On the Home Front

warning: this entry has no logical order...
It's Friday, I got home on Wednesday night. It's nice, but I can't lie, I really miss India and it makes me sad to think I have no idea when I'll go back or how being there can play into my future (luckily I have no clue what's next for me after college, so there's always hope!) Last night my dad asked me to make dinner because we were having a guest over...so I jumped on the opportunity to make Indian food! I only made it one day...not even 24 hours in Nebraska before I was cooking and eating Indian food; I just don't want American food. I got a Cinnabon when I was waiting in O'Hare for my next flight because it's my traditional airport food...but I didn't even enjoy it very much or finish it, which is unprecedented in my airport-Cinnabon eating career!
Early Wednesday (to be more specific 12 am) morning Kritika and her parents drove me to the airport and said good bye...and I walked into my portal out of India. I was surprised to find the bathrooms in Indira Gandhi International Airport to be sparkling clean, smelling good (not just neutral!), and with toilet paper. That was a good thing, but it made me feel like I'd left India already. The last week in Delhi I finally adjusted to the India way of using the toilet, which is a spray thing on the back of the rim of the toilet instead of toilet paper, and I missed it as I entered the western world again (it's really so much cleaner!) The thing that struck me about the really nice bathroom was that Delhi is changing and so is India and I'm a little after that if I wait to long to go back it will not be Delhi anymore, and I'm a little afraid that sooner or later there will be no solid escape from the Western world. I wrote a paper on Delhi's plans for preparation for hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which is like the Olympics for countries that used to be part of the British Empire. There are sooo many modernizing plans, which is good. I mean, it's good to have trashcans on the streets because those don't exist now (I carried around trash for many hours on a regular basis despite the encouragement of Indians to liter on their streets...because someone has a job by picking up this trash and what will happen to them if nobody liters?) It's good that the Metro is expanding across the city, but is this great expenditure to serve the upper class ok in the face of desperate poverty? Does modernization just mean further marginalization and mistreatment of the poorest people because if it does I don't want Delhi to get any more modern. There's no easy answer though and for some reason I'm sure Delhi will always be something complete contrary to what I'm used to in the US. I have hope that God is too good to let all diversity fade away into one bland world.
So getting home. Snow! yay! Cold...cold. Yeah. On the plane I winced at the idea of getting chicken casserole and asked for the veg dish because I've gotten so accustomed to eating veg and in India generally find it tastier, but I was now traveling London-Chicago and there veg food meant nasty white pasta in cheese. What a tragedy! I remembered why I eat meat here.
Seeing Mom and Dad was great, no doubt about that. And seeing my friends is just very =)
When I got home Wednesday night my mom flicked the light on by accident and I immediately said "ah! the electricity is out!" to which my mom responded by flipping another switch on and the lights that brightened highlighted for me that I was no longer in India. The amount of water in our toilets freaked me out at first. Taking a shower in my shower that has very, very high water pressure made me feel more gulity and hectic to get out of there and turn off the water than soothed by its warmth. The tea I attempted to make was no chai. The Christmas cookies are good though, some things don't change.

Himalayans, visas, and Millet Trucks

Nepal was amazing. Well, I guess most of the time I was there I slept, but the value of that should not be downplayed! My friend Julia and I flew out Sat, Dec. 1^st on a short 1 hour 15 minute flight into Kathmandu. The view from the plane was beautiful, there were rolling mountains with fog in the midst of them and others whose mossy looking blankets could be plainly seen and, of course, the back drop of the snow peaks of the Himalayans. I could see little tiny roads that looked like they had been drawn on the side of the mountains not like something that was physically flat…that one could drive on, but I’ll come back to those later. Getting a Nepalese visa at the airport was easy and we were greeted by a man holding a “Mr. Macken-zie” sign from our guest house, which made me laugh quite a bit. There was a peace rally in the neighborhood we stayed in, Thamel, Saturday night, but it looked more like a rave party with crazy people and crazy techo music, but anything that promotes peace is good on my list. Thamel is the tourist hub of Kathmandu to say the least. I think I saw more foreigners there than natives. They come mostly from Europe and Japan and Australia to go on treks in the Himalayans, so Thamel caters to them offering a weird range of restaurants, from traditional Nepalese food to Roadhouse Café (American pizza) to the random (amazing!) falafel stand (the guy who came and ate there when we were eating there said they tasted as good as the ones he had in Israel…), to a number of little “European” bakeries, let’s not forget the a Spanish place, and of course, the New Orleans Café. We ate mostly at this Organic Garden Café though since Julia was recovering from food poisoning and, well, the food was taaasty. The shops there are also quite aware of the tourists and consistently try to royally ripe you off, much more than even the worst ripper-offers in Delhi, so we had a good time haggling with them (it helped to use Hindi since they speak Nepalese and Hindi and it shows we’re not complete tourists). Despite the annoyance of bargaining so much, the Nepalese people were really nice and we often ended up talking to (and even having tea with) the people we had just spent 20 minutes arguing with about prices, so that was nice.

