Thus marks my last full day in India. :(:( We are pretty much here all of Saturday though, and will head to the airport Saturday night. I will try to update this one more time before I leave! Today we went to our very last school, a school which spoke little english. The children were very sweet, but there wasn't much we could do. I really need to learn Tamil! We headed to Vidya's sister Brinda's house to get fancy Indian henna. I didn't eat anything all through today. I need American food. We came back to Niketana and put on our new silk sari's to get ready for dinner! That was a chore. I need to practice tying mine. We got in the bus, and as we were driving to our destination, we went past an Indian wedding. We have been trying all month to find a wedding and everyone was so excited because there were so many lights and the groom was sitting outside on a horse. Vidya ended up turning the van around and we got dropped off in front (embarassing). There was a red carpet laid out, and everyone ushered us in. It was as loud as a concert, and there were lots of young guys crazily dancing to drumbeats. Some of the girls taught us some Indian dance moves, and then we finally circulated back towards the ceremony place. The bride and groom hadn't made their way through yet - I actually didn't get to see the bride while we were there. But there were TONS of people! And it was so colorful and lively! It was totally different than any wedding I have ever been to. The brides dad came and welcomed us, and many people told us they were thankful to be in our presence. We tried to sneak out again but they wouldn't let us go without eating. We were astounded that we were actually welcomed into a wedding off the street, but Indian weddings are very large and they like to have many people attending. Vidya said it was probably because we were foreigners, so they know we are just wanting a cultural experience, and wouldn't do anything to hurt the wedding. It helped that we were perfectly dressed! It was really exciting. That's all for now! I will try and blog about my very last day tomorrow. I'm very sad :( I love India and will hopefully come back!
Sunrise on the Indian Ocean!
Yesterday morning we got up around five so we could head to the beach to see the sunrise. It was something we all had wanted to do, so we finally worked it out with Vidya and the driver. The beach was empty, with the exception of trash from the day before, and early morning walkers. On our way to the ocean, people were everywhere walking, and Sara referenced it to Night of the Living Dead. Which fits it perfectly! Every turn we made we ran into more people walking. This is one characteristic of India I don't think I have mentioned - they are big early morning walkers, and the sidewalks are usually crowded! The sky was a little smoggy, so when the sun rose we didn't get the rich colors we had hoped, but when the sun finally reached the top of the clouds it was really beautiful! There were several people doing yoga next to the water, so we did our own poses and took pictures. We spent some time wading, but there were these weird looking orange crabs scuttling around and that started freaking us out.
After we left, we went back to our hotel and got ready for a school visit. This school was a special education program which is located in a hospital. Special Ed is in its infancy in India, so we were prepped to see the worst, and ironically this is the best special ed school in the area. I would hate to see the worst ones, I don't even want to think about it. I won't say much until I can go over the few pictures that I took, but it was very hard to see. One girl was crawling around on her knees because she didn't have a wheelchair, and most of the children seemed to be spacing out because they didn't have immediate attention with an adult. The floor was dirty, and the bedding was reminiscent of a 1940's orphanage, and very stained. There was an adult area too that illustrates what I envisioned reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The whole experience made most of us feel sick, and my appetite hasn't been the same since. When you miss a meal it kills you!
We stopped by a shop, and then came back to Niketana to rest. In the evening, we walked to the Cream Centre Restaurant, and had a nice dinner. I got some chickpea curry, with a giant inflated ball of bread. You'll see what I mean. Everyone else got sundaes, but I am running low on rupees so I opted out. Little did I know Miles was paying! Ah well, something to look forward to when I get home!
After we left, we went back to our hotel and got ready for a school visit. This school was a special education program which is located in a hospital. Special Ed is in its infancy in India, so we were prepped to see the worst, and ironically this is the best special ed school in the area. I would hate to see the worst ones, I don't even want to think about it. I won't say much until I can go over the few pictures that I took, but it was very hard to see. One girl was crawling around on her knees because she didn't have a wheelchair, and most of the children seemed to be spacing out because they didn't have immediate attention with an adult. The floor was dirty, and the bedding was reminiscent of a 1940's orphanage, and very stained. There was an adult area too that illustrates what I envisioned reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The whole experience made most of us feel sick, and my appetite hasn't been the same since. When you miss a meal it kills you!
We stopped by a shop, and then came back to Niketana to rest. In the evening, we walked to the Cream Centre Restaurant, and had a nice dinner. I got some chickpea curry, with a giant inflated ball of bread. You'll see what I mean. Everyone else got sundaes, but I am running low on rupees so I opted out. Little did I know Miles was paying! Ah well, something to look forward to when I get home!
Are we done shopping yet?
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
I will post today's quickly, because I am tired and we have to wake up at 5:30 to be at the beach by 6:30 for the sunrise! Today we went to an all girls school. The building was very dilapidated on the outside, but the girls were still eager to learn and immersed in their studies. It makes me sad that the schools in America are all so nice and have such great resources, but our education is falling behind. Me and Sara went to a classroom to visit with first graders, and they clustered around us in two groups, and then proceeded to have what can only be described as a sing-off. Then the birthday girl gave me a candy that she was passing out, so the rest of the girls wanted to share their snacks with me as well. And you can't take one girls snack and not the others - because they were so excited to give them to me. So I ended up leaving with a handful of various crackers, cookies, and homemade sweets. I hope I don't get sick! The high school girls were not as exciting to work with - they were reluctant to speak with us. After we left we went to an Indian bakery and got slices of caramel cashew cake with fresh oranges and guavas. The oranges here are amazing! And we couldn't eat the guava yet, so the bus smelled like guava for the rest of the day. We are slowly but surely getting souvenir shopping done. It's hard because India doesn't really have the usual touristy things like key-chains and magnets. At least not where we have been. And most things are handmade, which is awesome, but a lot of times things are falling apart. We have an absolute jam-packed schedule tomorrow, so I will have more excitement to post. We ended with an Italian dinner, but my vegetarian lasagna was kind of cold by the time we got back to our room :( I think I will have to take a few Pepto's and go to bed! We eat them so much here we call them pink candies now.
The US Consulate in Chennai
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Busy Busy day today. I'm going to make this fairly quick because I am tired! I will tell you a more detailed version later. 6:30 AM breakfast, which is rough after having a relaxing weekend. Our fifth school visit was set for today at 7:30, so we had to be out early. This school was another school with a high tuition, so we expected another westernized school that lacks the values of the Indian Educational System. We were pleasantly surprised however, that the students were practicing traditional religious values, and had good attitudes and treated their teachers with respect. I got to watch morning Sanskrit chants, a very heated sixth grade debate regarding family planning and population growth in India, and students in a model-making class who were demonstrating physics properties by making working models. That same model class also has a life section where students are taught how to unclog leaks, replace washers, lay patio bricks, fill holes, fix dents, etc. I was really impressed with that! Sign me up! We stayed for another fried lunch, It was a little taste of Indian fast food. The food really isn't disgusting, I am just yearning for a little more variety! I'll post a picture of it on facebook.
After leaving the school, we visited the US Consulate, which we were invited to. One full body pat down later, we were finally inside and toured around by a girl just a few years older than us, and not so great at public speaking. Then we met with a man in charge of something important with the Consulate. He gave us a big talk, and the main Consulate General who had invited us briefly poked his head out. Our group ripped our speaker apart afterward, but I didn't feel too fired up, mostly because it was so boring. And it was obvious the American people working there don't do much interacting with the locals. So much for foreign policy. When we left, we were without our cellphone so we had a faith walk to find our bus. We finally saw Albert (our driver) who told us to stop where we were, because the portion of the sidewalk coming up was really smelly. Which it was; waste + dumpster. So he came to pick us up from where we were standing. We had some time to kill, and were going to see a Mosque (because here there is religious toleration and you can just walk in), but there was someone throwing up by where we stopped the bus, and someone peeing just a few feet away. Don't think India is gross though! I just thought it was funny! So we went to a shop and then went to this hole-in-the-wall tailor shop to get our Sari blouses made. The shop was about the size of my bedroom, but much skinnier. It was so cramped, I took a picture of it. So we should be wearing our Sari's on Thursday!
