um, eck seval, do you shake it up?

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!