised along the backdrop. Completely breathtaking. I decided then and there that I will go to Nepal. You have to after seeing that. I never thought Nepal was a place I needed to go. Things change. It was awesome. I wish this computer had a USB for me to upload pictures, but they will come. I promise. My little camera couldn't get too close, but I think you get the idea. There are a few ones that look boring, but they are part of the panoramic scene that we watched rise out of the dark fog. Wow. There is one with a tiny little white peak in the background - that's old Everest. Pretty darn cool.
Another thing that made me not want to return to Kolkata: Kate found a grey hair on my scalp during lunch on Saturday. A GREY HAIR. I am 22 years old. I know I can get stressed and anxious about things, but a grey hair. This city is obviously too much for me. I was close to accepting defeat. But, I came here for a reason, to put myself in a hard situation and I have to continue. However, I don't think I'm going to be working everyday all day for the next two weeks. Luckily Puja is coming up and we will be on vacation. I took the day off today to read and chill out - hopefully I will get some sleep tonight. I didn't sleep Saturday, and I couldn't sleep on the overnight train last night because: My seat smelled like urine and crap (literal crap..., and a 10 person Nepali christian singing group was sitting next to us and decided to stay up all night talking and practicing their ballads. It put the others to sleep, but I couldn't do it...tonight is the night. tonight i sleep!
The first two days we were there it was fog covered. We walked around the one path, went to the small shops, went to this great little Hindu/Buddhist prayer center covered in prayer flags with little buildings where you could offer a few rupees and get blessed by the men there and get the third eye paint stuff. I watched for awhile before I had the guts to go in, but I eventually did, and someone gave me incense and said to walk around the building three times. Shiva, Buddha..and something/someone else I couldn't quite figure out. Anyway it was great. The whole place was covered in monkeys as well. Real monkeys. The cutest little babies running and playing and being cuddled - it was great. When I get my pictures to upload I will send the link. They were soo cute. We did get attacked a few times though. At one point we were trapped at the bottom of this stairwell surrounded, but a guy gave us some banana to feed them as a peace offering and we made it out alive. It was close.
So on Sunday morning we got a tour up to tiger hill to see the Sunrise. We had to get to the car at 4 am so we could get up to tiger hill on time. After a sleepless night we made it to the van and proceeded on a very bumpy journey up the hill. Side note - the jeep ride from the train station to Darjeeling was 4 hours of bumps and turns - we were all nauseous - but compared to that this was cake, even after 1 hour of sleep. Anyway, we got to the top of this hill where there were all ready at least a hundred people gathered. WE found a spot right up front facing where we thought the mountains were going to be, and waited. It was almost pitch black. Slowly the sun rose to our right, and straight a head we see that those clouds off in the distance aren't clouds, their freakin the Himalayas. Imagine being in Seattle on top of a hill and seeing other hills in Portland. It was insane. They were so far away, but we could see the details and the shadows...I can't even describe. We were so gitty. And that was just the beginning, almost the whole landscape in front of us was filled with rolling hill tops and the Himalayas poised along the backdrop. Completely breathtaking. I decided then and there that I will go to Nepal. You have to after seeing that. I never thought Nepal was a place I needed to go. Things change. It was awesome. I wish this computer had a USB for me to upload pictures, but they will come. I promise. My little camera couldn't get too close, but I think you get the idea. There are a few ones that look boring, but they are part of the panoramic scene that we watched rise out of the dark fog. Wow. There is one with a tiny little white peak in the background - that's old Everest. Pretty darn cool.