Tonight, Vidya's sister came over to talk to us about arranged marriages. In America we think they are terrible, but once you see the other side of the story, you can see the benefits although there are still flaws. Brinda is a marriage counselor, so she illustrated the problems that often occur. Usually the problems have less to do with the partner, and more to do with families not getting along. There are too many family issues to blog about. India's divorce rate is only 1.1%, so comparing that with the US's 50%, I'll take it. There are many unhappy marriages, but also happy ones, just like everywhere else. Marriage here is seen as the union of two families, so their idea is of course the rest of the family and the parents get a say in the choosing of a partner. Usually the girl and boy are given the right to accept, and are not often forced into it, especially today. Anyways, it was very interesting! And this trip has made me judge things like that a lot less. Okay bedtime for me now, I'm onto Wednesday! You all still have to live through Tuesday.
After leaving the school, we visited the US Consulate, which we were invited to. One full body pat down later, we were finally inside and toured around by a girl just a few years older than us, and not so great at public speaking. Then we met with a man in charge of something important with the Consulate. He gave us a big talk, and the main Consulate General who had invited us briefly poked his head out. Our group ripped our speaker apart afterward, but I didn't feel too fired up, mostly because it was so boring. And it was obvious the American people working there don't do much interacting with the locals. So much for foreign policy. When we left, we were without our cellphone so we had a faith walk to find our bus. We finally saw Albert (our driver) who told us to stop where we were, because the portion of the sidewalk coming up was really smelly. Which it was; waste + dumpster. So he came to pick us up from where we were standing. We had some time to kill, and were going to see a Mosque (because here there is religious toleration and you can just walk in), but there was someone throwing up by where we stopped the bus, and someone peeing just a few feet away. Don't think India is gross though! I just thought it was funny! So we went to a shop and then went to this hole-in-the-wall tailor shop to get our Sari blouses made. The shop was about the size of my bedroom, but much skinnier. It was so cramped, I took a picture of it. So we should be wearing our Sari's on Thursday!
Tonight, Vidya's sister came over to talk to us about arranged marriages. In America we think they are terrible, but once you see the other side of the story, you can see the benefits although there are still flaws. Brinda is a marriage counselor, so she illustrated the problems that often occur. Usually the problems have less to do with the partner, and more to do with families not getting along. There are too many family issues to blog about. India's divorce rate is only 1.1%, so comparing that with the US's 50%, I'll take it. There are many unhappy marriages, but also happy ones, just like everywhere else. Marriage here is seen as the union of two families, so their idea is of course the rest of the family and the parents get a say in the choosing of a partner. Usually the girl and boy are given the right to accept, and are not often forced into it, especially today. Anyways, it was very interesting! And this trip has made me judge things like that a lot less. Okay bedtime for me now, I'm onto Wednesday! You all still have to live through Tuesday.
Dinner at Brinda's!
Yesterday we visited the Madras Government Museum in Chennai. India museums are so different in comparison with US Museums, it's crazy! There were a lot of ancient artifacts, like statues of different Hindu God's and Goddesses, just sitting out on display, protected just by railing, and completely exposed to open air and sunlight from the screened windows. We know some of them were casts, but I don't think all of them were. Either way it was different. The Natural History/Botany area was another story. This part of the museum portrayed many different animals from India and around the world. Most of the animals were either fake, or taxidermy-d. The taxidermy animals looked terrible, old and falling apart. And there were a ton of snakes, pigs, kittens, etc. in jars. All white and wrinkly; not my cup of tea. The Brass area had an increase in security, and this building was entirely Krishna, Shiva, Ganesha, and Buddha Statues. Give or take a few Gods like wives and children. It was interesting to look at the intricate detail of each statue both big and small. Unfortunately, we entered this building right as two big groups of french tourists entered. It appeared to be a fifty and older tour ;) It's funny because every time we see white people, we keep assuming they are American, when usually in this part of the world they are European. I read somewhere that Europeans frequent Southeast Asia more than Americans because Americans don't choose to take trips to third world countries, because they don't want to see the poverty. The Contemporary Art portion of the museum was seriously lacking in the facilities area, but it still showcases a lot of beautiful Indian painters. I am pretty sure however, that by contemporary, they were referring to any time in the last 50 years; most of the work was very dated.
When we left the museum we were pretty hungry, so we went to this little whole in the wall bakery place to eat. We each got Samosa's (potatoes,peas,spicy), and some fried dosa balls. Vidya also ordered us some fried onions, which is an Indian snack that resembles thick chunks of the crunchy coating that comes off fried chicken. Then we got some Indian sweets, which are really different, and mostly fried as well.That sounds like a really fattening lunch, but it really wasn't that much food. But this fried food is killing me. I'm glad my digestive system is up to par.
Yesterday Evening we went to Vidya's sister Brinda's house for dinner. Brinda lives with their mother, and their other sister and brother came to eat with us as well. So did Vidya's brother-in-law, and niece and nephew. They gave us each a necklace, and we talked about the city and culture, and they were comparing our Bollywood moves that we learned from our movie. We ate a delicious dinner too! Then we walked back to Niketana around ten- VERY scary. Well actually not that bad, but crossing the road was scary.
When we left the museum we were pretty hungry, so we went to this little whole in the wall bakery place to eat. We each got Samosa's (potatoes,peas,spicy), and some fried dosa balls. Vidya also ordered us some fried onions, which is an Indian snack that resembles thick chunks of the crunchy coating that comes off fried chicken. Then we got some Indian sweets, which are really different, and mostly fried as well.That sounds like a really fattening lunch, but it really wasn't that much food. But this fried food is killing me. I'm glad my digestive system is up to par.
Yesterday Evening we went to Vidya's sister Brinda's house for dinner. Brinda lives with their mother, and their other sister and brother came to eat with us as well. So did Vidya's brother-in-law, and niece and nephew. They gave us each a necklace, and we talked about the city and culture, and they were comparing our Bollywood moves that we learned from our movie. We ate a delicious dinner too! Then we walked back to Niketana around ten- VERY scary. Well actually not that bad, but crossing the road was scary.
Bay of Bengal
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, was another designating shopping day. The weekend of the Pongal festival restricts a lot of activities we can do, so we played tourists. We started by visiting a spice shop, because tons of members of our group had requests from relatives to bring home Indian spices. People back home are getting really picky about souvenirs, and its hard for us to buy something for friends and family from India, because it really won't mean much to someone who hasn't been here, where it means so much to us. A lot of us have expressed our difficulty in buying something so special when it won't be as appreciated because no one will really know where it came from. I know we are all having trouble figuring out what to get everyone, so don't be offended! One girl has a list of things she has to get everyone with specific colors and everything! And saffron was on her list, so we went looking for authentic Indian spices. I decided to opt out on that one, because I don't want to deal with customs. Saffron is sold up with the cigarettes, in these teeny tiny boxes because it is the gold of spices. I'm sure native Indians don't even cook with it that much because its like 200 rupees for a teaspoon. Ridiculous. Once we finally got back onto the bus, we headed to the Ft. George Museum, which has artifacts from when the British occupied India with the East India Company. Indian museums are a lot less strict than the US, each item had a lot less description, the lighting was terrible, and the building was not that nice. It puts development into perspective though, we have had a few hundred years to develop, where India has not been on its own for very long, and already they have advanced technology, and generations of smart children rising up. They just need some more time to catch up, and I don't think it will take very long. After we left the museum we went to a catholic church, and then an Armenian church. The Armenian church was very old, and I will post some pictures on facebook.
After eating lunch, we went to the beach. The beach is huge, and there are vendors everywhere. We went at a time where the beach was not as crowded, but even so there was a loud speaker blaring the whole time in Tamil. Translated, it gave continuous warnings about valuables, chain snatchers, etc. It also reminded everyone that you are NOT permitted to wear a bathing suit, or revealing clothing. All the people we saw were wearing native dress, which isn't really that hot in the sun. You aren't allowed to swim in the Bay of Bengal anyways, because the undertow is so strong. We all went to the waters edge and waded around and took pictures. Absolutely everyone was staring at us, but we are totally used to it. The beach we were on is right next to the slums, and it was completely flooded by the Tsunami. When the water receded before the tsunami came a lot of the children from the slums ran out onto the tide flats to collect pebbles, and a lot of children died when the water came in with little warning.
