the List!

I had a very good day for no apparent reason today. You know those kind of days? Well, it has me in humor this evening to make a list of the things I am very much looking forward to when I go back home. (In the way that I'm not getting homesick and sad, but rather happy and amused as I write this, as I hope you all do as well).

1. My Bed.
Indian beds, I have generally found, tend not to be very comfortable for one of two reasons:
a.) The idea that mattresses should not exceed five inches in height.
b.) It is too hot for proper blankets.
The combination of these does not make for a cozy sleeping experience.

2. Washing Machines and Dryers.
While I have been able to use a washing machine once in my stay in India, I will be very thankful not to have to wash my clothes in a bucket while I shower. Dryers I simply have not seen, and am looking forward to praising it as a miracle.

3. Cleanliness.
Everywhere.
All over the country.
Especially in my bathroom.
See, instead of a window, we have a piece of thick plastic on our side of the barred window, and that doesn't entirely keep the pigeon poop out. Nor the insects and lizards.

4. Dogs.
But that is obvious and goes without saying. Not that there aren't dogs here, just not ones that you can put in your bed. 

Random Observations

Yet another picture like the other ones, but its very pretty. Since I got my camera fixed I have an unfortunate grey dot in the corner of all my pictures. : (

Here is the only place that when talking to people and saying I'm here for ten months respond with, 'thats it?'

In talking with other westerners here, I've gotten a few of my own observations confirmed. Not to totally bash the education system but there is some general agreement about the difference in the quality of work and teaching. Though I suppose in India, as everything is done by a test (like getting a job), memorization and regurgitation is a useful skill. 

Another thing that I did not anticipate, and perhaps was the cause of most of my hardship last semester until I realized it, is that your efficiency while in India goes down by about fifty percent. The amount of errands you can run, homework you can do, all of it. Coming from western societies, we have expectations for ourselves of all the things we set out to accomplish in a day. Yet day after day, week after week, I was still failing to get the most basic tasks done. You just have to accept that you can't do so much in a day, you can't be so efficient, and then it gets easier. 

Astrology, Cows, and Appointments - a three sentence story

Today I was browsing the services and activities offered by the ashram, and decided to go see about a vedic astrology reading. With some directions, I went past the juice stall and Indian cafe to the cow shed, where I looked around briefly at the cows before asking the man sitting on the roof about the astrologer. He said to come back at four. And that is how I made my appointment.

Kerala

I arrived in Kerala now two days ago, and am staying at the Amritapuri (I think thats the spelling...) ashram in rural Kerala. It seems like a nice place, in exchange for a minimum fee and an hour or two of washing dishes at dinner time, I get a shared room and a relaxing day. My uncle John showed me around yesterday. The ashram is the biggest thing in this town (and it is big, I'm in one of probably ten residential buildings and I'm on the tenth floor), and has a few places to eat, meditate, and some cows to pet. Its right between the backwaters and the ocean, though there's no beach anymore after the tsunami, just rocks piled to keep the waves out. Here are a few pictures:

The sky as I landed at the Cochin/Kochi airport

The Backwater

The boat we used to cross the back water (there is also a bridge)

Uncle John and Me (bad picture, but oh well)

I like this sign

Ocean view from my residential building

Up and away!

I woke up this morning, and about the third thought to pass through my head after, 'its ten in the morning, maybe I'll get samosas at the cafe,' and 'I should probably get out of bed and meditate,' was 'Shit! I leave tomorrow for a month and a half of traveling around India!' That got me out of bed. And immediately call home to talk to mommy.

Tomorrow I leave for my tour of the Indian subcontinent, which of course is very exciting, and rather nerve-racking. I'm heading out for a month and a half with five shirts, two pairs of jeans, my st. A's sweatshirt, various drawing pencils, and my toothbrush.

Its kind of a different phase in my Indian adventure, if I were to divide it up as such. First semester, acclimation to weather, way of life, and everything. Second phase, vagabond around India (well, theres a bit of a plan so you can't entirely call it wandering), and of course when I come back to school that will be a whole new experience.

I am both incredibly excited for my travels, anticipating a sense of freedom, wandering the world alone kind of zeal, and rather nervous, mostly about all those little details that you cannot possibly anticipate. If my luggage is lost, if I can't find the cab at the airport, what I'll do when I get there, etc. My plans are both fixed enough and flexible enough to get me somewhere safely and to let me change my mind and go exploring. So predictably, I swing back and forth between wanting to be on my adventure and wanting the hours to go so slowly.

I probably shouldn't worry too much about details though. For, on the topic of fast thinking (reference to my morning thoughts), when I walked into my room and turned on the light, which flickered longer than usual, in the one second longer it took I had gone through:
(1) 'oh God the light isn't working (problem)'
(2) 'I'm gonna have to try and communicate this to the people downstairs to get a new light bulb (worry)'
(3) 'I'd just take the light bulb from my old room that just got replaced (solution)'
And then the light worked anyways.