Another thing that made me not want to return to Kolkata: Kate found a grey hair on my scalp during lunch on Saturday. A GREY HAIR. I am 22 years old. I know I can get stressed and anxious about things, but a grey hair. This city is obviously too much for me. I was close to accepting defeat. But, I came here for a reason, to put myself in a hard situation and I have to continue. However, I don't think I'm going to be working everyday all day for the next two weeks. Luckily Puja is coming up and we will be on vacation. I took the day off today to read and chill out - hopefully I will get some sleep tonight. I didn't sleep Saturday, and I couldn't sleep on the overnight train last night because: My seat smelled like urine and crap (literal crap..., and a 10 person Nepali christian singing group was sitting next to us and decided to stay up all night talking and practicing their ballads. It put the others to sleep, but I couldn't do it...tonight is the night. tonight i sleep!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Well, a few days ago I wrote a whole long entry but the internet bailed out on me and it didn't save. When I wrote it it was raining. It rained for two days. now its a bit cooler. The first day after the rain the smog cleared up a bit which was wonderful, not its just kind of grey and humid. The thing about this place seems to be you're wet no matter what. you're either sweating, or wet from rain. Its just a fact of life. ah well.
Before I get into the current thoughts here are some quick notes on food and clothing;
Food- mostly rice, lentils, fried potato things, vegetables, meat, more potatoes, more rice, more lentils...food is included in my program fee, so we get cooked meals at the guest house. They're OK. After the first day i became a vegetarian and haven't really craved meat since. i think the first day it was bad because it tasted like the streets smelled - not the icky poo or anything, but all the smells of food and pollution all melded together...anyway I don't eat the meat. The lentils are really delicious. Everything has sugar in it, which of course makes it good. The guest house food isn't too spicy because of all the frequent travellers, my favourite is this fried veggie potato onion patty deal...its the best..yummy...and all the varieties of fried breads are delicious as well. The fried street food is starting to look pretty darn good, I'm going to try it one of these days, the fruit looks amazing..but alas...cannot..eat...yummy...fruit...drinks...:(. Everyone drinks chai as well. They boil milk, chai, and sugar and dispense it in little tiny espresso sized cups for 1 rupee. YUMMMMY. Aparently the hot tea is better for hydration than cold drinks...
Clothes - free for all. The men wear funny seventies style tight bell bottomy pants and tight button up or polo shirts. The men here are TINY, and they all wear really tight clothes. Its funny. The younger 'cooler' guys wear weird acid wash jeans with buckles and pockets all over...then they wear shirts that say things like "jeans" and "modern"..hmmm... Women- married woman wear Sarees and unmarried wear the long shirts with pants underneath and a scarf. The deal is cover your upper chest and most of your legs and it doesn't matter what you're wearing as long as you're covered a bit. You can wear sleeveless shirts (not spaghetti straps) as long as you have a scarf. The younger middle class girls wear western clothes - tight jeans and short shirts - on the subway today a girl was wearing an above knee black skirt, nylons, black pumps and white button up shirt - that's rare though. I don't really go places where girls like that would hang out..ritzier nicer places..
So...
Things are finally starting to fall into place. There is actually work for us to do and Kate and I have a nice routine getting to work with the auto-rickshaw and the metro. party rickshaws are hard to come by, as much as I put out the party rickshaw vibes they are always taken...it'll happen again...someday. The girls at work are warming up and talking to them is a lot of fun. Ranjita speaks the most English and is such a sweetheart. She is 22 and has two older sisters who both have kids, and lives with her mom. Her father passed away. She is so funny though, i asked if she was married and all the usual questions they understand and she's all "me, no marriage, never marriage, me no baby. But my sisters babies, they don't call me auntie, they call me mommy. Us small family, but very happy, i have a good life, very happy." It was really great to hear her say that. And today when I was working on the excel spreadsheet she came in and was just watching me. AT first i thought I was getting in trouble for browsinging the net...only for a minute...but really she was just fascinated. She asked me to teach her how to use the computer. So I opened up a word document and she typed her name and I had her write "Ranjita is cool. So is Radha. They are in kolkata" She knew how to spell almost all the words. She had such a smile on her face at the end. i pushed her to write more but by the end she just said "OK, we done now?". She's definitely one of the brightest girls there, she works really hard and seems to practically micro-manage the whole operation. Maybe its just because she speaks English but she definitely is a go-getter.