I did end up getting a visa without much of a hassle. I just had to wait in line for about 3 hours and, even the Embassies do the same, pay the special 1500 rupee “American fee,” not even a foreigners fee, an American fee!! The people there were really helpful though, so now I’m legally back in India as long as I leave by Dec. 20^th, which is the plan anyway =)

We decided we ought to go on a trek at least once while we were there, but there was only one place we could get to easily from Kathmandu, so we went. (Everywhere else required either “a 20 minute flight” or an “11 hour mountain drive,” clearly most people who go there are not college students…) With the help of a little man bundled in his scarf and mittens on the corner, Julia, Charles (a friend of a friend who was also in Kathmandu for a visa), and I found the right bus to the path that leads to Shivapuri National Park, our trekking destination. Well, let me clarify, by bus I mean mini van with one extra row of seats. We had to watch a few go by because they were bursting full of people, but finally one came that was only stuffed so we jumped in to upgrade it to bursting status (I counted, there were 27 people in that van…) Anywho, we made it to our stop, took a look at a sleeping Shiva temple place (there was a huge Shiva floating in a pool of water and flowers, looked pretty relaxed to me!) were Hindus were making offerings and then began our trek. When we reached the National Park gate there was a 250 rupee foreigners’ fee (opposed to the Rs. 10 Nepalese fee), which Charles argued about for a while, but then we eventually just paid it. Charles filled out the tickets, while Julia and I talked, but when we gave them to us after we were through security we were both a bit confused. Mine said, “Name: Madeup Name, Nationality: Swedish,” while Julia’s name was “Julia Blahblah,” also Swedish. We were like, “Charles!!” But, like he said it really didn’t matter. He said that the guard read my name over his shoulder as he wrote it, “Maad-up Naaa-may.” Enough said.

We walked about 1 ½ hours to a crazy-long staircase that led to a Buddhist monastery. The view from the top was awesome: little terraced farms with colorful crops and homes with hay roofs, mountains and trees and a river winding through it all to the outline of a city in the distance. *refreshing* Prayer flags were hanging from many trees and poles in the monastery, and it seemed a bit odd that this place was so peaceful and removed in a supposedly dangerous country. If I had not been warned about “how dangerous Nepal is” I don’t think I would’ve noticed anything odd, and even with such warning the only visible evidence was the number of army guys around and I think UN soldiers. After relaxing at the top of the mountain (and the mountain of stairs) we decided to move along. I wanted to go back the way we came because I wasn’t feeling at the top of my game as I had a sinus infection, but they were all for “going a new way,” so after consulting a man that didn’t exactly seem like he knew what he was talking about we decided to continue the way we were going to the next town and catch a bus from there. This man said it should take “1 or 2 hours…bus.” We said, “no, no, we’re walking, by foot, by foot.” Him, “Ohh k…1 or 2 hours.” My mind: we’ll be out here for a while. Either way we went and the views and farms we saw were charming to say the least. After about 1 ½ hours a truck (the only vehicle we’d seen all day) stopped going the other way and asked where we were heading. We told him “Sundarjal” and asked how long to walk…he said 2 hours from there…to which his friend started laughing. They offered us a ride, which we refused, then continued on. As evening turned into a pleasant pink haze of sunset outlining the trees on the edge of the mountain, the charm of the experience started to fade away into “it’s dark and I’m on a trail in the middle of nowhere!!!” It was only 5:15 or so, but the sun was set and there was almost no moon, so we stumbled along the rocky path in the darkness as we had no other choice and still had hope we weren’t too far off. After Charles had managed to stub his toe bad enough that it bled and I was starting to wonder if we’d be out there for the night, we heard an engine. Thank goodness!! In about 20 minutes the sound was very close, so we stopped walking and rejoiced at the sight of headlights. We flagged the truck down and asked it we could hitch a ride. The guys in the truck said, “sure, hop on the back!” So we climbed on top of all their goods, mostly bags of millet I think and off we went! I’ve always wanted to hitch hike, but I never thought I get the chance because I was lost in the dark on the Himalayans. It was awesome! Well, let’s be honest, my mind kept switching between “This is amazing!!!” and looking at the millions of stars and the deep blue sky falling in around the mountains and (excuse my French) “Oh SH*T!! I’m going fall off this millet truck and die in Nepal!!” Needless to say, we made it ok, but not to where we needed to go and as there weren’t many options (well, there were some guys who said they’d motorcycle us down if we paid them a lot) we stayed at a base camp for the night for only Rs. 100. We met a guy there named Jeff from New Hampshire who had been in Nepal for more or less 5 years working on water projects which sounded both necessary and neat. He also knew perfect Nepalese (which was amaaazing!) and helped us figure out our options for the night. He said some Maoists had been there the night before rallying (nonviolently)--that was…comforting. There was no electricity there between 5 and 7:30, which was perfect for star gazing. I’m sure I’ve never seen so many stars in my life, my mouth just dropped open in awe and I wanted to just gobble them up! (that’s kind of an Indian expression when you really love someone/thing, you gobble them up! Usually kids =) ) Basically our poor decision to “go a new way” ending up being an irreplaceable experience, I loved it.

