Sooo we made it back! Two twelve hour train rides, tooooo many multiple hour death defying bus rides, many a sweaty "walk" (although perhaps "drag", "trudge", or "cry" might be more accurate), some serious bushwacking and a WONDERFUL, wonderful trip. I have no idea where my brain was when they were prepping us for this thing, but not knowing what on earth was going on made each day a gift and an adventure. We got to take a sunrise hike to some 500,000 year old cave paintings, swim in a sacred pool in the middle of a temple, haggle with strikingly clad gypsys (who by the way, if you ever find yourself haggling with a gypsy the immediate tactic is to take two zeros off the first price they quote you and then go from there), ahhhh just so many crazy wonderful things I would never have seen myself doing. Since the director of the program Dr. Rao was once the head of the Archaeological Society of India (!!) we got unlimited access to all of these ancient temples and buildings and stuff which was so amazing. And by unlimited access, I mean they would like have a bunch of eager guides waiting for us and open up places that were supposed to be closed to the public and serve us coffee and cookies every second becuase they wanted to be on Rao's good side! That part I did NOT mind....the only downside was that since he was so into it he wanted us to see eeeeeveryyyyyyyyy possible thing made of stone in the entire region which got kind of out of hand. By the end the tour guide would be pointing to some breathtaking 13 foot high 1500 year old sculpture of a dancing Siva or something and our group would be racing the other way toward the far more intriguing plot of shade we saw near the entrance of the temple. Overall though, so cool. I definitely got into thinking I was the relic hunter of the century and even tried pushing on walls in hopes that they might shift and reveal a hidden inscription or city of gold or something (yes, national treasure was on at one of the hotels). I'm not sure how to sum up the whole thing so here are a few excerpts from my journal:
"and the kicker--A SACRED POOL. Is there anything that could be better?!? A natural spring enclosed in stone, THOUSANDS of years old full of laughing old ladies in sarees holding hands and dunking, young guys swimming racing eachother, little half naked kids running around and shrieking with the thrill of being wet--I'm making it sound like utopia because that's because it WAS"
"Theeeen we went to some crazy temple place that was just kind of overwhelming because it was a million degrees and like, every one of the best temples you've ever seen in one place to the point that you don't really care about anything anymore. Plus I didn't want to wear shoes and was trying to act cool like I wasn't hot but my feet literally felt like they were in hot lava and I thought I was going to throw up and die."
"We sat up atop the cave on rocks and I felt the most content I have yet. Breeze, silence, peace, staggering view..."
"I was getting ready to sit down and write this great positive India entry and then the power went out, I spit toothpaste all over the floor, and Elli tried to pull open the curtains and the whole rod flew off and gave her a black eye!! What a perfect fucking example of India...I love it here."
"dripping sweat forging our way around holding hands and screaming. I lead the way into a dark cave, suddenly an animal (OR DEAD GHOST) moved and full on chaos ensued"
"I am fully here and content and grounded and alive. Went to Aihole this morning, which was kind of a bust except for the fact that we were in a place that could potentially be pronounced A-Hole..."
"So happy. HAPPY! I am happy :)"
"AMAZING"
"I am blessed"
"Yeeeessssssssss"
and then an assortment of doodles of smily faces and spirals and hearts.
I think this trip was great for me. I was able to practice patience when it felt like it was too hot or too long of a day or too anything and I wanted to snap, I got to practice being assertive haggling at markets (turns out I am great at it!!! people were asking me to come haggle for them cuz I drove such a hard deal!), and practice JOY and AWE on the largest of scales.
Less than three weeks til our independent travel! I CAN'T WAIT. I am doing it all alone (1 month!) and can't wait to just stand on my own two feet and figure things out for myself.
Hope everyone is doing well! Update me! Oh and getting pictures on this thing is a crazy hassle so for pictures check out my album from the tour on fb--apparently you can see 'em even if you don't have an account click hurrr http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029750&id=30901124&l=6772c6fc60
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
lots to say
firstly business: I realized I had blocked comments (I have no idea how) but my roommate helped me get them un-blocked so now even if you don't have an account you can comment (hint hint hint.)