While work is going well, the city is a bit claustrophobic and you get a bit stir crazy. So, we are taking a mini-vacation and going to Darjeeling this weekend. WE are all sooo excited. it took a few days to figure out where to buy the train tickets but we finally got them and are taking a sleeper train Thursday night. From there you take a jeep up the hill to Darjeeling - hopefully it doesn't rain more because otherwise the roads might be too muddy...we'll see. The volunteers before us went and their pictures are breathtaking. My little camera might not be able to pick up Everest, but we will hike up tiger hill at sunrise and it should be able to capture something.
Plans for after the program are starting to fall into place as well. Daniella, one of the new volunteers and i are flying down to Chennai on Oct. 30th where we will meet her friend from Canada and tool around the South for three weeks. Apparently her friend has been researching where to go, but it should be fine. I'm sure we will see some cool temples, hang out on the beach in Goa, go to the market in Mysore and i definitely want to make it up to the Ellora caves. Then, a friend from college might be able to meet me in Goa (woo beach) and we will go up to Mumbai for the wedding and then up North to Rajastan and the Taj and maybe Dharamsala. All of this is up in the air but that is my ideal. Whatever happens happens and things always seem to work out somehow. Getting the flight down to Chennai was good though, I was having trouble committing to anything, but now it is set. As long as the airline doesn't flake..which might happen...as I was finalizing the purchase of tickets the woman said "oh, and while this ticket is non-refundable, if the flight is cancelled then we can refund your money"...the fact that she said that means it happens enough...statistically and all...it'll be fine...
Before I get into the current thoughts here are some quick notes on food and clothing;
Food- mostly rice, lentils, fried potato things, vegetables, meat, more potatoes, more rice, more lentils...food is included in my program fee, so we get cooked meals at the guest house. They're OK. After the first day i became a vegetarian and haven't really craved meat since. i think the first day it was bad because it tasted like the streets smelled - not the icky poo or anything, but all the smells of food and pollution all melded together...anyway I don't eat the meat. The lentils are really delicious. Everything has sugar in it, which of course makes it good. The guest house food isn't too spicy because of all the frequent travellers, my favourite is this fried veggie potato onion patty deal...its the best..yummy...and all the varieties of fried breads are delicious as well. The fried street food is starting to look pretty darn good, I'm going to try it one of these days, the fruit looks amazing..but alas...cannot..eat...yummy...fruit...drinks...:(. Everyone drinks chai as well. They boil milk, chai, and sugar and dispense it in little tiny espresso sized cups for 1 rupee. YUMMMMY. Aparently the hot tea is better for hydration than cold drinks...
Clothes - free for all. The men wear funny seventies style tight bell bottomy pants and tight button up or polo shirts. The men here are TINY, and they all wear really tight clothes. Its funny. The younger 'cooler' guys wear weird acid wash jeans with buckles and pockets all over...then they wear shirts that say things like "jeans" and "modern"..hmmm... Women- married woman wear Sarees and unmarried wear the long shirts with pants underneath and a scarf. The deal is cover your upper chest and most of your legs and it doesn't matter what you're wearing as long as you're covered a bit. You can wear sleeveless shirts (not spaghetti straps) as long as you have a scarf. The younger middle class girls wear western clothes - tight jeans and short shirts - on the subway today a girl was wearing an above knee black skirt, nylons, black pumps and white button up shirt - that's rare though. I don't really go places where girls like that would hang out..ritzier nicer places..
So...