The next day I got my visa and so Julia and I hopped on a bus because we thought flying would be too expensive. What’s a 36 hour bus ride anyway! Ok, so if you’ve actually read all I’ve written today, you’ll remember the little roads that didn’t look like roads from the airplane I mentioned?? Yes, those are the roads we drove on…for 48 not 36 hours! This perplexed me because it’s 1 hour 15 minutes on a Chicago-Omaha flight, the same as a Delhi-Kathmandu flight, but the drive from Omaha to Chicago is only 7 or 8 hours with Chicago traffic. After we got over the fact that it was taking us longer to go back to Delhi from Nepal than it would take us to go from Delhi to the US…well it didn’t get better, but it got over after 2 days. There were many ridiculous bus quirks that I won’t mention, but I must mention that the racial profiling at the India-Nepal boarder was alarming. They came on the bus to check bags and they were opening all of them, but when I picked my up to give the army dude, he was like “this is yours?” which I affirmed and then he said “it’s ok” and didn’t even give it a second glance. On the Indian side I didn’t even take the bag from under my seat, said it was mine, and he moved along. After which I thought I should just tell him all the bags were mine to quicken the process a bit…

I won’t drag this on any longer, suffice to say, Nepal was quite an experience! Now I’m back in Delhi enjoying friends, being confused by the cooler weather, and getting really excited to come home to snow and Christmas!

So the rooms in Jaipur were awesome...Laura and I shard one as you can see..
These kids kept asking me to take their picture and when I finally did they asked me for money and chocolate...at least they know what the good stuff is!

Today I left a bit later than usual because I didn't have my usual Wednesday morning class. I walked to the same bus stop I usually do and as I neared the intersection I saw the juice/food wallas that I always see pushing their cart where I get off the bus! I had no idea they came so far, I thought they just crossed the street...ok, I thought it was amazing.
Anyway,
This whole I have to say good bye to people soon thing is not going over well with me. My fellow American friends are mostly leaving next week while I'm in Nepal so I have to say bye to most of them on Friday...at least I know people all over the US now =)

processing...
So I've been trying to think lately, that is, when I haven't been trying to finish up my stuff for finals...I've been trying to figure out what coming to India has meant to me. It has certainly meant a whole new group of amazing friends, people I will never forget and pray I will see again. It has meant a growing up of sorts...not so much in the sense that I've seen things in the world that I never knew existed, but more that I'm in that phase in life where I begin to establish how I will live. The kids on the street that always ask "ek rupee de do" (give one rupee) or try to sell me magazines, flowers, mosquito swatters, flashy light thingys, etc when I'm in an auto rickshaw sitting at a stop light can not have their life changed by me. I can't give them in bath in a proper tub instead of the muddy rain puddle on the corner (that they nevertheless have fun swimming in), I can't comb their hair, I can't teach them to read, I can't tell them everything is going to be ok. But I can live in the little things. I've been reminded of the importance of living each moment intentionally. With the kids, I can offer an orange if I have it, I can try out my Hindi and ask them their name and age and treat them like the interesting, goofy kids they are. It's selfish in a way because I love to see them smile, but that's what I can do. It's not anything to be happy about, helplessness in the face of injustice, but it's a grounding, a reason to make sure that I live my life in a responsible way, a way I hope living in community when I go home will nurture, a way that at least resembles Jesus' ways. The day I was denied my visa and I thought I'd have to leave India December 4th and thus was practically in tears an autowalla kindly took me for free (which is unheard of) to a auto stand that had autos that would take me where I was going since it wasn't on his route. I needed that kindness in that moment. The small things.
That being said, India has been more to me than a confirmation that trying to live justice is what I can try to do for the world and for my small part, it has been life. The energy of the mornings and the hustle-bustle of the evening markets, the daily struggle with auto-walla prices (or anything else you want to buy), the crowded buses, animals in the streets, the never-ending honking, the smells, the spices, the overly friendly looks of strange men, the funny looks I get from our cook and our maid, Anita, the bright clothing, the tastes, the sights, the unexpected. The way I realize everything will work out even if it's late or out of order or not exactly logical...this has certainly been a good "India" lesson for me. The home I left behind. I people I LOVE LOVE LOVE and now know I could never life so far from in a permanent manner. The truth that if I can come live in India, I can do many things and I'm really excited for whatever it is I may be doing next.