secondly: I think I officially LIVE here now-and yes it has taken me a month-but I recognize the little bald guy who dutifully huffs and puffs up the hill every day at 7am exactly for exercise, Radhu (aka Bob) our seemingly nice but then randomly vicious dog no longer barks/croons soulfully/lunges when I go by, and most importantly I got a club member card to our local store, "more" today! I think the workers at the store were equally as excited as I was, and by the time I got to filling out the application 3 cashiers, the cleaner and the security guard were gathered around and throwing in their two cents about how I should fill in each section. I was unsure of the point of some of the questions, such as how many rupees I earn per year, how many children of each gender I had, and "which of the following do you have in your house: AC, car, TV, refrigerator," but I got it done. I was also very interested to see that under occupation, the choices were (in this order): housewife, student, self employed, or other. Because of course men DON'T SHOP. pfft.
third: I have FINALLY decided what I am going to do for my independent project! The program is set up so we do an entire semester of school in the first two months, followed by a month of free travel and then the final month is an internship, research project, or special project of our choice. Basically we can do ANYTHING which is both amazing and extreeeemely stressful to choose what will be the most enriching and what will make me most happy. Buuuut I decided I'm going to go with the TOTALLY UNEXPECTED and COMPLETELY SURPRISING theme of: dance! I want to act as both a student and an intern to a dance teacher, meaning I would get personal lessons that would lead to a solo performance at the end of the month (eeeee!!!!) but also shadow the teacher as she teaches classes and does her own performances. I would love to get the opportunity to teach a class or two to kids of modern/creative movement because girls body's are so restricted here it would be fun to let them be silly and free and maybe learn a little dance they could perform :) I would also like to volunteer to do a workshop or two at the destitute women's center teaching simple self defense if they would allow that...I think they might be scandalized at first by the idea but I think it could be SO GOOD for them to have.
What is the destitute women's center, you ask? GAHHHHH. We visited this place on Saturday and I was so blown away I felt like crying and screaming and hugging every single one of these women all at the same time. The center is called Shakti Dhama and it works as a temporary residence for women who for various reasons are no longer safe/welcome in their own homes. It is free for them, and they work in a kitchen garden and make little gifts for the center to sell in return for housing. Some of the trades they learn (sewing, etc.) can be used for them to make money out in the world once they get out. They also get counseling, thankfully, because these women have been through some intense stuff. One of the women spoke to us about how she had been kidnapped from her home and kept in a room in Bangalore for FOUR MONTHS, all the while being tortured (and I'm sure sexually abused) by her captor. Another woman stood up with her baby slung over her shoulder and told us her husband had thrown her and her child into a river to die and the only way she survived was holding on to a root until she was able to get out. A third woman stood up and said nothing at all, becuase she was so traumatized she had lost her ability to speak. I am still haunted by her eyes, which perpetually looked like she was crying but without tears. The most frightening part of all of this is that the ultimate goal of the rehabilitation in most cases is to get the women REUNITED with their husbands. I know, it makes no sense. But in Indian culture it is worse to be an unmarried woman (especially with the added shame of whatever she has been through) than it is to be married to a terrible man. I think this might be because the expectation of marriage here is totally different---marriages are like economic unions between families they are not idealized unions of lovers like they are in the us. I personally wish I could encourage these women to give the husbands a piece of their mind (publicly if possible), kick them in the balls and then start new lives as entrepeneurs, but that is just completely culturally impossible. But can you see why it could be really good for them to know self defense? Especially in the case of the young woman who was stolen from her home--if she knew how to give a good palm heel strike she may have had the possibility of getting away from that creep.
Lastly, in conjunction with my blog title, a group of us got asked to be in a commercial this weekend!! Buuuuuut we turned it down. Kingfisher beer promoters at the club said we could get free beer if we'd just agree to drink it on camera...Ummm no thanks. It was definitely legit but I kind of imagined my on screen moment to be flying by in a dance number hopping around and pelvic thrusting, not chugging nasty beer for some dumb commercial, just becuase I have white skin. So alas, no bollywood for me. YET.
Hope everyone is healthy and happy!
नमस्ते
secondly: I think I officially LIVE here now-and yes it has taken me a month-but I recognize the little bald guy who dutifully huffs and puffs up the hill every day at 7am exactly for exercise, Radhu (aka Bob) our seemingly nice but then randomly vicious dog no longer barks/croons soulfully/lunges when I go by, and most importantly I got a club member card to our local store, "more" today! I think the workers at the store were equally as excited as I was, and by the time I got to filling out the application 3 cashiers, the cleaner and the security guard were gathered around and throwing in their two cents about how I should fill in each section. I was unsure of the point of some of the questions, such as how many rupees I earn per year, how many children of each gender I had, and "which of the following do you have in your house: AC, car, TV, refrigerator," but I got it done. I was also very interested to see that under occupation, the choices were (in this order): housewife, student, self employed, or other. Because of course men DON'T SHOP. pfft.