The water was very warm, and now my feet have stepped in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans! We were bombarded with begging children as we were leaving, and the kids are harder to ignore because they tug at you. Vidya bought us all jasmine flowers for our hair, and then we left. You have to cross over a huge amount of sand to reach pavement again. There is a famous statue of Ghandi by the entrance of the beach that we went over to see. Unfortunately, we had to leave quickly because we were causing too big of a scene and people kept trying to take our picture. It must have been the type of demographic that visited the beach, they were much less accustomed to Westerners. We ended up eating a room service dinner last night, and ordered hot chocolate because we are absolutely craaaaving cake, ice cream, and chocolate! We can't eat cold dairy here, and we can't really find cake! The hot chocolate tasted soo good. I hope I can get my hands on some dessert soon.
After eating lunch, we went to the beach. The beach is huge, and there are vendors everywhere. We went at a time where the beach was not as crowded, but even so there was a loud speaker blaring the whole time in Tamil. Translated, it gave continuous warnings about valuables, chain snatchers, etc. It also reminded everyone that you are NOT permitted to wear a bathing suit, or revealing clothing. All the people we saw were wearing native dress, which isn't really that hot in the sun. You aren't allowed to swim in the Bay of Bengal anyways, because the undertow is so strong. We all went to the waters edge and waded around and took pictures. Absolutely everyone was staring at us, but we are totally used to it. The beach we were on is right next to the slums, and it was completely flooded by the Tsunami. When the water receded before the tsunami came a lot of the children from the slums ran out onto the tide flats to collect pebbles, and a lot of children died when the water came in with little warning.
The water was very warm, and now my feet have stepped in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans! We were bombarded with begging children as we were leaving, and the kids are harder to ignore because they tug at you. Vidya bought us all jasmine flowers for our hair, and then we left. You have to cross over a huge amount of sand to reach pavement again. There is a famous statue of Ghandi by the entrance of the beach that we went over to see. Unfortunately, we had to leave quickly because we were causing too big of a scene and people kept trying to take our picture. It must have been the type of demographic that visited the beach, they were much less accustomed to Westerners. We ended up eating a room service dinner last night, and ordered hot chocolate because we are absolutely craaaaving cake, ice cream, and chocolate! We can't eat cold dairy here, and we can't really find cake! The hot chocolate tasted soo good. I hope I can get my hands on some dessert soon.
Sari Shopping.
Okay I am GOING to catch this up today, it wont be hard since the past few days have been relaxing shopping days. On Saturday, we went to several little stores in the mall to finish our souvenir shopping. That was the haggling mall, and you have no idea how stressful it is haggling. We hadn't done it in awhile, and it just really wears you out! Half the time the workers will tell you different prices, or they won't tell you anything until they see your finished order. If you remember the beginning of aladdin; with the street vendor, you will have a good idea of what we are dealing with. I remember because I just watched it last night :) They say, "Oh, you like this? Very beautiful, very beautiful. You want to buy this? No? I have others maam let me show you more. You see this? Beautiful piece, beautiful color. You want something different? I show you one. No this is a very good price. No maam just wait I give you a good price." It's a moment of relief when you exit a store. So Saturday was the main celebration day of the Pongal festival. Most of the stores we wanted to go into were closed, so we had to work around it. We did a little shopping here and there, and then we moved onto our big event for the day, which was sari shopping.
We all wanted Sari's for the same reason you would want a kimono if you were staying and loving Japan. Sari's are so beautiful, and all the women wear them. Vidya leads us to a very nice sari shop (which sadly I do not have a picture of, I will live but you wont get to see it), and we were almost instantly mind boggled. There were folded Sari's everywhere. We told Vidya our price range, and she led us to which areas would have that. Four of us wanted authentic silk ones, and the other four were fine with a cotton/silk mix. We sat down on little stools and told the men what colors we were looking for, and he would pull them out. Or you could tell him to pull out a certain one. We went to look at the cotton ones upstairs, but the colors were so much less rich, and a lot darker, and the floor was empty, whereas the silk floor was crowded. Most Sari's have some sort of border, some have detailing, and most of the silk ones have different tints when they are in different lighting. There was a mirror placed under a skylight so you can try on the Sari with natural lighting. It's had shopping with other girls because the minute you put something down someone snatches it. I ended up going with my first inclination, albeit an expensive one. Well it really isn't expensive considering women are buying Sari's for 10,000 rupees, but it went a little over my budget. It is such a bright, pretty color though. And a Sari is six yards of material, plus a blouse, so I am getting a lot of material for my money! We are taking our blouses to the tailor in the next few days, because the blouse material comes attached to the Sari and you have to have someone make it for you. But we are very excited to wear ours! I won't tell you my color because it is kind of hard to explain. But I will post a picture of a Sari for you.
We all wanted Sari's for the same reason you would want a kimono if you were staying and loving Japan. Sari's are so beautiful, and all the women wear them. Vidya leads us to a very nice sari shop (which sadly I do not have a picture of, I will live but you wont get to see it), and we were almost instantly mind boggled. There were folded Sari's everywhere. We told Vidya our price range, and she led us to which areas would have that. Four of us wanted authentic silk ones, and the other four were fine with a cotton/silk mix. We sat down on little stools and told the men what colors we were looking for, and he would pull them out. Or you could tell him to pull out a certain one. We went to look at the cotton ones upstairs, but the colors were so much less rich, and a lot darker, and the floor was empty, whereas the silk floor was crowded. Most Sari's have some sort of border, some have detailing, and most of the silk ones have different tints when they are in different lighting. There was a mirror placed under a skylight so you can try on the Sari with natural lighting. It's had shopping with other girls because the minute you put something down someone snatches it. I ended up going with my first inclination, albeit an expensive one. Well it really isn't expensive considering women are buying Sari's for 10,000 rupees, but it went a little over my budget. It is such a bright, pretty color though. And a Sari is six yards of material, plus a blouse, so I am getting a lot of material for my money! We are taking our blouses to the tailor in the next few days, because the blouse material comes attached to the Sari and you have to have someone make it for you. But we are very excited to wear ours! I won't tell you my color because it is kind of hard to explain. But I will post a picture of a Sari for you.
Shore Temples
Friday, January 14, 2011
Happy Pongal to one and all! Today marks the first day in the four day Indian Pongal celebration; a harvest festival centered around rice. We took a drive towards Pondicherry - I think that's East, to see a cultural preservation center that was having Pongal festivities. We got to walk through historical houses that were styled to represent the living style of different castes throughout Indian history. We walked through Brahman and Christian homes, and got to see old murals, artwork, kitchen tools, and architecture. There was a little outdoor market to walk through, and we saw a traditional - very colorful, dance. We also watched a woman break into coconuts and we got to drink the coconut water. I was not a fan, but I never really have been. It was a really neat place to explore. Before that, we made a pit stop at an alligator farm and walked through GIANT pits full of alligators. I think the biggest pit had 165 alligators. You can pay a few rupees to have them feed the alligators too. The gatekeeper would toss huge chunks of meat into the pits and they would jump at it. They started creeping towards the gate right when he brought out the bucket.
