So, I cant honestly remember what happened two weeks ago, but i know its been a while since I wrote anything. So, I think I will start with this past friday. On the 22nd ( I think ) was the national holiday of HOLI! It is the festival of colors, and is celebrated on saturday morning when everyone runs out into the streets, and throws colored powder at one another. Everyone wears white, and you are essentially accosted with neon powder, or colored water until you are covered from head to toe in dye, and only resemble your former self. We were all forwarned of this holiday for a number of reasons. 1) everyone is drunk and high, and they tend to become a little aggressive 2) if you are out in the streets, people tend to adulterate (again a new application of the word) the powders, so there is a chance that they will burn or permanantly dye you. 3) it is a day where gender roles, and caste rolls switch, so servants can beat their masters, women can beat their husbands, and men can openly harrass women. Sounds fun doesnt it?
For this reason, myself and three others decided it would be a good idea to head to delhi for Holi, where Joanna's friends were going to be throwing a closed party at her guru's "farm house". We took a bus friday afternoon and arrived in Delhi late friday evening. Again we stayed at Joanna's father's aparment and felt entirely pampered by the AC and westernized food. We relaxed and friday night and saturday morning woke early and made an amazing breakfast. we all put on our white clothes and hopped into the taxi's to head out to the "farm". All through delhi people walked around caked in colored powder, and from the roof of a large tanker there were men tossing balloons of colored water on any passerby in the streets. I learned quickly that in India, when you say farm house, you actually mean palace, and as we walked through the gates of the house we saw sprawling gardens and a mansion. There were exotic flowers and palm trees and a lush green lawn. As we walked over the crest of the hill we saw about 50 people running around absolutely covered in powder. There was music playing, and fountains of colored water and a table with bowls of powder. We were attacked by complete strangers, and it didnt take very long before joanna was dunked into a pool of purple. For abour 4 hours, we all danced and threw powder at each other and laughed really histerically when we realized that our teeth and contacts had been turned deep purple as well. All I can say is, this would only happen in India.
The rest of the weekend was an exhausting blurr. we returned back and each showered about three times. I must say, it did no good, because my hair is still purple a week later, and all my clothes are tinged. Sunday morning Jesse and I woke early, made breakfast and caught a bus back to Jaipur. A few hours later we, still purple, met up with three other students and hopped an overnight train to Udaipur.
This past week we spent two and a half hours outside of the glorious city of Udaipur. We (myself and four others from the group) stayed in the NGO center in the rural Village of Ogna for what SIT deemed our "workshop".
After all of the time spent in dusty Jaipur, we were all a little shaken to see so much green. The closest thing I can compare it to is walking onto the set of Jurasic park, and overlooking the prehistoric forests resplendant with palm trees and lush green valleys. The forests were filled with Banyan trees that were a mass of vines and roots, with gorgeous hanging branches and bright leaves. The NGO center itself was right near the market center of the town which had narrow winding back paths and rather gorgeous mud hut homes. The days were pretty amusing, seeing as it got to be around 100 degrees around mid day, and yet I always seemed to find myself hiking up some mountain or sitting with some of the villagers drinking Tea. GMKS was the name of the NGO and they had put in dams to catch the monsoon waters, as well as schools, homes, and health camps. We got to follow around the people working for GMKS which essentially boiled down to walking around for most of each day we were there. The rural women were amazing as usual, and always enjoyed slapping us heartily on the back and leading us by the wrist to all their homes to see their cows and families (pardivar). Thanks to our little bit of hindi we were able to make fools of ourselves even more. I must say there is soemthing entirely unique about laughing histerically at the sheer fact that neither person has any idea what is going on.