third: I have FINALLY decided what I am going to do for my independent project! The program is set up so we do an entire semester of school in the first two months, followed by a month of free travel and then the final month is an internship, research project, or special project of our choice. Basically we can do ANYTHING which is both amazing and extreeeemely stressful to choose what will be the most enriching and what will make me most happy. Buuuut I decided I'm going to go with the TOTALLY UNEXPECTED and COMPLETELY SURPRISING theme of: dance! I want to act as both a student and an intern to a dance teacher, meaning I would get personal lessons that would lead to a solo performance at the end of the month (eeeee!!!!) but also shadow the teacher as she teaches classes and does her own performances. I would love to get the opportunity to teach a class or two to kids of modern/creative movement because girls body's are so restricted here it would be fun to let them be silly and free and maybe learn a little dance they could perform :) I would also like to volunteer to do a workshop or two at the destitute women's center teaching simple self defense if they would allow that...I think they might be scandalized at first by the idea but I think it could be SO GOOD for them to have.
What is the destitute women's center, you ask? GAHHHHH. We visited this place on Saturday and I was so blown away I felt like crying and screaming and hugging every single one of these women all at the same time. The center is called Shakti Dhama and it works as a temporary residence for women who for various reasons are no longer safe/welcome in their own homes. It is free for them, and they work in a kitchen garden and make little gifts for the center to sell in return for housing. Some of the trades they learn (sewing, etc.) can be used for them to make money out in the world once they get out. They also get counseling, thankfully, because these women have been through some intense stuff. One of the women spoke to us about how she had been kidnapped from her home and kept in a room in Bangalore for FOUR MONTHS, all the while being tortured (and I'm sure sexually abused) by her captor. Another woman stood up with her baby slung over her shoulder and told us her husband had thrown her and her child into a river to die and the only way she survived was holding on to a root until she was able to get out. A third woman stood up and said nothing at all, becuase she was so traumatized she had lost her ability to speak. I am still haunted by her eyes, which perpetually looked like she was crying but without tears. The most frightening part of all of this is that the ultimate goal of the rehabilitation in most cases is to get the women REUNITED with their husbands. I know, it makes no sense. But in Indian culture it is worse to be an unmarried woman (especially with the added shame of whatever she has been through) than it is to be married to a terrible man. I think this might be because the expectation of marriage here is totally different---marriages are like economic unions between families they are not idealized unions of lovers like they are in the us. I personally wish I could encourage these women to give the husbands a piece of their mind (publicly if possible), kick them in the balls and then start new lives as entrepeneurs, but that is just completely culturally impossible. But can you see why it could be really good for them to know self defense? Especially in the case of the young woman who was stolen from her home--if she knew how to give a good palm heel strike she may have had the possibility of getting away from that creep.
Lastly, in conjunction with my blog title, a group of us got asked to be in a commercial this weekend!! Buuuuuut we turned it down. Kingfisher beer promoters at the club said we could get free beer if we'd just agree to drink it on camera...Ummm no thanks. It was definitely legit but I kind of imagined my on screen moment to be flying by in a dance number hopping around and pelvic thrusting, not chugging nasty beer for some dumb commercial, just becuase I have white skin. So alas, no bollywood for me. YET.
Hope everyone is healthy and happy!
नमस्ते
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
belly laughs and liver plants
My intention for this entry was to go non-silly, and I sat around for a while thinking of what on earth I could report, and when I kept coming up blank I realized that I have really been laughing here....A LOT. I laughed as my butt flew 6 inches off the chair every time our "safari" (read: miserably rainy hour long deer watching excursion) bus hit a bump, was in muffled hysterics as a 90 year old talked to us very seriously about the "not so pretty venus williams", laughed (albeit ironically) as I trudged for the millionth time to the bathroom, and have been chuckling along pretty much daily since. Obviously there are negative aspects---it hurts to see the desperation of beggars or the animals so bony they look like they only have a week or so to live, and confronting those things has been hard. But while there is an acute awareness of hardship, inequality, etc. there is also a general feeling in the Indian culture of silliness, fun, and raucous enjoyment of even the smallest joke (ex. when at a dinner party one of our group remarked that if he ate any more they'd have to roll him out of here and this woman was in hysterics for SO long, clapping and smiling, before eagerly trying to offer him more butterscotch.)