When we were done at the Pongal Celebration, we drove to several archaeological sites to view ancient temples. The first temple was right on the shore. We were able to look down the beach and breathe in that nice salty Bay of Bengal air. It was really pretty, and really weird to realize the ground we were standing on was submerged by tsunami waters a few years ago. The first temple we looked at actually, was uncovered a little bit more by the tsunami, and they were able to find another part of it that hadn't been excavated before. There were men selling conch shells there too - they jump at any opportunity to sell something. The temple was really pretty being right on the shore, and I think we got some good pictures. We drove down the road further, and saw another site - I have all the names written down, but I can't remember. It was five clustered structures. There were a lot of tourists, and I noticed when someone was taking a picture of me, that other people were taking the same picture. I wonder how many pictures people from around the world have pictures of us now. We also made another big hill climb - hoping to see monkeys - but only saw some goats. There was a flat rock at the top though that had an amazing tropical view, and another temple high at the top. Overall we had a really fun day - and got lots of sunshine! Today was pretty hot - about 85 and very humid. We are not looking forward to our weather shock when we get to Seattle. It feels like summer! :(
When we were done at the Pongal Celebration, we drove to several archaeological sites to view ancient temples. The first temple was right on the shore. We were able to look down the beach and breathe in that nice salty Bay of Bengal air. It was really pretty, and really weird to realize the ground we were standing on was submerged by tsunami waters a few years ago. The first temple we looked at actually, was uncovered a little bit more by the tsunami, and they were able to find another part of it that hadn't been excavated before. There were men selling conch shells there too - they jump at any opportunity to sell something. The temple was really pretty being right on the shore, and I think we got some good pictures. We drove down the road further, and saw another site - I have all the names written down, but I can't remember. It was five clustered structures. There were a lot of tourists, and I noticed when someone was taking a picture of me, that other people were taking the same picture. I wonder how many pictures people from around the world have pictures of us now. We also made another big hill climb - hoping to see monkeys - but only saw some goats. There was a flat rock at the top though that had an amazing tropical view, and another temple high at the top. Overall we had a really fun day - and got lots of sunshine! Today was pretty hot - about 85 and very humid. We are not looking forward to our weather shock when we get to Seattle. It feels like summer! :(
St. Thomas Mount + Snake Park + Shopping
Yesterday morning we set off to St. Thomas Mount to 'hike' to the church at the top. Basically, it is a mile walk up stone steps to the top. There are 185 steps, to represent the 185 steps Jesus took towards crucifixion; different signs along the path mark the points in Jesus' walk where he fell for the first time, where his face was wiped, and so on. We began our walk right as 2-300 uniformed school children began the hike because they were going to listen to a motivational speaker at the top. It is a beautiful walk, but I didn't spiritually get much out of it, because the speaker was blaring on the loudspeaker. The view of Chennai was awesome, even through the smog, and there were a lot of statues to take pictures with. There was also a church that held a lot of supposedly historical artifacts, like the bleeding stone of St. Thomas. We got the usual request to take a picture with us, and although we think taking group pictures with strangers is kind of fun, Vidya usually sends them away.
After we got back to the van, we went to the snake park. Much like a zoo, but way smaller. There were a lot of cool snakes and specimens in jars, and there were other reptiles too. We spotted a couple monkeys around the entrance, but they got too high in the trees before we got our cameras ready. Next door to the snake park is a wildlife park, and it makes Woodland Park Zoo look absolutely amazing. Zoo standards in other countries are very low. The monkey cage was very sad. We ran into another group of school children who told us that meeting us had been the highlight of their field trip. We are very popular, this has actually made me realize that I would hate to be famous. Because I don't think any of you who are reading this have any idea what it is liked to be stared at by dozens of people wherever you go, beggars rush over to you first, people ask for photographs, and alot of times you will look over and someone will be taking a picture of you. That sounds funny, but it is really tiresome. Sara said today, "It's stressful getting stared at!"
We left the snake park and went back to Niketana and had a little rest, in which we got some ice cream. We have been absolutely craaaaving ice cream. We see all these locals eating soft serve cones, and it feels like summer here. But we have been warned to stay away from cold dairy products, so we bought haagen daaz. But after we ate it, it said it had been packaged in Mumbai. Oh well, it was delicious and neither of us got sick. (Knock on wood). Then we went back to the first few shops we went to on our first day and went nuts. We all have a feel of what is offered elsewhere, and it is easier for us to convert rupees to dollars in our heads. That's all I will write about today since I am behind. More tomorrow!
After we got back to the van, we went to the snake park. Much like a zoo, but way smaller. There were a lot of cool snakes and specimens in jars, and there were other reptiles too. We spotted a couple monkeys around the entrance, but they got too high in the trees before we got our cameras ready. Next door to the snake park is a wildlife park, and it makes Woodland Park Zoo look absolutely amazing. Zoo standards in other countries are very low. The monkey cage was very sad. We ran into another group of school children who told us that meeting us had been the highlight of their field trip. We are very popular, this has actually made me realize that I would hate to be famous. Because I don't think any of you who are reading this have any idea what it is liked to be stared at by dozens of people wherever you go, beggars rush over to you first, people ask for photographs, and alot of times you will look over and someone will be taking a picture of you. That sounds funny, but it is really tiresome. Sara said today, "It's stressful getting stared at!"
We left the snake park and went back to Niketana and had a little rest, in which we got some ice cream. We have been absolutely craaaaving ice cream. We see all these locals eating soft serve cones, and it feels like summer here. But we have been warned to stay away from cold dairy products, so we bought haagen daaz. But after we ate it, it said it had been packaged in Mumbai. Oh well, it was delicious and neither of us got sick. (Knock on wood). Then we went back to the first few shops we went to on our first day and went nuts. We all have a feel of what is offered elsewhere, and it is easier for us to convert rupees to dollars in our heads. That's all I will write about today since I am behind. More tomorrow!
Bollywood!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Today was another touristy relaxing day. We ate a little toast breakfast, and then set out for the Montessori school again, just to watch their Pongol Festival. Their festival was not great, their Kolum drawings were mostly done by the teachers and not painted correctly. Normally I wouldn't know the difference, but our perfect angels at TVS Academy taught us to do it the right way. So we watched their assembly, more than they watched it, and then we decided we would leave. We never felt welcomed at this school, and the children would not even wave or speak to us. We found out today that alot of these kids have celebrity/rich parents. So they are pretty bratty and don't care about education because they don't need it, they have money.
After that we had a little rest period and ate lunch; Indian egg-fried rice with tempura cauliflower in some sort of hot sauce, and then went to the mall to go to a really cool bangle shop. We picked out a bunch of sparkly bangles, and then we went to see our Bollywood movie. I was reluctant to this because I thought it would be boring, but it was so much fun! Granted, there were no subtitles; but Indian people speak with a lot of facial expression (thats partially why they get confused when we talk alot), so we followed the story line. I really want to own the movie! If you love a movie in another language that's really saying something. The actors were gorgeous. Maybe that's why I liked it. Anyways, the audience would hoot and holler when there was kissing, some people answered phones; but it didnt matter because they play movies really LOUD. And theres an intermission! Afterwards we went to a few more shops and called it a night. Now we are listening to Bollywood music! And I hope to get this movie in my easter basket. I'm a big Bollywood fan now! :)
After that we had a little rest period and ate lunch; Indian egg-fried rice with tempura cauliflower in some sort of hot sauce, and then went to the mall to go to a really cool bangle shop. We picked out a bunch of sparkly bangles, and then we went to see our Bollywood movie. I was reluctant to this because I thought it would be boring, but it was so much fun! Granted, there were no subtitles; but Indian people speak with a lot of facial expression (thats partially why they get confused when we talk alot), so we followed the story line. I really want to own the movie! If you love a movie in another language that's really saying something. The actors were gorgeous. Maybe that's why I liked it. Anyways, the audience would hoot and holler when there was kissing, some people answered phones; but it didnt matter because they play movies really LOUD. And theres an intermission! Afterwards we went to a few more shops and called it a night. Now we are listening to Bollywood music! And I hope to get this movie in my easter basket. I'm a big Bollywood fan now! :)
Montessori?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Today was a sick day. We woke up late, and feeling crappy. We told Vidya we did not feel like interacting with kids because we didn't feel cheery, so she said we could leave early. Then we sickly ordered toast and omelets, but they heard the order wrong, so they brought us idly instead, and idly and sambar does not feel good when you have a cold. So anyways, we get to the school and we are split up to different classes and we cannot take pictures and we have to stay in one class the whole time so as not to 'disrupt' the students from their learning. The classes were totally free (Montessori), the kids ran around everywhere, and I can see how it would work for lower level students, but I don't think its that effective higher. A boy in my class threw up and then a girl walked through it. I guess that was the highlight of my day. The kids in the higher grades had no idea what they wanted to do - a rarity in the Indian school system; and they also disrespected the teacher. The kids are all really rich-- their fathers came to pick them up, their moms were decked out in western clothes, and there were even some white students. Needless to say, we do not want to go back. But we have to go back tomorrow to see their Pongol festival celebration. And we are all very sick so we got the rest of the day off. I will have a more exciting day tomorrow! Goodnight.