We had picnics most days out wherever we landed, and spent a lot of time wandering around just trying desperately to consume as much of the beauty as possible. The area around Ogna was able to switch from rocky mountain, to lush fields, to lakes just by turning 360 degrees. It never ceased to be absolutely beautiful. Each morning we woke up and sat out on the terrace and read and wrote, and then headed down for breakfast. We got to organic farm for a day, which brings a whole new appreciation for the farming lifestyle, as well as a renewed awe at the intensity of mid-day heat. I found that my emotions mirrored the temperature, and that I was sure to become insanely cranky around two, and then very peaceful around 5. It was amusing to be on the farm, because it made it oh-so clear how urbanized we all were. Jesse and I spent about an hour digging trenches for lemon trees where I, being a girl/sister (didi), was only allowed to tote the dirt around, while big strong man-Jesse had the job of digging. We referred to it as "gender-role farming" and has a solid laugh. After that we harvested the mustard seed. Thankfully no gender discrimination there.
My lasting impression of Ogna is just the sheer beauty of the land. There was not one area that wasnt breathtakingly gorgeous, and I apologize that there is no true way to share that.
As for our time in Udaipur. We arrived on saturday afternoon, and had a really beautiful walk around the city, exploring and sitting by the water. Udaipur is gorgeous, but very touristy, and it was a strange transition from rural living to urban, and from hindi to english. Sunday morning brought about the illness, and after a hugely disasterous cooking lesson we signed up for, where instead of learning how to cook, I spent four hours sitting with my head in someones rose bushed willing myself not to throw up. I quickly returned to the hotel where I lay helplessly in bed for 7 hours, only to be joined by Arianna halfway through the day. As if cooking wasnt a bad enough idea, we had to take an overnight train from Udaipur back to jaipur while we were still ill. If it werent for the help of my friends, and tylenol pm, I would probably still be in udaipur.
So, now I am home, feeling somewhat better. We have two more weeks at school until our independent study project which might take me up into the foothills if all works out.
much love to everyone!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Save the Tiger
This week was a strange culmination of all of the stress and chaos that is India. this past weekend I had the joy of spending time in Delhi at Joanna's father's house. We were finally able to enjoy luxuries like a shower and air conditioning. We even had whole wheat toast!! we took a taxi ride all the way from jaipur to delhi on friday afternoon and spent friday night lounging around the apartment with much appreciated glasses of wine. It was the first taste of farmiliarity I know that many of us had. Everything is so much more posh when coming from a city like jaipur. We woke up late on saturday morning, and had breakfast (AND COFFEE!) waiting for us on the table. There were four of us girls, and of course we ended up showering and going out into the thick new delhi air for some shopping. We walked through this really great portion of the city where there were art shops and small samosa stands. The walkways were extremely narrow, and there were stores packed in on either side for two or three stories on each side. We ended up walking straight into this gorgeous park with the rmains of an old Moghul university? it was almost surreal being in the middle of the largest city in India, and yet walking through this old building surrounded by gorgeous trees and a small lake. After exploring, we headed back to the apartment for some lunch and relaxation. We pulled out the wine again and watched the one movie i brought to india...clearly it was step up! Its a sad day when step up is the first english movie you have seen in a month and a half.
After the movie, we got dolled up and headed out into Delhi where we met up with all of Joanna's cosmopolitan friends. one of them is the son of the man who owns the largest beer company in all of india, perhaps the only beer company in india, and so we were escorted in style to all of the most posh clubs and bars for the evening. I must say I have NEVER been treated more like royalty in all my life. We bypassed security, and found ourselves in the vip sections of the clubs. It was a wonderful release of energy and tension from the week so we just danced to very indian house music for hours and literally just collapsed when we got home.
Once back in Jaipur things picked up with school again, and we spent most of the week traveling to different ngo's in the area. There is one called, no joke, Jaipur Foot. It provides FREE prosthetics (sp?) to anyone in the city who needs it. Almost 1 million people have received these legs/feet from this one company, all because a man was willing to make it affordable to create. They are amazingly functional, and we got a fabulous demonstration when the man with a jaipur foot climbed a tree. The ngo itself was a sight to behold. there were hundreds of people lined up outside waiting for new feet. Please try and imagine hundreds of one legged people. They were often the most poor in india, and had polio, or had been victims of freak train accidents. The experience left most of us with mixed feelings. Here was one man providing an unbelievable service to the world, but at the same time, there were so many people who needed it.