A few non-silly things:
The organic farm! This place absolutely blew my mind. When picturing an organic farm one thinks maybe of any stretch of farmland, perhaps on a smaller scale and (in my mind) growing a "hippie-er" set of plants. What we arrived at was seriously a forest...No rows of plants no tilled up soil no areas set apart by species...this farmer takes the absolute purest approach to "organic" and "natural", which is barely farming at all. Nature knows how to thrive, if you just let it. There are plants that make perfect mulch when their leaves fall, plants that make nutritious meals for the snails ambling along, plants that will make a clean killing of snails in the case of over-population, plants to sell in the marketplace, plants that cure H1N1 (!), I mean I could go on. And this man, walking barefoot among his magnificent garden, knew the benefits of every single one. I got quite the fill of plant tastings while following him, including one that is supposed to refresh the liver, another that makes it so you can't taste sugar for the next hour after you eat it (it worked!!!! they gave me sugar after and it just felt like sand in my mouth...so weird.), and he tried to make us eat another one and then laughed for quite a while when we went to sniff it and it smelled like poo ("Yes! this is Poop plant! AHAHAH!")
We also visited the tribal school and hospital, which was really interesting. Most of the "tribals" are forest people, meaning that live in the forest and get all of their sustenance from the plants. Unfortunately the forestlands are quickly diminishing and in many places tribals are being forced out in the name of development. The Vivekanada institute built facilities for them in order for them to be able to become more viable in a changing world, giving them access to healthcare and education which were things completely alien to their culture prior. The people who had been working on the project since the start said it took YEARS for the tribals to attend the school, and that just getting kids to sit inside of a building was an enormous ordeal (they would just leap out the window and run back into the forest.) Now they have a system where the first few years of schooling are spent playing/learning outside, and then when they are ready students move into buildings (but they still are WIDE open, with huge windows and access to the outdoors at any point.) Both tribal and "mainstream" knowledge are taught. It definitely sounds sad--like the "taming" of a group of people, but the alternatives are worse. I of course, was beside myself with how cute the kids were and could barely focus on what was going on.
tribal school:
one of the tribals...like the guy at the organic farm he knew a purpose for EVERY plant...if I remember correctly this one was for easing the pain of childbirth (hence the facial expression HA)
this was at the organic farm....did I mention i'm living in paradise?
A few non-silly things:
The organic farm! This place absolutely blew my mind. When picturing an organic farm one thinks maybe of any stretch of farmland, perhaps on a smaller scale and (in my mind) growing a "hippie-er" set of plants. What we arrived at was seriously a forest...No rows of plants no tilled up soil no areas set apart by species...this farmer takes the absolute purest approach to "organic" and "natural", which is barely farming at all. Nature knows how to thrive, if you just let it. There are plants that make perfect mulch when their leaves fall, plants that make nutritious meals for the snails ambling along, plants that will make a clean killing of snails in the case of over-population, plants to sell in the marketplace, plants that cure H1N1 (!), I mean I could go on. And this man, walking barefoot among his magnificent garden, knew the benefits of every single one. I got quite the fill of plant tastings while following him, including one that is supposed to refresh the liver, another that makes it so you can't taste sugar for the next hour after you eat it (it worked!!!! they gave me sugar after and it just felt like sand in my mouth...so weird.), and he tried to make us eat another one and then laughed for quite a while when we went to sniff it and it smelled like poo ("Yes! this is Poop plant! AHAHAH!")
We also visited the tribal school and hospital, which was really interesting. Most of the "tribals" are forest people, meaning that live in the forest and get all of their sustenance from the plants. Unfortunately the forestlands are quickly diminishing and in many places tribals are being forced out in the name of development. The Vivekanada institute built facilities for them in order for them to be able to become more viable in a changing world, giving them access to healthcare and education which were things completely alien to their culture prior. The people who had been working on the project since the start said it took YEARS for the tribals to attend the school, and that just getting kids to sit inside of a building was an enormous ordeal (they would just leap out the window and run back into the forest.) Now they have a system where the first few years of schooling are spent playing/learning outside, and then when they are ready students move into buildings (but they still are WIDE open, with huge windows and access to the outdoors at any point.) Both tribal and "mainstream" knowledge are taught. It definitely sounds sad--like the "taming" of a group of people, but the alternatives are worse. I of course, was beside myself with how cute the kids were and could barely focus on what was going on.
tribal school:
one of the tribals...like the guy at the organic farm he knew a purpose for EVERY plant...if I remember correctly this one was for easing the pain of childbirth (hence the facial expression HA)this was at the organic farm....did I mention i'm living in paradise?
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