Lost in Bangalore - Home from Hosur
Monday, January 10, 2011
Okay I am combining two blog posts, but I will try to keep it short. I am back at Niketana now, so my blog schedule and picture uploading should get up to date. Yesterday was our touristy shopping day. We love visiting schools, but its nice to have a day that doesn't have a time schedule. We ended up driving into Bangalore to visit with Vidya's cousins family in their condo, and then we went into the city. First we wandered down a busy road to take pictures of a legislative building - it was huge and beautiful, but we couldn't get too close. We stopped and got some fresh guava from a street vendor for lunch, and took a few pics with some curious strangers. Thus begins the lost portion of our journey.
We walked through a few beautiful parks, got sugar cane juice from another vendor (delicious!), and tried not to get hit by cars. We ended up getting some rickshaws to take us to the commercial district of Bangalore. Our rickshaws were so close that Sara and I held hands from separate rickshaws. It's a real open air experience - we were at a stop light and a beggar came up on crutches and stood next to our vehicle for a few minutes staring at us. That's something that's hard to get used to for me, blatantly ignoring beggars. These are not like the homeless people that you are used to, and with our rickshaw being so open, we did not feel very comfortable. Our drivers ended up being affiliated with several clothing stores, and would not take us to the right location (its something you have to watch out for here in India), and we finally gave up. The whole trip ended up costing about a dollar. We walked into commercial street from our drop off point, and its completely hard to describe. I have no idea how to convey the complete chaos and volume of people that were crammed into one street. You have to keep your bags close and watch out for cars and bikes that are driving around you. I'll give you a pic to look at, but none of my pictures capture the magnitude of the street. It was a true Indian experience. And nothing helps clear your clogged sinuses than the suffocating smell of gasoline! We loved getting able to walk around on such a culturally different street- but were very happy to see our driver. We ended up just going back to our rooms and wrote in our journals and got room service.
Today we visited the TVS Academy again and were just as impressed as before. We got to sit in on more classrooms and spend more time talking to students. These children are such sweethearts. Everywhere we walk they invite us into their classrooms and wave. I visited a first year class who was learning to identify spices by using their senses, I talked with lots of students about their pictures they were drawing, we learned how to create 'kolum' with chalk, and we got to watch their Pongol festival celebration which starts this week. -- More on that later! When we left everyone asked if we were coming back tomorrow :( Then we made our trek back to Chennai! Which is where I am now. And very sick. We are just in love with all of our pictures, which I will be posting more of soon! Nighty night. (for me).
We walked through a few beautiful parks, got sugar cane juice from another vendor (delicious!), and tried not to get hit by cars. We ended up getting some rickshaws to take us to the commercial district of Bangalore. Our rickshaws were so close that Sara and I held hands from separate rickshaws. It's a real open air experience - we were at a stop light and a beggar came up on crutches and stood next to our vehicle for a few minutes staring at us. That's something that's hard to get used to for me, blatantly ignoring beggars. These are not like the homeless people that you are used to, and with our rickshaw being so open, we did not feel very comfortable. Our drivers ended up being affiliated with several clothing stores, and would not take us to the right location (its something you have to watch out for here in India), and we finally gave up. The whole trip ended up costing about a dollar. We walked into commercial street from our drop off point, and its completely hard to describe. I have no idea how to convey the complete chaos and volume of people that were crammed into one street. You have to keep your bags close and watch out for cars and bikes that are driving around you. I'll give you a pic to look at, but none of my pictures capture the magnitude of the street. It was a true Indian experience. And nothing helps clear your clogged sinuses than the suffocating smell of gasoline! We loved getting able to walk around on such a culturally different street- but were very happy to see our driver. We ended up just going back to our rooms and wrote in our journals and got room service.
Today we visited the TVS Academy again and were just as impressed as before. We got to sit in on more classrooms and spend more time talking to students. These children are such sweethearts. Everywhere we walk they invite us into their classrooms and wave. I visited a first year class who was learning to identify spices by using their senses, I talked with lots of students about their pictures they were drawing, we learned how to create 'kolum' with chalk, and we got to watch their Pongol festival celebration which starts this week. -- More on that later! When we left everyone asked if we were coming back tomorrow :( Then we made our trek back to Chennai! Which is where I am now. And very sick. We are just in love with all of our pictures, which I will be posting more of soon! Nighty night. (for me).
I'm Sick!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Blahhh I have a full blown cold. It has spread around our group because we keep trying each others food. And I left my Sudafed in Chennai, but Sara just gave me some. We woke up this morning around our typical 5AM, and the smog was just rising over Hosur. It is really pretty here though. Today we visited the TVS Academy, which is a private funded school and it was awesome. It has really pretty grounds, a large garden where they grow saplings, vegetables, and fruit (starfruit and pomegranate! -- we actually each got a starfruit, it was really sour), and property I can only describe as a wildlife preserve. I got sunburned and eaten alive walking through it, but it was pretty. The children are in school on saturday (older children), each doing a workshop in a different 'extra-curricular' area like art, music, or theatre. Their art studio was awesome, and the music was amazing too. Its a feat in itself that students are able to sit on mats for roughly four hours singing. This school really takes pride in raising well rounded students and it was a really awesome school. Indian school children are really smart and put alot of American students to shame. This school also had a library, which is rare in Indian schools. This school also places a significance on career aptitude, and they try and get kids to realize that they can achieve their goals without being doctors or engineers (which is what 98% of kids want to do).
After this visit, we rested, and then went up the hill to a 1000 year old temple to Shiva the destroyer. I am a little fuzzy on the details, because I am not well versed in Hindu, but I would really like to learn more. It was dusk-ish, so i took a few pics, but no pics in the temple. (not allowed). We went in and at each altar we were blessed by the temple priest, and given ash and red powder to put on our foreheads, and touched the offering flame. Often we were given part of the offering like bay leaves or raisins. Towards the end of the temple, we were luck enough to witness a rare ceremony that includes transporting the idol (of Shiva or his wife?) through a golden chariot that we followed around the temple. We were also each given flower garlands to wear that had been offerings, which is a great blessing. Afterward we went to another temple to Vishnu, the protector. Haha we have many funny stories to share with that temple. Many mishaps due to us not knowing what we are doing throughout prayer. More on that later-- I'm too stuffy, and it will be boring without pictures.
We have all been talking a lot about how hard it will be to come back to the US, because no one knows what we have experienced except for us, and it will be hard to relate to a lot of things. Some things are even hard to tell, because you would really have to experience it to know what I am talking about. I'm not sure if that made sense.On a lighter note, the vanilla milkshakes we ordered are still sitting on their tray because we decided not to drink. It took forever to explain that we wanted them with no tap water, and I definitely found an ice cube in mine. Grr! It was yummy too. Guess I'll chew a pepto and call it a night! I'm too tired I think. I will post some more pics tomorrow, we have a full day of shopping and sightseeing in Bangalore!
After this visit, we rested, and then went up the hill to a 1000 year old temple to Shiva the destroyer. I am a little fuzzy on the details, because I am not well versed in Hindu, but I would really like to learn more. It was dusk-ish, so i took a few pics, but no pics in the temple. (not allowed). We went in and at each altar we were blessed by the temple priest, and given ash and red powder to put on our foreheads, and touched the offering flame. Often we were given part of the offering like bay leaves or raisins. Towards the end of the temple, we were luck enough to witness a rare ceremony that includes transporting the idol (of Shiva or his wife?) through a golden chariot that we followed around the temple. We were also each given flower garlands to wear that had been offerings, which is a great blessing. Afterward we went to another temple to Vishnu, the protector. Haha we have many funny stories to share with that temple. Many mishaps due to us not knowing what we are doing throughout prayer. More on that later-- I'm too stuffy, and it will be boring without pictures.