A Thomas Merton prayer Father G gave at Loyola last year before we took the bus to the SOA protest in Georgia...I turn to it a lot (and if I type it here then if I loose the sheet I'll still have it!):
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does, in fact, please You. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always thought I may be lost in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

hellos, goodbyes, and shaking some earth

This weekend we took our last trip as an IES group to Jaipur, which is about a 6 hour bus ride south of Delhi (a drive that would take maybe 3 or 4 in the US). It was nice to be with everyone and the forts, etc. were cool, but I'm getting a bit monument-ed out. However, we got to ride an elephant, so it was totally worth the drive! We also stayed in a cute inn that had homey rooms and we caught the last five minutes of Dumb and Dumber dubbed in Hindi. And, as always, the food was ya ya yummy. On the bus ride home we stopped at the ultimate tourist oasis to use restrooms and we were all appalled by the prices. The chai was 40 rupees and the candy bars were 50 rupees (about Rs. 37-40=$1). I got lunch today for Rs.13, took the bus for Rs.5, and bought a dress for Rs.20, and I'm very upset if I have to pay 70 or 80 for a 10-11 kilometer auto ride home. Suffice to say, I'll have trouble buying anything when I return to the US (which is ok since I'll be broke from being here...)
This is my last week of classes so I have finals and tests and it's oh so much fun. Today I was woken up at 4:43 by some shaking. I thought it was our upstairs neighbors at first because sometimes I hear them moving stuff around...but then I realized they never actually make my room vibrate. By the time I realized it was probably an earthquake it was over, so I got up, went to the bathroom and slept the last 15 minutes of my night. Later I did wonder if it was a bomb blast too because there were some in Lucknow, Varanasi, and Farizabad last week, but the news confirmed that it was just a 4.3 level earthquake. Even in my last few weeks here, Delhi never ceases to surprise me.
The last week or so I've been cherishing my morning bus rides to the hospital my friend Bacchus picks me up from to go to college. I always go to the same stop and wait and tells all the autos that stop no (I still have pride for taking Delhi buses!) and notice the looks of people surprised I'm waiting for the bus. I'm starting to recognize some of the bus money collectors and no longer really care too much if the bus is overloaded, this time of year the coziness is welcome as the mornings are chilly. If I do get a seat I can watch the sun in its last few minutes as a red disk before it hazes higher into the sky. I can see the sari-clad, shawl wrapped women ride their bikes, which always amazes me as I sometimes even get my pants caught in a bike. Then there are the tall bushes with bright pink flowers and their purple remains scattered underneath. The "Vasant Sqaure Mall" that's being constructed is next. Now it even has smartly landscaped gardens in the front, but the real mall is the row of fairly large stands of fruit and clay pots and buckets that follow. I feel like I'm changing countries when the mall complex ends and the shake-like shops begin. When we were in Jaipur we went to a tourist shopping center that was inside...and I realized I felt very uncomfortable buying anything because the shops weren't outside. Funny, na? Finally, the bus reaches the hospital and I get down, sometimes as the bus rolls a bit and stand on the corner waiting for Bacchus whose always at least 5 or 10 minutes late. I'm not sure why I continue to be punctual in my waiting for him because I know I will have to if I leave on time, but now that I have waited so much I've come to enjoy watching the normal procession of people from my corner. The same school buses come by at the same time and the same big hummer-like vehicles with the same foreign passengers that must live in Delhi, the dogs waking up and beginning their day of roaming, and, my personal favorite, the juice and food stand guys that push their cart into the traffic lanes, wait at the lights like the cars and then running full force when the light changes to make the turn right (like us making a left) and skidding their feet on the pavement to slow the cart down on after a successful venture into traffic. By then usually Bacchus shows up. This week I have to say good bye to those mornings.

Luckily I'm only focusing on saying Hello to my Ramjas friends as I tell them I'll be visiting after I return from Nepal, God willing. Right now though, I need to get acquainted with my studies for my history final tomorrow, so more of my ramblings on joys of India and sorrows of leaving soon!