Things are finally starting to fall into place. There is actually work for us to do and Kate and I have a nice routine getting to work with the auto-rickshaw and the metro. party rickshaws are hard to come by, as much as I put out the party rickshaw vibes they are always taken...it'll happen again...someday. The girls at work are warming up and talking to them is a lot of fun. Ranjita speaks the most English and is such a sweetheart. She is 22 and has two older sisters who both have kids, and lives with her mom. Her father passed away. She is so funny though, i asked if she was married and all the usual questions they understand and she's all "me, no marriage, never marriage, me no baby. But my sisters babies, they don't call me auntie, they call me mommy. Us small family, but very happy, i have a good life, very happy." It was really great to hear her say that. And today when I was working on the excel spreadsheet she came in and was just watching me. AT first i thought I was getting in trouble for browsinging the net...only for a minute...but really she was just fascinated. She asked me to teach her how to use the computer. So I opened up a word document and she typed her name and I had her write "Ranjita is cool. So is Radha. They are in kolkata" She knew how to spell almost all the words. She had such a smile on her face at the end. i pushed her to write more but by the end she just said "OK, we done now?". She's definitely one of the brightest girls there, she works really hard and seems to practically micro-manage the whole operation. Maybe its just because she speaks English but she definitely is a go-getter.
While work is going well, the city is a bit claustrophobic and you get a bit stir crazy. So, we are taking a mini-vacation and going to Darjeeling this weekend. WE are all sooo excited. it took a few days to figure out where to buy the train tickets but we finally got them and are taking a sleeper train Thursday night. From there you take a jeep up the hill to Darjeeling - hopefully it doesn't rain more because otherwise the roads might be too muddy...we'll see. The volunteers before us went and their pictures are breathtaking. My little camera might not be able to pick up Everest, but we will hike up tiger hill at sunrise and it should be able to capture something.
Plans for after the program are starting to fall into place as well. Daniella, one of the new volunteers and i are flying down to Chennai on Oct. 30th where we will meet her friend from Canada and tool around the South for three weeks. Apparently her friend has been researching where to go, but it should be fine. I'm sure we will see some cool temples, hang out on the beach in Goa, go to the market in Mysore and i definitely want to make it up to the Ellora caves. Then, a friend from college might be able to meet me in Goa (woo beach) and we will go up to Mumbai for the wedding and then up North to Rajastan and the Taj and maybe Dharamsala. All of this is up in the air but that is my ideal. Whatever happens happens and things always seem to work out somehow. Getting the flight down to Chennai was good though, I was having trouble committing to anything, but now it is set. As long as the airline doesn't flake..which might happen...as I was finalizing the purchase of tickets the woman said "oh, and while this ticket is non-refundable, if the flight is cancelled then we can refund your money"...the fact that she said that means it happens enough...statistically and all...it'll be fine...
Friday, October 5, 2007
Pictures
I was able to upload pictures to facebook, so here is the link to the album..
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023256&l=7e748&id=17701665
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023256&l=7e748&id=17701665
Party Richshaw woo
Man oh man, everyday here is an adventure. Yesterday, when I got to work Semal told us one of us needed to go back to the BMS (where we are staying) to get two letters for him. He wasn't feeling well and couldn't go. Not thinking clearly in this heat I didn't question why letters for him would be delivered to our guest house half way accross the city, and not keen on stitting watching girls sew, I volunteered. When I got on the metro it was jam packed. I mean I was literaly smooshed against the window and could not move. At the next stop about 8 more guys got in and we all managed to fit. It was insane. Everyone is sweating and shoved up against each other, let me tell you I was holding tight to my bag. After a few stops more people got off and it was fine. Then I walk back to BMS, i got a little lost on the way back but no big deal. Elliot street, my hood basically, was in a complete standstill. See there are these trams that go along elliot and totally random times, and cars and rickshaws as well. So when traffic is busy the trams can't get by because the cars and rickshaws weave in and out of the tram tracks. Basically everyone is stuck and and horns are a honking. Its faster to walk during these times...anyway, I go to pick up the letters - turns out their invitations to a Christian giant prayer megathon at the end of the month wehre 15,000 will gather. So I'm running a private errond for Semal. Let me tell you I was livid. Absolutely pissed off. One of the other volunteers jokingly nicknamed me CfJ. Courier for Jesus. I was about ready to quit. After my blood sugar level was restored and Semal gave us time off and paid me for my travel expenses I felt a bit better. I'm not running anymore erronds though...