Goa part 2

My initial plan had been to put pictures up from my trip to Goa immediately after 'Goa part 1,' but I needed to get my camera fixed first. So! here we are: 

Attack of the Cockroaches!

I am done with my classes, and as of last night, done with all my work as well. So I’ve thus been enjoying the leisure time the end of the semester has afforded me before I go traveling to watch absurd amounts of Doctor Who. Unfortunately, or not as it doesn’t really matter at this point, this has corrupted my ‘grandma’ sleep cycle (as my friends commonly refer to it as), in which I sleep around 10:30 and am awake by seven. Instead, adventures with the ninth and tenth doctors have kept me up until three in the morning, and sleeping until 10:30 or so. This is all well and good except for that I get hungry at one in the morning, and being accustomed to getting hungry during waking hours in which there is food available, I keep little in my room. Therefore last night I decided with my friends to order some momos, Tibetan dumplings that are kind of the greatest thing ever.

As I went out to go pick up my order, and walked downstairs and through the hallway, I found myself dodging an unusual number of cockroaches. By unusual number, I mean more than one. I’ve on occasion seen one pinky length cockroach in the downstairs hallway, and have succeeded in walking briskly by without much fuss despite being very grossed out. My first experience with cockroaches was in first grade, finding one under my lunch box, and since then have not had to deal with the creatures. However, last night was different.

As I rounded the corner I saw a sight I did not expect to. I’ve dealt with a lot of things in this dorm. Lizards, grasshoppers, pigeons, cats that steal sandwiches, doors and windows that don’t close properly to the outside weather, no heating or air conditioning, clothes that come back from the laundry dirtier than when you gave them, mold on the walls in the hallway and no fire alarms, so perhaps in a sense I was prepared for seeing a cockroach nest emerging from the first floor bathroom and spilling out into the hall.

Apparently what happened, was that a girl went to the bathroom and saw some cockroaches, and therefore reasonably told one of the people working about it. This person apparently dumped kerosene into where the cockroaches were (you can still smell it), which resulted in all of the cockroaches emerging to escape the kerosene. I mean somewhere between fifty and sixty cockroaches, the liveliest ten or so making it down the hallway to suffer from whatever insect sprays the girls living nearby could get their hands on. I’m just happy I live upstairs.

It perhaps ought to be pointed out that when I announced the cockroach explosion on facebook, my loyal friends called upon a variety of super heroes to save me, namely the Men in Black and the Doctor.

On a side note, Doctor Who is a great BBC show I’ve decided. 

The Office of International Programs

Today was Thursday, and it was one of those days. It was one of those days that us international kids were called to have a meeting with the director of international programs. It doesn’t happen too often, but it requires a certain amount of mental, emotional, and physical preparation when it does.

I’ve never attended meetings that so precariously walk the line between the tendency towards boredom and the tendency towards a shit show.

Let me try to explain the situation:

The characters:

Sanjay Mishra – the office assistant, who works one thing or another throughout our meeting, sympathizing with us as he does.

Best line – Ravneet: “I hate her [Dr. Asha Mathur] so much!” Sanjay: “I know, I hate her too.”

XiXi: International student from Singapore

Role: the one who actually does what they are supposed to, and suffers through the meetings in silence.

Ravneet: International student from Australia

Role: the one who gets yelled at by Dr. Asha Mathur, to cause problems

Thea: International student from Brown

Role: general confusion

Margaux: International student from France

Role: Argue with Dr. Mathur, cause problems

Sedona: International student from St. Anselm

Role: to be obstinate, and generally confused

Dr. Asha Mathur: Director of the Office of International Programs

Personality: is a very old woman, a very old fashioned woman, and a very obstinate old woman. 

Activities in a meeting: Shrilly talking over us whenever we disagree

The situation:

The best way I can think to explain these meetings is by a number of examples, one here, others coming. 

“

Ravneet, we have concerns for you.” Ravneet had missed some class, being sick, and in that time had missed an test, this all with the craziness of trying to adjust to being in India in the summer heat. Still sick, Ravneet bravely came to the meeting, to be lectured on the importance the College places on being in class, on being present for tests. Ravneet asked if she, therefore, should have shown up to class sick. Dr. Mathur then said Ravneet should have informed the teacher. “I did. I texted my class representative. You can see the text message.” Ravneet offered Dr. Mathur her phone, which was snatched and examined. Finally Dr. Mathur said, “You couldn’t come to class but you were well enough to be on facebook!” At that point, we were well beyond rational discussion, and a sick and tired Ravneet gave up and just started crying. This all in front of all the other international students as well as teachers who were using the office. While Dr. Mathur slumped again into the negative points for supporting the international students, Sanjay prevailed, calling Ravneet later and asking us if she was okay. “I know, I hate her too.” – Sanjay 

Real life interactions with my roommate.

Dog Friends!