We have all been talking a lot about how hard it will be to come back to the US, because no one knows what we have experienced except for us, and it will be hard to relate to a lot of things. Some things are even hard to tell, because you would really have to experience it to know what I am talking about. I'm not sure if that made sense.On a lighter note, the vanilla milkshakes we ordered are still sitting on their tray because we decided not to drink. It took forever to explain that we wanted them with no tap water, and I definitely found an ice cube in mine. Grr! It was yummy too. Guess I'll chew a pepto and call it a night! I'm too tired I think. I will post some more pics tomorrow, we have a full day of shopping and sightseeing in Bangalore!
Indian Road Trip
Friday, January 7, 2011
Ahh what a long and exhausting day! Today was the day the US Consulate came to visit the Muslim school we were at yesterday. They had prepared cultural events to impress him because they were very honored he was coming. Overall, we were pretty angry with how the day turned out. We arrived at school and the wonderful teachers who have been hosting us brought out flowers for our hair and helped us pin them in (see below). Then we went into the courtyard and greeted some of the children who were taking pictures. The school had different children dress up in the traditional wear for different aspects of Muslim and Hindu religion. You will understand when you see the pictures, I'll post some tomorrow. But anyways, these children were standing greeting everyone, and then we went into the chemistry lab and a high school girl performed a traditional dance for us. (The teachers had to make sure the door stayed locked because boys are not allowed to see the girls dance past a certain age). When we went back upstairs, things started going downhill.
(like my pants?? :) I love them)
The school hired a professional photographer to shoot pictures while we were there. Immediately, he started butting his way in and "setting up shots". When the consulate came, we met him in a room and were served coffee, cake and cookies. We had just began eating however, when were ushered out to go view children's science projects. Hardly anyone had touched their cake, and food must have been thrown away. We looked out the window and discovered that in using this classroom as a meeting place, the principal had displaced the classroom of boys outside to have class. Whether they enjoyed it or not, these little things that are done for us end up feeling like guilt. It's hard to take when someone is making many adjustments for you, when you are agreeable to live like they do. We are fine sitting with the students, but they always fetch other chairs for us and we feel like we are on throwns. Vidya says that we must remember that it makes them happy to do these things for us, because we are guests and they are excited about our visit. If they were coming to America, we should greet them with the same hospitality and enthusiasm. But as everyone knows, this is often lost in the US. Anyways, so we were paraded with the photographer from one room to the next so he could snap 'candid' shots of us interacting with the children. We were led into the toddler's class (sooo cute), and just as we began talking to them he snatched us out. I ended up judging the student art show with Sara, we had to pick the first, second, and third place prizes amongst the four houses of the school. Their object was to create something using recycled materials. It was really interesting seeing what they came up with. Lots of Styrofoam, sewn objects, painted vases, there was a tree 'painting' made out of matches, with little red birdies that were bindi's, etc. Our winner was the house with the bindi birds and a Styrofoam sculpture illustrating an Islamic religious space, our second place was the house that had created a little bird out of eggshell, a guitar out of cardboard, and a bouquet of flowers out of old x-rays and paper, and third place went to a table with sewn and screen printed handkerchiefs and paper mache necklaces. The girls were so eager to tell us about their art! It was alot of fun.
After that, the show started. The children performed dances in honor of the consulate, and we sang our national anthem after they sang theirs. The consulate gave a talk about their school and called us 'angels from America', and all sorts of other things that didn't make us feel good. But the school was very sweet and called us up one by one to give us wooden carved elephants. It took us awhile to leave afterward because so many girls stopped us to talk to them in the entryway before we left. They are all so sweet! I am going to miss that school a lot, and it really opened up my eyes to the Muslim religion. Right after we left the school, we began our trek to Hosur which is where I am now. It took us about six hours to drive 180 miles. People do not drive fast here, because they drive so squished together. And our tour bus is not a racecar. We drove through beautiful scenery and jungle- and it KILLS me we couldn't stop to take pics! Our heads were out the window the entire time taking pictures, most of mine suck, but I think Sara and Megan got some. We stopped at a bathroom along the way and just as Sara went into a stall, I saw a cockroach scurry under her door. Kelsey was standing with me outside, and I pointed to it and mouthed, 'Should we say anything?' She immediately shook her head and we couldn't stop laughing. We told Sara not to look down when she came out, and apparently the stall was dark so we really freaked her out! I guess the bathroom that was inside (this was the outdoor stall) had little cockroaches too. It is what it is, you kind of just have to laugh things like that off! It makes good stories. So I'm now in bed, we watched a little Bollywood and ate tomato basil soup (I actually ate it! and liked it!) with some hot naan. Mmmm! Now I can be lulled to sleep by the never ending horn-honking.
The school hired a professional photographer to shoot pictures while we were there. Immediately, he started butting his way in and "setting up shots". When the consulate came, we met him in a room and were served coffee, cake and cookies. We had just began eating however, when were ushered out to go view children's science projects. Hardly anyone had touched their cake, and food must have been thrown away. We looked out the window and discovered that in using this classroom as a meeting place, the principal had displaced the classroom of boys outside to have class. Whether they enjoyed it or not, these little things that are done for us end up feeling like guilt. It's hard to take when someone is making many adjustments for you, when you are agreeable to live like they do. We are fine sitting with the students, but they always fetch other chairs for us and we feel like we are on throwns. Vidya says that we must remember that it makes them happy to do these things for us, because we are guests and they are excited about our visit. If they were coming to America, we should greet them with the same hospitality and enthusiasm. But as everyone knows, this is often lost in the US. Anyways, so we were paraded with the photographer from one room to the next so he could snap 'candid' shots of us interacting with the children. We were led into the toddler's class (sooo cute), and just as we began talking to them he snatched us out. I ended up judging the student art show with Sara, we had to pick the first, second, and third place prizes amongst the four houses of the school. Their object was to create something using recycled materials. It was really interesting seeing what they came up with. Lots of Styrofoam, sewn objects, painted vases, there was a tree 'painting' made out of matches, with little red birdies that were bindi's, etc. Our winner was the house with the bindi birds and a Styrofoam sculpture illustrating an Islamic religious space, our second place was the house that had created a little bird out of eggshell, a guitar out of cardboard, and a bouquet of flowers out of old x-rays and paper, and third place went to a table with sewn and screen printed handkerchiefs and paper mache necklaces. The girls were so eager to tell us about their art! It was alot of fun.
After that, the show started. The children performed dances in honor of the consulate, and we sang our national anthem after they sang theirs. The consulate gave a talk about their school and called us 'angels from America', and all sorts of other things that didn't make us feel good. But the school was very sweet and called us up one by one to give us wooden carved elephants. It took us awhile to leave afterward because so many girls stopped us to talk to them in the entryway before we left. They are all so sweet! I am going to miss that school a lot, and it really opened up my eyes to the Muslim religion. Right after we left the school, we began our trek to Hosur which is where I am now. It took us about six hours to drive 180 miles. People do not drive fast here, because they drive so squished together. And our tour bus is not a racecar. We drove through beautiful scenery and jungle- and it KILLS me we couldn't stop to take pics! Our heads were out the window the entire time taking pictures, most of mine suck, but I think Sara and Megan got some. We stopped at a bathroom along the way and just as Sara went into a stall, I saw a cockroach scurry under her door. Kelsey was standing with me outside, and I pointed to it and mouthed, 'Should we say anything?' She immediately shook her head and we couldn't stop laughing. We told Sara not to look down when she came out, and apparently the stall was dark so we really freaked her out! I guess the bathroom that was inside (this was the outdoor stall) had little cockroaches too. It is what it is, you kind of just have to laugh things like that off! It makes good stories. So I'm now in bed, we watched a little Bollywood and ate tomato basil soup (I actually ate it! and liked it!) with some hot naan. Mmmm! Now I can be lulled to sleep by the never ending horn-honking.