chicken and airplanes

So, when my friends from Dubai were in town we visited the ISCKON Temple, which is...well...I'm not exactly sure what, but it is something amazing and I will be going back. I took them there because I heard (from the grapevine) that there was a robot show, and I thought what could be more Delhi than a temple robot show! I called the place (and quickly surrendered the phone to Nisha who's better at Hindi than I am) and asked when the show was. The man said "shaam ko nau baje...pakka," meaning "9pm for sure," so our small band of foreigners showed up a bit after 9 and wondered around the huge complex asking "Aap maalum hai ki robot show kahaan hai?" meaning "do you know where the robot show is?"...and how can I ask such a thing without feeling just a bit ridiculous? We found the place, but the monks coming out told us the show stops running at 9! Fortunately, they took pity on us as my friends were leaving the country and could not return and reopened the show for us. Now, let me tell you, this was unforgettable. We were ushered into a dark room and then a booming voice started telling us the story of Krishna as lights in a variety of colors and patterns revealed statues in front of us that basically were the first page of a life size story book. It was a bit overwhelming. In the next room, when the lights were slowly raised the voice said "Look at yourself! What do you see? Hands, a face, clothes..." etc etc and we were staring into a mirror. I'm all for a variety of religious experiences, but I could not stop laughing (mostly because I looked goofy in a pirate shirt, skirt, and gym shoes...). The tour progressed from room to room as such, and I'm pretty sure it's one of the best things I've done in Delhi. I think Brie's favorite part was the room that explained the 3 kinds of people: the second type was "passionate," these people, among other things, "eat chicken and cause senseless violence," she really liked that jump. Anyway, after the tour we were planning on eating in the cafeteria there (vegetarian, mind you), but it was closed since everything was already supposed to be closed. The army guard, however, decided we should eat and asked the guard of the restaurant to go ask if we could still eat and we were momentarily ushered in. The kindness of the people in this complex was awesome. What can I say, I'm definitely going back for the apparently bigger show upstairs (it's 10 minutes longer...).
**disclaimer: I thought the presentation was wacky, not the beliefs!**
An update on my plans:
I am going to Nepal to (hopefully) get a visa to stay in India! But at the moment all I can think about is the music I can hear from the wedding in our neighborhood and how much it makes me want to dance!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
(please don't eat turkey then cause senseless violence...like playing football...)

it's not the end...

Things have started to move a bit faster than I'd like...they say all good things must come to an end, but I'm currently trying to put off this ending until at least December 19. I've been traveling all over the net to figure what I have to do to get to Nepal and get a tourist visa to stay in India and if this happens I will be a very happy camper...
Anyway,
Diwali was tons of fun. My friend Jessica (who I've known since 7th grade) was in Delhi for a day with her study abroad program, so she came over, which I'm still not sure was actually real. After hastily getting clad in saris with the help of Anita, the maid that lives with us, we did a pooja with my host family that consisted of my host mother saying some prayers and making offerings to the Ganesh and Rama (I think...) in the form of sweets. My host mom also gave us each some money because she said it was part of the tradition and was auspicious...I said I liked this tradition =). Then all the candles were lit. The house was glowing, but all the lights were to be kept on for the duration of the festival too so the only the candles outside on the terrace really got to shine. Food was next, and, as always, delicious. Finally came the (fire)crackers. My host mom had bought 4 or 5 boxes of them, which we took down to the park across the street and added to the supplies of all the neighbors. We spent a good 1 1/2 hours watching kids and aunties dash back and forth lighting things that shot up or just sparkled or spun around, it was absolutely crazy and entertaining. Around 11:30 pm I accompanied Jessica back to her hotel, which was across Delhi and we could hardly even see on the streets (and it was no easy task to get a ride since everyone was busy celebrating!)
Other fun events of late:
I went to a Indian cooking class last weekend which was lots of fun and very tasty...I'm hoping I can replicate some of the stuff without too much of a disaster when I get home. I'm kind of worried I won't eat back in the US because I loooove Indian food so much. I also have a lower of opinion of American food now because the only American food in India really doesn't taste right: milk shakes with no icecream, hamburgers with no beef, questionable lasagna, grilled cheese that consists of two slices of toasted bread with cold cheese in the middle...
Last Sunday we took a trip to what is kind of like a suburb to Delhi called Gurgaon. Gurgaon is interesting because, as my professor put it, it looks like a movie set. There are all these huge malls with more being constructed and slick high-rise office buildings plunked on top of Indian village life. The streets are still mostly brown dirt and host the traffic of a variety cattle drawn carts (we even saw an elephant...), people, old cars...tourist buses and sleek new cars for the people that can actually afford these malls. Gurgaon is also home to many manufacturing plants for companies like the clothing stores H&M and Gap (often made in the same plant) and other brand names we are quite familiar with in the US. Oh, and let's not forget, the call centers. Many of the calls we place in the US for technical assistance or to file complaints come in here to people who are overworked, underpaid, and stuck in between worlds. Many of them are given false names that they use with their best American accent while they listen to problems from across the world with limited bathroom breaks and food breaks. Such jobs create a lot of stress for the workers and place them in an odd dichotomy of cultures and personalities. I think there's a good documentary on this...I'll get the name of it and update this sentence =). Some of the flashy buildings there are not plastered with the company's name in an effort to be inconspicuous, but I think they already missed that boat. Just by looking at the streets one must wonder how these businesses are sustained. The ones that cater to overseas customers I can understand, but the malls that rely on local consumers I can't imagine will last long as they house stores of high line brand names that even I, someone who can afford auto rides over buses if I please, will not venture into. In fact, today my host sister Juhi asked if I understood Indian currency, meaning, did I get that something that costs 100 rupees (about $2.50) is expensive and I said yes because when I hear 100 now I do think it's a lot. But these stores have jeans easily upwards of Rs. 2,000...I'll be interested to see how it all plays out. My professor said they always look crowded in the summer, but most people go there to enjoy the free air conditioning.