Asside from that, we got to travel to a tiger reserve in rajasthan. We spent one afternoon in a massive jeep riding through the jungle looking for tigers, which amazingly we found. We saw what could have been the rear end of a sleeping tiger...suspicious at best...but it was nice to see that they were working to save them. An Amazing ngo literally reshaped an entire town and the surrounding villages, just to save the tigers. they relocated somthing like 8 villages out of the park area, set up schools, hospitals, and new homes for them. they also have started fighting the tiger poaching by giving the women jobs, and the children schooling. Clearly, becuase SIT absolutely loves us, we not only heard about the projects, but travelled to two schools, three villages, and one hospital. It is amazing and hard being a group of white students walking into the lives of these truly unique and beautiful people and then up and leaving in a stream of white taxis. This time at least we were able to talk to the billages about the wonderful things that they were doing, and how happy they were with the work that the ngos were doing instead of hearing about everything that is wrong with the world.
India as a country provides so much and yet so little to the millions of people living here. The villages are absolutely untouched by most modern technologies. The women work in the field in their sari's, cutting down crops and traveling two hours to fetch water just to carry it back on their heads. They live off the milk from their own cows, and the food from their own gardens. It is amazing to think that in my whole life I will never have as much responsibility as one of these women, and yet they can't read or write, and most of them will be married by the time they are 14.
It is refreshing and unbearably awe inspiring.
As for now, we are back in jaipur for another week of work and hindi with the greatest staff on the planet. I am happy, safe, and continually saturated with the newness and complete otherness that is india.
I am off to spend the evening with some friends from the group, so I will sign off. So much love as always.
After the movie, we got dolled up and headed out into Delhi where we met up with all of Joanna's cosmopolitan friends. one of them is the son of the man who owns the largest beer company in all of india, perhaps the only beer company in india, and so we were escorted in style to all of the most posh clubs and bars for the evening. I must say I have NEVER been treated more like royalty in all my life. We bypassed security, and found ourselves in the vip sections of the clubs. It was a wonderful release of energy and tension from the week so we just danced to very indian house music for hours and literally just collapsed when we got home.
Once back in Jaipur things picked up with school again, and we spent most of the week traveling to different ngo's in the area. There is one called, no joke, Jaipur Foot. It provides FREE prosthetics (sp?) to anyone in the city who needs it. Almost 1 million people have received these legs/feet from this one company, all because a man was willing to make it affordable to create. They are amazingly functional, and we got a fabulous demonstration when the man with a jaipur foot climbed a tree. The ngo itself was a sight to behold. there were hundreds of people lined up outside waiting for new feet. Please try and imagine hundreds of one legged people. They were often the most poor in india, and had polio, or had been victims of freak train accidents. The experience left most of us with mixed feelings. Here was one man providing an unbelievable service to the world, but at the same time, there were so many people who needed it.
Asside from that, we got to travel to a tiger reserve in rajasthan. We spent one afternoon in a massive jeep riding through the jungle looking for tigers, which amazingly we found. We saw what could have been the rear end of a sleeping tiger...suspicious at best...but it was nice to see that they were working to save them. An Amazing ngo literally reshaped an entire town and the surrounding villages, just to save the tigers. they relocated somthing like 8 villages out of the park area, set up schools, hospitals, and new homes for them. they also have started fighting the tiger poaching by giving the women jobs, and the children schooling. Clearly, becuase SIT absolutely loves us, we not only heard about the projects, but travelled to two schools, three villages, and one hospital. It is amazing and hard being a group of white students walking into the lives of these truly unique and beautiful people and then up and leaving in a stream of white taxis. This time at least we were able to talk to the billages about the wonderful things that they were doing, and how happy they were with the work that the ngos were doing instead of hearing about everything that is wrong with the world.