Jana Gana Mana
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Another night of waking up at two preceded a light breakfast of toast, plain dosa's, and papaya, then we hopped on our bus and headed to Razena Matriculation Islamic School, a coed private institution with a large number of Muslim Students, and many Hindu students as well. When we entered the school there was a big fish tank on the right, and 'Welcome' had been planted with grasses in a built in planter. This was another school that was primarily formed around a sandy courtyard, and the principal led us there for the girls morning prayer. The praying was really beautiful, and they were led in chants and the Indian anthem which is beautiful. After morning prayer, (and keep in mind there were around 550 girls, all lined up in perfect rows...it was really moving), we observed an English class of 49 perfectly disciplined 6th grade girls. Classes were very fast paced and there was no wasted down time. The teachers are also very humble, most of them do not have desks of their own, and use a child's desk or a small table to sit on. Unlike the Us where a teacher is spread out across the entire classroom. The principal says that attendance and discipline are not much of an issue. After about half an hour in the girls classroom, we went back to the courtyard for the boys prayer that made me cry. The boys were called outside with a steady, powerful drum beat, and they fell into their perfectly straight lines and began their chants. A group of middle school boys came up to perform the national anthem (Jana, Gana, Mana) again, and it was literally so beautiful I couldn't handle it. These Muslim prayers are so visually powerful its hard to understand until you witness the synchronization and discipline. After boys prayer we participated in a short basketball game (I just took pictures), and then we watched the boys play a traditional Indian game which none of us can remember the name of right now. I'll figure it out soon. After observation we joined the principal for questions and a lentil pastry snack. Then some of the middle school-aged Muslim girls came in and gave us a little henna on our arms. We were able to have really good conversations with these girls about what they liked and what they wanted to do when they grew up. The girl that gave me my henna told me she hoped to go to University in the United States, but knew her parents would never allow it. She ended up giving me a henna drawing when she was done which I love! The school prepared us lunch - rice, curried lentils, a spicy-sauce colored hard boiled egg (ew - but i ate it anyways) and some fry bread, and then we went to learn some dances from a group of older and younger students. I started feeling sick around then and had to sit out for most of the time, but it was really fun to watch these Muslim students perform modern dances, and they were really into it. We left the school after the afternoon prayer, also beautiful, and headed back to Niketana. You really end up focusing on the beauty of people's faces when their hair is covered, and you end up seeing how gorgeous they are when you are just focusing on their eyes. Then we paid two rupees (roughly five cents) to go into a pretty park with a large temple - good for taking pictures. There were alot of curious people staring at us, but what else is knew. A family in the park wanted to take a picture with us white girls, and a boy at school asked for my autograph today. It may seem funny, but its not something that is good to be encouraged because we are no different than they are. When we got back I rested a couple of hours (uploaded pictures), and then we went to the dance festival to watch a dance that was a story relating to the Hindu religion. It was really interesting. The hand gestures and facial expressions were a very important part of the story, and the dancer could make her body look like flowers, musical instruments, and two characters at once. We topped our night off by FINALLY trudging through traffic to a vegetarian restaurant where we ate Paneer Tikka Masala, naan, coconut cashew curry, and some other sauces and fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. I am not looking forward to eating processed food in the US again. I'm about to call it a night tonight and get a little sleep before tomorrow!
Siragu Montessori School
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Today we woke up bright and early so we could get on the road to Siragu Montessori School, a school made up of children who used to be street beggars. We ate a light breakfast - some smushy seasoned rice, sweet lime juice, and a fried lentil cake- then we got in our bumpy bus. It was a good thing we left early because traffic was a nightmare, and a lot of people started feeling sick. Luckily I didn't -- so far my body is staying strong! (Knock on wood...) Siragu was very far out of the city, so once we got off the main roads, we were on dirt roads; as if our bus wasn't rocky enough as it is. We got to see all the morning sights though - the street sweepers, the uniformed school children waiting at the bus stop - and plenty of cows and calves. When we got to the school all the children who live at Siragu (a large majority don't have homes) ran over to greet us. They brought us chairs and sat them around in a circle. There were so many children and the three of us with DSLR's started taking tons of pictures, which they absolutely love. A lot of them run over and say,"Photo, photo" and pose. One girl liked doing a thumbs up RIGHT in front of the lens, and the ended up crowding so much most of them were pressed up against the lens anyways. They liked asking our names, but I think I speak for all us when I say that we couldn't understand the large majority of their names. We watched them eat breakfast; a small portion of rice, which was sad because most of the children were so tiny and small. The buses of day-scholars came late, and then the children finally were arranged in lines in the sand to perform their morning chants. The school was totally silent except for the few children who were leading the chants, and then the loud repeat from the rest of the students. It was so powerful sounding that it almost made me want to cry. Then they welcomed us into their school by calling out our names and handing us each a drawing with a short message on it. After that, we presented them with a 1700 dollar scholarship, which is worth a lot more in rupees! The school day was pretty disorganized while we were there - and we were a gigantic distraction. Everyone kept smiling and waving to us whenever we made eye contact. We started our classroom observation, and I was in a first standard class (first grade), which is a class of five year olds, and they were newly added to the school, so they had less knowledge than everyone else. The students were able to commute math problems that are above the typical five year old in the US though. They were really excited to show us their workbooks which was mostly drawings and hindi lines to practice handwriting. We had to sit on lawn chairs in the classroom so we were towering over the kids, and it would have been more comfortable on the floor. The teacher wanted the kids to recite english poems to us, and one boy came up and told us a very detailed story, while snot was dripping out of his nose, but it was in tamarind so I have no idea what he said, but I'm sure it was good. Its hard to explain what we experienced - you really would have to be there seeing these kids who are at a poverty level we don't even see in the US. Most of the children did not have shoes, and one little girl was not wearing underwear - which Sara found out by picking her up! I didn't really get to experience their class day because they were too busy looking at us to concentrate. Towards the end of our visit we sat around with a group of older children and talked about questions they had regarding our education in the United States because some of these children who came from no where are hoping to go to college. Its sad to talk about, because most of them are confused about the entire process, and lack sufficient resources to get what they need to go to a University. While we talked the director passed out bananas for us, and pieces of white bread for the children, which I also felt guilty about. Here is a picture of us with the group we talked with:
This picture was right after a girl pointed out to us, "You're....white." As if we hadn't realized that yet. Me and Sara kind of stand out in pretty much every picture we take. After our visit we went to a mall to exchange our money in a sketchy currency place. The mall was pretty big, but much dirtier than a typical mall in the US. Each shop had an Indian man outside the door saying things to lure you inside. They obviously go for the westerners, and set very high prices for us. This mall is a bartering mall, so if we saw something we liked our professor bartered to get us a good deal. It was very stressful, but I made my first purchase! A giant vegetable dyed tapestry. I like it...its like five feet by three feet and cost me 1400 rupies. Everytime I pay with rupees i feel like I am bartering with jewels. Rupies...rubies...you know. Then we finallllllly got back to Niketana and ate an okra curry, lentils and rice with fry bread, and more papaya. Then I just spend forever editing some pics because we decided to post some tonight while all you people back home are still interested in our trip! :) The originals look better. And this is not all of them. Alot of street scenes were taken from the bus. Goodnight! (For me).
This picture was right after a girl pointed out to us, "You're....white." As if we hadn't realized that yet. Me and Sara kind of stand out in pretty much every picture we take. After our visit we went to a mall to exchange our money in a sketchy currency place. The mall was pretty big, but much dirtier than a typical mall in the US. Each shop had an Indian man outside the door saying things to lure you inside. They obviously go for the westerners, and set very high prices for us. This mall is a bartering mall, so if we saw something we liked our professor bartered to get us a good deal. It was very stressful, but I made my first purchase! A giant vegetable dyed tapestry. I like it...its like five feet by three feet and cost me 1400 rupies. Everytime I pay with rupees i feel like I am bartering with jewels. Rupies...rubies...you know. Then we finallllllly got back to Niketana and ate an okra curry, lentils and rice with fry bread, and more papaya. Then I just spend forever editing some pics because we decided to post some tonight while all you people back home are still interested in our trip! :) The originals look better. And this is not all of them. Alot of street scenes were taken from the bus. Goodnight! (For me).