The best part of the whole trip, was the party rickshaw. Some of the auto-rickshaw drivers 'pimp' out their rides and put in loud speakers and flashy lights. So I was in this rickshaw with 5 other young Indian dudes wearing the hip western clothing and flashy sunglasses cruisin' down Elliot street with the indian version of drum and base - uhn sis uhn sis uhn sis uhn sis - tre surreal.
This morning we had the day off so we walked to the Victoria Memorial which was great. On the way there we walked though this open field filled with goats and goats. hundreds of goats. more goats then you would every imagine. It was cool. The memorial itself is standard. Well kempt gardens, huge colonial styel building...colonial art and 'greatness'... it was nice to be somewhere quiet..
Its starting to thunder! rain! yay! We were talking last night about how they air felt heavy and thick. One british person called it pregnant which caused confusion with the canadians and americans...anyway at certian times of day you can hardly breath because the air is so thick with gasoline fumes and spices and trash and just the city...
The best part of the whole trip, was the party rickshaw. Some of the auto-rickshaw drivers 'pimp' out their rides and put in loud speakers and flashy lights. So I was in this rickshaw with 5 other young Indian dudes wearing the hip western clothing and flashy sunglasses cruisin' down Elliot street with the indian version of drum and base - uhn sis uhn sis uhn sis uhn sis - tre surreal.
This morning we had the day off so we walked to the Victoria Memorial which was great. On the way there we walked though this open field filled with goats and goats. hundreds of goats. more goats then you would every imagine. It was cool. The memorial itself is standard. Well kempt gardens, huge colonial styel building...colonial art and 'greatness'... it was nice to be somewhere quiet..
Its starting to thunder! rain! yay! We were talking last night about how they air felt heavy and thick. One british person called it pregnant which caused confusion with the canadians and americans...anyway at certian times of day you can hardly breath because the air is so thick with gasoline fumes and spices and trash and just the city...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
First Day and other notes about the city..
So we had our first day today. Walking to work the streets and allys are filled with people making bambu frames for the huge Dunja festival coming up. The whole city literally shuts down from Oct 18-28. There are huge parades, festivities, and overall absolute mayhem, as if the city wasn't chaotic enough to begin with. Anyway, the craftmanship of these people is simply astounding. As of now we just see bambu frames, but they are starting to add paper mache and we can see shapes arising- dragons, egyption figurines - everything. Its going to be sooo cool! The women we work with are very nice. It is a small space on the top floor of a building. There are eight woman and one man who oversees the project. The NGO that started the business is Christian, along with most of the organizations we work with, and live at..which isn't a problem. I have no problem with that, don't get me wrong. AS long as I don't have to go to the prayer readings after or before the girls go to work I'm fine with it. Yet - For the first 30 minutes today our boss/manager guy gave us a whole schpeal on Christianity and how finding Jesus/God(he wasn't too clear on the distinction) was the way to happiness and peace of mind and there is only one god and realizing that is the only way...neadless to say I got a little miffed...It seems to me the people who converted all these people from hinduism to Christianity really focused on the importance singular God and lumped that all in with the teachings of Jesus - I'm not sure if I will take the time to find out. Its actually really interesting. In this country, one of the first things people ask is "What do you believe?" not, "what is your religion, or do you believe in God", but "What do you believe?". Its a little disconcerting, I still haven't quite figured out my answer. So far all I've come up with is "I dunno, everything? nothing?" That answer gets me a very peculiar look...so does the fact that I am 22 and unmarried - that was the first question the girls asked me at work today. It is hard talking to them as of now, but I will practice my phrases and get better with my sign language and I think I will have fun with them. They are just a bunch of young girls doing craftywork all day...its not a sweatshop because we get tons of breaks - all though we do sweat all day..hahah...but I think it will be fun. The very best best part is that I will get to do computer stuff. Semal asked me to help him type up some prices for a proposal to send to Boston and I had to hold back from making a spiffy excel spreadsheet. I couldn't help from fixing the formatting though. I think now that he knows I like doing stuff like I will do it more often. He has to catch up on the books for the past three months in the next week because the big boss is returning..:)..Today was my first day walking around by myself, it felt good to not be with a huge group all the time. All the other volunteers are really nice and I have fun hanging out with them - but sometimes you just need some space. There is an older woman, Anne, from new york, who is great, but is staying at a hotel accross the street. Her days of dorm living are over..I went over there last night with the other older woman and talked for awhile which was fun. After I mentioned wanting to go to the Jewish settlement in Kochi we found we were all Jewish and are going to try to find the one Temple this Saturday. In fact I'm going to look online for the phone number right now..still no pictures, they will come..