Today was a Sunday filled with joy and love...meaning nice things that made me feel good. I woke up at nine, which is nearly unheard of for me to sleep in so late (especially as I was in bed at 10:30), and missed breakfast, though the nice man who I pass every day coming into the hostel offered to go get me some, but I assured him I'd be okay. (This all happened in hin-glish)

I then went to my favorite cafe and actually did work while enjoying real coffee and banana bread.

This evening, I went out for my lovely excursion in exercise in the dark back lawns of campus. As I was running around, a dog decided to run around too. I decided the dog was saying, 'look! I like running too! lets run together!'

As I invited the dog over, it turned out she had impeccable doggy manners, slowly rolling onto her back in front of me. Unconcerned then that she would get excited and try to nip me as I was running, I continued. When I stopped to do yoga, she came over for a little while, watching me and just hanging out. When she left a different dog came and said hi. This dog I knew as Hazel, the friendly brown dog that frequents our singing practices. I named the other one Deer, because she reminded me of a deer. My dad asked why I didn't name her Bambi...honestly the name didn't cross my mind...but I'm just gonna call her Deer.

I also saw a shooting star and had one of my favorite meals in the cafeteria.

Now! back to Winson Churchill, Bengal Famines, and World War II. 

Interactions with my roommate - in pictures

_____

travel plans!

I have begun booking tickets and such for my adventures around India this winter. After this busy end of the semester (a little more than a week to go!), my first stop will be in Kerala, to an ashram in which my step-mom's brother stays, situated in a small fishing village in backwaters.

The tentative plan after that is to be spontaneous...yea...somewhere in the areas around Darjeeling, West Bengal, and Sikkim.

After that, off to the north east, to Meghalaya, to spend Christmas with a friend, and back to Delhi after that..... :)

(pictures from the internets)

Popular hindi songs and their music videos

For everyone's amusement, I decided to post the music videos of songs I hear as often as Tiao Cruz or someone like that. 

Here is Chammak Challo - translated as a woman's butt that shakes as she walks...

"I'll let you be my chammak challo...."

apparently it can mean a flirtatious girl...theres a cultural study for you!

Shiela Ki Jawaani - something like 'my youthful body'

Jawaani, could be 'woman,' to be nice, though could also mean something like 'virginity,' and apparently an expression to say a guy is hitting on a girl, is to 'loot her jawaani'...

Wow I could really make this blog post into some gender-cultural study...

Senorita, apparently is just a nice song, and you have to appreciate the dancing. 

Hindi

In my four months here, I've learned frightfully little hindi, but enough to get around, and enough to make myself feel like I know enough hindi. This satisfaction mostly comes at moments like I had today, in which I realized I was able to give the address (283) in hindi (do, aat, teen). It was, I suppose, a coincidence that I knew these numbers, as I only remember off the top of my head 1, 2, 3, 4, then skip to 8, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 (though I get confused between the two: chaa-les and pa-chaas) and finally 60.

My hindi is limited to only a few sorts of interactions. Well, really only three.

1. Getting an auto or rickshaw.
Bhaiyaa, __(insert place here)__ chello gay?
Kit na lo gay? (how much will you take?)

Hang-je, Na-heen (yes, no)

(I get much more realistic prices when I speak hindi, though that doesn't always help in me understanding what they mean by their head nods that look like 'no' but mean 'yes')

2. Asking if a store has something and how much it is.
Bhaiyaa, __(insert thing here)__ hay?
Kit na ha hay?

3. Ordering food.
This one I actually only know one helpful phrase, if I remember correctly
Dedo = give me
Remember the grammar!
__(food)__ Dedo.

That seems kinda rude to me, but I haven't learned how to say please because no one seems to say please. I do know how to say thank you though! Shookria!

Goa (part 1)

I just got back from a trip to Goa with the Western Music Society, where we had a competition.

Goa is a small state, about the size of Rhode Island, meaning that when you are going to Goa, nobody asks where in Goa, its just Goa. Going to Goa is the rough equivalent of going to Florida for spring break.  There are beaches, palm trees, and ridonkulous amounts of seafood.

In our singing competition we got third, and that was over in the first two days of our trip, and then we went to go relax and have fun.

This is when I point out that Goa is beautiful, cool, and fun...but never again will I willingly go anywhere, no matter how beautiful, with a group of seventeen girls. Never. Again.
Whilst some have the happy nature to be able to enjoy constant company and stimulation, I do not.
This group felt the overwhelming need to do everything together, every meal, everything. I feel bad for everyone we had to deal with. I'll just stop here.

What I think my favorite part of the trip was though, was the dining experiences. All along the beach there are "shacks," outdoor restaurants, who aside from having delicious seafood, have most of their seating on the beach looking out onto the night ocean, which is beautiful and warm.

In conclusion, I would recommend this place to anyone, just not anyone coming with a group of seventeen girls. It was worth it to see Goa though.