India as a country provides so much and yet so little to the millions of people living here. The villages are absolutely untouched by most modern technologies. The women work in the field in their sari's, cutting down crops and traveling two hours to fetch water just to carry it back on their heads. They live off the milk from their own cows, and the food from their own gardens. It is amazing to think that in my whole life I will never have as much responsibility as one of these women, and yet they can't read or write, and most of them will be married by the time they are 14.
It is refreshing and unbearably awe inspiring.
As for now, we are back in jaipur for another week of work and hindi with the greatest staff on the planet. I am happy, safe, and continually saturated with the newness and complete otherness that is india.
I am off to spend the evening with some friends from the group, so I will sign off. So much love as always.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
No problem, no problem
So this week has been tame in comparison to the hectic travels of Jodhpur and Bikaner, but satisfying all the same. I think this week marked the point in the trip where everyone misses the conveniences of the united states, ad having something as simple as a CVS to get everything you need in one swift trip. I have concluded that its not so much that I need to be home, or even miss home, but perhaps miss knowing where I am going to be in the next few hours, much less the next few days. Since everything that we do here is essentially an adventure, from walking to the store, to washing clothes, to getting in a rickshaw, there is a lot of uncertainty. This week I got to talk to a few doctors in the area, and walked to an NGO near by and interviewed a man who has been working in rural villages with healthcare. Because there are so many glaring issues in this country, it seems that everyone is an activist....even if nothing is organized about it.
I feel like this week has also been important because with nothing huge and looming, I was able to get my bearings in Jaipur a bit more. I learned a few very interesting/entertaining things about my beautiful city. 1) they burn their trash....its horrific and I think my lungs are not enjoying india as much as my brain is, but perhaps i only think I like it because there is so many trash fumes messing up the works. 2) there is a cafe in Jaipur where they sell cheese ( india has bad/ no cheese, its a tragedy). 3) My homestay house is behind the well known insane asylum, which makes me wonder if my family isnt really a bunch of escapees. 4) I can communicate in hindi, and its so liberating. 5) I want chocolate, and its becoming an Issue. 6) The internet here is horrible, and might lead to the collective throwing of the computers off the balcony. So, in summation, not to much is going on here. Just life.
So much love, or as my beautifully eloquent hindi teacher puts it " the deeper structure is: there are oceans of love".
For those who have asked, the mailing address here is
Me at World learning SIT India, 2 Shree Rampura Colony, Civil lines, Jaipur Rajasthan 302006 (i think)
I feel like this week has also been important because with nothing huge and looming, I was able to get my bearings in Jaipur a bit more. I learned a few very interesting/entertaining things about my beautiful city. 1) they burn their trash....its horrific and I think my lungs are not enjoying india as much as my brain is, but perhaps i only think I like it because there is so many trash fumes messing up the works. 2) there is a cafe in Jaipur where they sell cheese ( india has bad/ no cheese, its a tragedy). 3) My homestay house is behind the well known insane asylum, which makes me wonder if my family isnt really a bunch of escapees. 4) I can communicate in hindi, and its so liberating. 5) I want chocolate, and its becoming an Issue. 6) The internet here is horrible, and might lead to the collective throwing of the computers off the balcony. So, in summation, not to much is going on here. Just life.
So much love, or as my beautifully eloquent hindi teacher puts it " the deeper structure is: there are oceans of love".
For those who have asked, the mailing address here is
Me at World learning SIT India, 2 Shree Rampura Colony, Civil lines, Jaipur Rajasthan 302006 (i think)
Monday, March 3, 2008
select photos
alright, for those of you who have access to facebook, i put up a handful of photos. sorry, i am not good with electronics and cant figure out how to post on my blog. heaven knows my mom will send out the photos to anyone who needs them. and mom, get corey to let you see the facebook ones.
love
love
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