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Slow Down
Despite the relentless car horns and hustle and bustle on the streets of Kolkata, things actually move quite slowly around here. For the first few days you are thrown into this mess and feel like you must be moving constantly. Something to do, something to see, somewhere to go. However, the only way not to go crazy is to just relax. Sure they wake you up at 7:30 in the morning for breakfast, but then, you chill out until 10 or 11 before getting up and taking a shower and starting the day. Almost nothing is open before 10, and a lot of the work projects don't start until noon. Instead of going to work today we went shopping with Vashal and saw more of the city, and we all wanted to get cell phones. What we (I) did not realize was that you don't just get a cell phone in one day - oh no - first you have to get the passport sized photo - then in the next few days you make photo copies of your passport - then a few days more you go with Vashal to the head office to get SIM cards - then later you go to by a phone, and finally a three month pre-paid plan. Like most things the whole process will take a week or so. Its no problem though, it gets done eventually right? This is what my job is going to be like. I will be working at a small factory near the red light district. I will be working with former workers of that district who are now seamstresses and book binders. I will be helping sort the good products from bad products, and serving as an sort of manager/keep people motivated to work person. I will hopefully get to screen print and make some journals of my own that will then be sold to the clients. I'm pretty excited to start tomorrow. Its a little sad I wont get to play with little children, but thats ok. What we're doing is pretty good as well - we are enabling this women and giving them a sort of self confidence they didn't have before. However - as Claire - the former volunteer has warned us - these people do not work fast. It is tediously slow moving and slightly inefficient, with little change in sight. That's just how things are around here, relaxed and slow going..If I learn one thing in India it is to relax and SLOW DOWN.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
hurray!
I am finally over jet lag. Hurray! I woke up this morning feeling great and ready to take on the world. sort of. it took me awhile to build up the courage to walk down the poverty ridden street to the web cafe, but eventually i did it. I am getting to know the other volunteers better and things are looking up. This one girl from ireland is leaving on Thursday, which is kind of sad, because she has been really great and helpful, telling me good places to go, how to get around, what to look out for, what are helpful words to know etc. The other two woman will still be here through october so its ok. The new volunteers with me are nice as well. one girl from portland, she's a baby! just graduated high school - another 24 year old country girl from canada, she's super sweet and fun. The new girls are nice, but we would be lost if older volunteers weren't around. Vishal, the GVN volunteer coordinator just dropped us off and said see you on monday, just hang out for a few days...well..ok? we'll be fine, sure, don't worry about us. we'll explore...i actually am getting a better feel for the city and spent a long time this morning studying a map. i'm really excited to go to the India museum and look at the huge Queen Victoria memorial/garden area which is home to a nice city park and gardens. There is also supposed to be a great modern art gallery, not to mention all the temples that deserve frequenting. We have weekends off so hopefully i will get to see everything i want to...there is just so much in this city..Tuesday is Gandhi's birthday so that should be pretty exciting as well. unfortunately it is hard to take pictures - it is just sort of rude to take out your fancy camera and start snapping shots at random people on the street. Once i start my work and get to know people I will probably be able to take more. Here are just a few i took from my fancy hotel room and our guest house last night...nevermind it didn't work.