I spent most of Monday at the Office of Home Affairs trying to get my student visa extended and almost crying upon the denial. Like most things here, this office is not terribly organized and was crowded and basically fend-for-yourself. After 3 hours of that I got to talk to a guy who told me "you have until December 5th, that's a long time!" and I could not explain to him I'm just not ready to leave this place...not to mention I already changed my plane tickets to December 19th. In conclusion, I'm making a trip to Nepal (I hope) December 1 because if I leave the country I can apply for an Indian tourist visa. I'm excited to visit a new country, which I hear is beautiful, but figuring out all the paper work and travel plans at the moment makes me want to marry a sketchy Indian man so I can get a visa and he can get a green card, then we'd all be happy.

Tuesday I went with my friend Kritika to her family friend's wedding. Basically there was a lot of food, colors, sparkles, and people. We were there for the bride's side so we hung out in the reception area for about an hour while the groom's side processed from somewhere else dancing and singing. The bride wasn't there however: she doesn't come until 1/2 hour after the groom arrives. Then they are picked up and put garlands on each other and take pictures, etc. until they go up to a fire for a pooja that officially marries them. I felt a bit sorry for the bride because she had such a heavy saree on and so much jewelry I wasn't sure how she could sit upright let alone walk, but she was certainly beautiful!

Wednesday my friend Bree FROM LOYOLA!! flew in with a few of her friends from Dubai where she is studying for the semester. Needless to say, I was thrilled to see her (and bummed to say goodbye today!) As I tried to plan things for them to see around Delhi I realized there is a lot I haven't done yet (which makes this visa thing even more imperative!) It was a lot of fun taking them to Old Delhi and shopping, and let's not forget to Agra to see the Taj. While in Agra we also saw the Agra Fort, which was very cool: complete with an apartment that views the Taj for Shah Jahan when he was kept in house arrest there by his son so he could look up on the grave of his beloved wife, a beautiful garden in the middle of the harem, a mote, and things that definitely resembled secret passage ways. Monuments and activities aside though, being their tour guide of sorts made me realize how comfortable I really have gotten in Delhi and with navigating from here. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of things and my Hindi is a bit more functional and now I have to go!

Today I sent Bree and company back to the airport =( and have the wonderful tasks of final papers and tests ahead of me, some things I can't even escape in India!

there was a bunch of large pine cones...
an amazing tree spotted on our hike, trees make me happy =)
hanging out...we did 'river crossing,' but the river was pretty much dry, so it was more 'open space crossing,' which was almost as exciting
sunrise over the himalayans...or whatever extension of them stretches south....from the train we took to our camping trip at a hillstation. What a peaceful sight to wake up to after a night on the train.
Radhika enjoying the balloons at the Durga Pooja celebration in our neighborhood. (I actually liked them a lot too because they had elastic strings on the ends so you could bop them around...)

November, na?

Ooook! I can't believe the day after tomorrow is Diwali! Here Diwali is kind of like Christmas in that colorful lights are put up everywhere, lots of people go shopping, parents are a bit stressed out, and it's pretty much the biggest holiday in the country. Diwali is a Hindu holiday that celebrates Lord Rama's return from his victory over Ravana. Upon his return, oil lamps were lit, so light is a big part of this festival; the candles and strings of lights that illuminate the darkness of Diwali, which always falls on a new moon (or whatever it is when there is no moon in the sky...), symbolize the victory of good over evil and truth over all. On the ground this means I have 4 large boxes of firecrackers in the corner of my room ready to burst in excitement like the rest of us in 2 days time. The festivities started long ago, but now the rush is in full swing. This morning my host mom woke me up at 5:30 am to go to the flower market. She said we went so early to miss the rush, which was true as far as roads are concerned, but in the darkness of dawn we could hardly find space to put our feet as we bought flowers (she said it was just the florists...I don't want to see it when it's actually crowded...) The flower market in the moonlight was pretty...pretty (aside from the man peeing on the side of road next to where we parked the car). I tried to navigate the market, which was probably about the length of a downtown block in Chicago and was packed with stalls and stalls of whole sale flower sellers, under the guise of my hoody so my host mom wouldn't have to worry about them raising prices at the sight of a foreigner =). My host mom bought a TON of flowers, so our house is smelling quite good at the moment. But I guess I should talk about Diwali after it happens...so
This weekend we went to a village called Abhepur, in the state of Haryana about 1 1/2 hours south of Delhi. This was our exposure to "village life," which was a refreshing break from the city. Our trip was organized by a NGO called Vision of India, so they showed us the weaving centers they started and introduced us to the women that run them and profit from them (we even got to try some weaving.) My favorite part was the night and early morning. Julia and I stayed with a family that lives in a mud hut and it was wonderful. We tried out our Hindi skills with the family and they let us help make rotis over a fire fueled by cow dung patties (or cakes...whichever word you prefer...and they don't smell for the record). At night we could see all the stars and the thumbnail moon from our cots. I loved it! Of course, good things never last too long and we got up at around 5 am to walk to the outskirts of the village and attempt to do yoga...let's just say our "OOM"s were accompanied by a fair big of laughter. As clean and tidy and welcoming as the mud hut and our host family were, toilets were lacking, so I added my pile of poo to the cow, goat, and who knows what else in the bushes because one can't do yoga under such conditions...
More on this later I think...I have to string lights for Diwali!!