Shopping and Staring in Downtown Chennai
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
1/04: Right now I am laying on my bed smelling the sweet aroma of the jasmine flowers above my head, and listening to the tropical birds outside my window. Haha just kidding-- but seriously I am :) Today was our first day exploring the city of Chennai, it was mainly our day to buy our authentic Indian clothing that we will be wearing for the majority of the next three weeks. Me and Sara started out by waking up around six India time, so we had tons of time to get ready this morning, after a restful three hours of sleep! We were prepared a traditional Indian breakfast of dosa's with a potato-onion curry mixture and three types of sauces to dip it into. There was a coconut chutney, a lentil chutney, and something else which i cant remember now. A dosa is like a fried crepe and the filling was inside. It was delicious! I could eat that filling in a bowl it was so good. And we washed it down with fresh squeezed Sweet Lime Juice which I love. Then we got in our van and drove to meet Vidya's mom, and then we went to our first clothing store to buy our traditional outfits. For some reason I thought this would be easy, but there were too many choices! The store was packed with kurta's; all different sizes, all different sleeve lengths, and they were all folded up so you couldn't really tell what they looked like. I'll put a pic down below. So you had to dig through the perfectly stacked kurta's and I'm sure we messed up their whole store. The store attendants in India are very attentive to customers, partly because they have to and partly because we are westerners and like to spend money, and they will silently stand next to you and help you with anything they can. At that store I ended up getting a bright turquoise kurta with navy pants, and a purple kurta with olive green pants. Too bad you people in the states don't get to dress this colorful and comfortably! Then the shop owner named Geneche? took us downstairs and showed us a handcrafted items shop and the sari shop.
After we got done shopping we went out to lunch. We ended up going to a hotel restaurant that was at the top of a bakery/ice cream shop, and a little boy was our elevator hop. When we got to the top we all walked into the restaurant all eyes were on us again. We ate a vegetable curry with rice and some fry bread with another curry. Good thing I love curry! Then we chewed some fennel to freshen our breath! We hit a couple more shops afterwards, an expensive mall shop, and another shop. To get to the last shop we stopped at, we had to climb up stairs through a parking garage, but it was a pretty nice store. I got a reddish orange kurta with black and white patterned pants, and a fuchsia kurta. Have you looked up what a kurta was yet? You should! On our way back to Niketana, we drove past the beach and the Bay of Bengal and "The Slums of India", which really put into perspective what poverty is. When I first got here I passed by apartments that I figured were the slums but I had no idea. No matter how these people live though, they try their best to maintain their clothing and appearances, and I saw lots of happy children and tons and tons of baby goats. Among other things, today I watched a man pee on the sidewalk, and lady wash her clothes on the sidewalk, and another guy knead bread on the sidewalk. Its really amazing how so many different things can be happening at once, and everyone can live with one another so easily. I know there are a lot of conflicts, but in the US poverty and wealth don't intermingle like this. I also saw my first cows in the street today! I also crossed through crazy India traffic on foot. Oh and our group was stranded for a few minutes on the sidewalk without our professor, and you won't believe how many people can stare and you at once in such a short amount of time. And Indians are not shy to hold their gazes, you just have to look away. We also encountered our first street beggar today, two actually, and that's hard to deal with too because you have to force yourself to ignore them. For dinner we had homemade fried tortillas with rice, a yellow curry, coconut vegetables and a spicy tamarind soup, with papaya for dessert. This fresh food is delicious, but I'm sure I am going to have to start breaking into my stomach medicine soon! :( Sorry I started rambling, but I keep forgetting things that happened today! And since this is like my personal travel journal I need to get it all down! That's all for tonight!
After we got done shopping we went out to lunch. We ended up going to a hotel restaurant that was at the top of a bakery/ice cream shop, and a little boy was our elevator hop. When we got to the top we all walked into the restaurant all eyes were on us again. We ate a vegetable curry with rice and some fry bread with another curry. Good thing I love curry! Then we chewed some fennel to freshen our breath! We hit a couple more shops afterwards, an expensive mall shop, and another shop. To get to the last shop we stopped at, we had to climb up stairs through a parking garage, but it was a pretty nice store. I got a reddish orange kurta with black and white patterned pants, and a fuchsia kurta. Have you looked up what a kurta was yet? You should! On our way back to Niketana, we drove past the beach and the Bay of Bengal and "The Slums of India", which really put into perspective what poverty is. When I first got here I passed by apartments that I figured were the slums but I had no idea. No matter how these people live though, they try their best to maintain their clothing and appearances, and I saw lots of happy children and tons and tons of baby goats. Among other things, today I watched a man pee on the sidewalk, and lady wash her clothes on the sidewalk, and another guy knead bread on the sidewalk. Its really amazing how so many different things can be happening at once, and everyone can live with one another so easily. I know there are a lot of conflicts, but in the US poverty and wealth don't intermingle like this. I also saw my first cows in the street today! I also crossed through crazy India traffic on foot. Oh and our group was stranded for a few minutes on the sidewalk without our professor, and you won't believe how many people can stare and you at once in such a short amount of time. And Indians are not shy to hold their gazes, you just have to look away. We also encountered our first street beggar today, two actually, and that's hard to deal with too because you have to force yourself to ignore them. For dinner we had homemade fried tortillas with rice, a yellow curry, coconut vegetables and a spicy tamarind soup, with papaya for dessert. This fresh food is delicious, but I'm sure I am going to have to start breaking into my stomach medicine soon! :( Sorry I started rambling, but I keep forgetting things that happened today! And since this is like my personal travel journal I need to get it all down! That's all for tonight!
Willkommen!
Monday, January 3, 2011
The first part of this blog entry was written on the plane: Well I am going on my eleventh hour of flying I think, but all these time zones are driving me crazy! I think it is early morning US time…and I really haven’t slept yet, so I am feeling kind of sick. [Dad- I was going to post this from the plane with their free wifi, but it is a peer-to-peer network and wont work. Why won’t it work? It’s working on everyone else’s laptops!] Germany is snowy and beautiful, and it makes me sad that I am here in Europe and I can’t explore it. Actually it was a little too snowy and cold, because they had to clean off our wings before take-off with this mechanical robot head, but we are at cruising altitude now and . I love Lufthansa though! The planes are nice and I have enjoyed their movie selection. On the way to Frankfurt I watched ‘Easy A’, ‘Life as We Know It’, and ‘Eat Pray Love’, not to mention an episode of Glee, Modern Family, and Desperate Housewives. And we got several rounds of drinks, there was free wine, and two meals. One was a gluey cheesy pasta dinner with a rice-salad and a brownie, and the breakfast was an omelet with these really disgusting potato patties. And we get two more meals this flight, but I’m not sure how much more of this food I can take – oh look we just got some salted almonds! I am already understanding the frustrations of a language barrier because all the PA announcements are in German first, and then English and it just takes forever and you never know what is going on. I wish I could speak some more German. I feel my native roots calling me back! Okay I’ll try and post again when I get to India. I hope I get wifi!
Okaaay I'm here now! And I get a good wifi signal! So we got off the plane and stepped into humidity. It's pretty surreal being here, its kind of hard to describe. Everything about it seems different, and then there's that India smell! When we left the airport there is a huge gated lane you walk out of, and the rails of the lane were completely crowded with Indian people waiting for their families. It was like a mob scene...I kind of knew what to expect, but I didn't know that we would be hit with it so soon. On the way to our hotel, traffic was "good" because it was 2AMis; so swerving around buses and weaving in and out of lanes at 90 km was smooth sailing! We drove through absolute slums, it was kind of hard to see because its dark, but its even worse than I imagined. I am anxious to see it in the daylight. There is a lot of skinny dogs walking around and cats digging out of garbage cans too :( I haven't been able to take my camera out much because of airport security (its a hassle) [oh- and i got randomly selected to go to an additional security check in Germany for my laptop! I was scared they would toss it out]and the fact that its night. But I snapped a few pics. Tomorrow we are taking it easy and going shopping for our Indian clothes! So hopefully I will get some more internet time and relaxing time tomorrow to talk with some of you! There's a thirteen and a half hour time difference here, and it looks like nighttime will be the best time to talk. So you do the math because I'm too sleepy!
(The lady in ^ that picture is Vidya - our professor guide)
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