Day Two
It is crazy to think that this is only day two of staying at the BMS. We tried to go to this great clothing shop called Fabindia but the other volunteers were late and the directions we got from some one else were wrong and it ended up being a long day of walking in the heat. We saw the perfect example of the paradox that is India today. Walking along the streets where people call their homes with the stench of a city that never stops moving, we walk into a department store just like any JCPenny, where you can buy western clothes, electronics, there is even a regular grocery store. Milling around are the middle class of the city with fancy clothes and fancy cars. Its as if what was outside never existed..We went in because it was air conditioned. It is sooooo hot. Your clothes are just completly soaked. always. everyday. Anu, the woman who runs BMS, the mission house we are staying at is great though. She is doing her best to make us feel at home and get over the culture shock. She says it is important to have a sense of humor in this country. Time does not move in the same way. I have another day of just hanging around tomorrow before I go to orientation...it is sooo hot.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
kolcata!
wow. what a whirlwind adventure. two 9 hour flights, at least I got to see the new Pirates of the Carribean. one would think the flights would be the adventure. oh no. nice try. upon arrival at the airport there was no sign with my name. lost. no where to go. right off the plane. After trying the numbers I was given at my guest house, and after finding out the numbers were out of order i began to pace back and forth nervously. BEing a scared, small, white girl i had a few dudes following me around asking if i needed a ride anywhere. no, i didn't want them to give me a ride, and no i had no idea where to tell them to go even I was stupid enough to get in the car with them. Then, a Dutch (i thought she was french) woman came out. one of the guys with names on signs was for her. she seemed legit. i went up and asked if I could hitch a ride with her and she said sure. She was going to Goya but had a hotel room for the day while she waited for the train. The drive to the hotel was out of this world. people everywhere, cars everywhere, showering in the streets, changing in the streets, driving, talking, human powered rickshaws, dirt, grime, words cannot describe. pictures will come soon. anyway, get to hotel, get an overpriced room, have a nervous breakdown, take shower, go downstairs and e-mail GVN contact, within the hour Vishan had called me to apologize. i wasn't in the mood to talk to the dude who left me stranded so i said to pick me up tomorrow. Then an hour later he showed up to the hotel to apologize again and i said, ok, take me to the guest house. GVN paid for my hotel and taxi cab ride which was great. now instead of a shishy hotel room I'm in a guest house sharing a room with 9 other people. Its cool though, i can get acclimated. on the way to this web cafe i saw mother theresa's tomb. This place is insane.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Picture Test
I'm testing my new fancy camera. I am new to the whole uploading pictures on the web trend...a few years late, I know. I can't imagine how I will be when I am 50 plus years old. I am barely in my twenties and all ready find myself dumbfounded by technology..thus is life.
So...why am I leaving this beautiful place again?
So...why am I leaving this beautiful place again?
Friday, September 21, 2007
Step One-hundred and thirty-two
Less than one week from departure. Almost all details in place and excitement begins, only to be thwarted by conservative, over-bearing know it alls who think I cannot do this. Do they think I don't know I'm going somewhere completely different? Somewhere with different cultures and values. Do I reverse 6 years of independence and self reliance? Do they think I am not capable of adapting myself and changing plans based on the environment. Regardless I will take their criticisms and worries and not let it bother me. However, I don't like the idea of people losing years off their lives worrying about me, but all I can do is prove them wrong I suppose. Being defensive wont change what people have thought and believed since before my birth. "thankyou for your concern", "yes, I see, people will think I'm a whore and wont want me to marry into their family, I will take that into account"...great. just great.
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