Oh What a Day!

I feel like there are about a million things I could talk about write now...so I'll just see what comes out...
This morning after arriving in Delhi at 5:30am after a weekend spent at a hill station I began to get calls from friends in Delhi wishing me Happy Birthday! I was a bit into the routine and sitting on the terrace when I got a call from a number I didn't recognize...I wasn't sure if I should answer, but I thought, why not? I did and it was Roshni, Jenny, and Jeff calling me from LOYOLA! Now I hadn't spoken to anyone in the US since July, so you can imagine my excitement (I cried, hahaha). *sigh* That was the best birthday surprise ever...and I'm hoping no one else at home plans on calling me because I don't think I can emotionally handle it! *thanks guys for making me crazy happy and emotional, lol* Reconnecting with home is strangely head clearing, feels good =) Today is also Jackie's birthday (another American student here), so we'll probably get all dressed up and go out with the group =)
other events...
The hill station trip this weekend was with the English Department from Ramjas College, the college I attend here in Delhi. It was really nice to get to know my classmates better and to spend some time out of the city. The camp we went to reminded me a lot of fall in Chicago because the weather was cooler and the leaves were falling; it was nice to feel at home. We got to repel down the side of a...mini cliff I guess you could and cross a crevice strapped to some ropes, which was my favorite...I decided I need to put one of those ropes over Delhi for my morning commute. The fresh air and trees and flowers and cricket game I got to play were all relaxing and refreshing. The only unfortunate part of the weekend was that I got my first bout of Delhi Belly (or maybe not, since I wasn't in Delhi...); suffice to say I spent Sunday night throwing up...6 times in the woods. I was well cared for though...Indian hospitality is always overwhelming, so I felt very well cared after since I was camping with 36 Indians.
a random note...
Last week I got on a bus from the a market called INA (where I failed to find marshmallows for our camping trip...) to our study abroad center. When I got on, some people were already standing and offered me a newly vacated seat, which I gladly took. At the next 2 stops the bus got absolutely packed, so much so that at the next stop the people waiting to get on didn't even try to get on...which is a pretty big deal in Delhi because there's always room for one more. The only reason I mention this is because I found it quite comical. If someone moved several rows back and on the other side of the bus I could feel them move because everyone had to shift for anyone to move and there were guys hanging out of the entrance and exit of the bus as if they were holding in a dam about to burst. I was wondering how in the world I was going to get off this bus, but luckily it unpacked at the stop before mine. *oh delhi*

We got to see and use HUGE Chinese fishing nets...this fish actually just died I think...
the backwaters of Kerala "God's Own Country" na?
Nairita (who is a lot happier than this pic shows) put this sari on me! I was so pumped =)

Burn Baby Burn!

Yesterday Delhi celebrated Desshera in flaming colors. Desshera marks the day that Rama (whose life is told in the epic the Ramayana) defeats the evil Ravana and thus gets his wife Sita back. Ravana, I’m told, was actually quite a good fellow and he’s known to have 9 heads because he was so smart. His only down fall, and eventual demise, was his kidnapping of Sita. To celebrate this, which symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, effigies of Ravana (and 2 of his brothers) are burned. Tons of these effigies are made of all sizes and colors and on Desshera all of Delhi is aglow with fireworks and burning Ravanas. We went to a neighborhood near ours called RK Puram to watch. When we arrived the street that these particular effigies were on was already packed. We parked where traffic usually flows and got out to try to find a good viewing spot, but couldn’t and instead sat on top of our car, from there we could see the heads of the 3 effigies, which were about 20 or 30 feet tall. The view from cartop was spectacular: a street flooded with people and with trees of balloons that vendors were trying to sell floating in their midst and fireworks overhead. Over a loud speaker we could hear the play of the Ramayana being acted out in Hindi, I could at least understand the evil “HAHAHA” of Ravana and the enthusiastic “Jai!” of the crowd when prompted by the actor of Rama. The big fireworks went off right before Ravana was killed. Then, in a blast, the whole 30 foot, beautifully painted effigy was eaten by flames in a matter of seconds – it was aaawesome! As soon as Ravana was torched everyone dispersed, so we climbed down into the car. I was sure it’d take us at least an hour to get out because there were cars parked hodge podge in front and behind us (my host mom had actually moved our car closer to the others while we were perched on top…she may be crazier than I am), but we actually got out quickly. While we waited in the car I felt like we were in a river moving against the flow because literally thousands of people were rushing around us in the other direction. Even that was quite a site. I’ve been told this is just the beginning of festival season, so I can’t wait for what comes next =)

God's Own Land

I'm back in Delhi after a relaxing trip to a state in south India called Kerala (it's the green one on the southwest tip on the map with my face on it). Kerala is surprisingly urbanized for a state known for being lush and green. That's not the only unique thing about Kerala though: it has an elected communist state government (or that's what I think our lecturer said), it only consumes, since it's economy basically runs on the money of Non-Resident Indians who have gone to the Middle East or US, and it's 80% Catholic. We spent our time lounging in hotels, eating from the abundance of bananas and coconut flavored food, boating through the backwaters, and swimming in the Arabian Sea (beautiful!) Kerala is also famous for its Ayurvedic massages, which many girls in our group had. There were also tons of sari shops with intricate, heavy fabrics and elaborate jewelery, really kind of makes you want to be in a Bollywood movie so you can get all dressed up and dance around in those clothes.
Now I'm back in Delhi enjoying October because it's festival season =) Our neighborhood is all decorated for Navratri, which is basically a period of 9-10 days that are supposed to be very auspicious, so it is the time to make any investments or buy anything new or do basically anything that you want to turn out well. Navratri also means tasty fasting food I found out yesterday (as opposed to fast food). Instead of not eating at all, you don't eat certain foods, which means there are special foods you do eat, so basically, this is my kind of fasting! Last night my host family did a puja at home and tied a red string around my wrist (which they had already tied on each other when I was out of town) to symbolize the auspicious time. (The smoke detector IES required to be put in my room has since been taken out because when the whole neighborhood is burning incense is clay pots in the kitchen such things only make noise not sense...) Festival season will continue pretty much until Diwali, which I think is November 9, so this next month should be lots of fun =)

(another funny quote from my Hindi teacher: "Delhi autowalas treat everyone the same...above caste, creed, and sex [they are rude]."

=)

I'm gonna miss these girls!!!

The weather here is starting to cool off a bit. At night when I wake up to an itchy mosquito bite I'm actually happy to get under a sheet now, which is a nice change from the choice between more bites and a suffocating sheet. This cooling off (although I still hesitate in using the word cool) has made my days much less sweaty and thus much more pleasant. Cooler weather also means it's ok to turn on the oven so, I'm in the midst of baking the last of the first batch of chocolate chip cookies that my host sisters have ever made; it's been a completely delightful (and tasty!) task. I taught a few of my friends how to make cookies here (because I consider it tragic that they've never tasted cookie dough), and it was really quite funny. I was buying some ingredients with a pair of friends and one of them looks at me and says, "Do we need an...oven?" And I'm like, "yeah..." Her: "Like a microwave oven?" Me: "no...like a real one..." So we solved the problem by just eating dough.


Yesterday I visited an NGO called Can Kids...Kids Can that works with kids who are dealing with cancer to see if I can start volunteering there. I was glad that they said they could still use me despite my much less than fluent Hindi. I'm disappointed with myself and IES that I'm just now starting to volunteer because I thought this all would get set up a lot sooner. Of course though, I should have learned by now that here you have to do things yourself if you want them done and you have to network, so I heard of Can Kids through I think a chain of 3 people.
Aside from the general practice of "knowing someone" that does or knows someone that does whatever you need, I've started to assimilate my ways to Indian ways. From the first day I had a class at 8:40 am on north campus (a good 1 1/2 hours away) and was getting into a cycle rickshaw on the last link of my journey to class at 8:40 freaking out about being late to class til about last week I was still stuck in my American "need to be punctual" mindset. This mindset is completely useless here as every time I've rushed to "be on time" or "not quite so late" and been anxious about it, I've always arrived and had to wait even longer. This week I successfully said I was 20 minutes away when I really meant 35 and said I'm at homing walking out the door when I meant I'm almost to my house and still need to change and come. I also made my first roti (flat round bread we eat at most meals with some kind of vegetable), however square it was. To top my India initiation I stepped in poop for the first time, which was a long time coming (there are lots of poop piles on the roads here). I lasted about 2 1/2 months and it was only dog poop, so life is good.
Yesterday we visited Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is the India's President's house. It was built by the British back in the days when they planned to reign over India for the rest of time. It's a very grand building with huge banquet halls, dance halls, beautiful official conference rooms, and, to top it all off, a stunning Mughal garden out back. Despite the grandeur and Britishness of the structure, the structure of the tours there is very Indian and informal nowadays. We had a tour guide, but in a group of 10, it would have been quite easy for any 1 to sneak off and explore any room, restricted or not, in the place. I even got to play a few notes on the piano at the President's house, haha. The garden has all kinds of roses and a grid of fountains and visible canals with clear blue water. It was so refreshing, makes me glad the British built it before they finally left India alone.
Tomorrow we're leaving for a week in the south Indian state of Kerala, which I've heard only good things about, so I'm really excited for a week of relaxation and beauty on the coast and in the backwaters.

Salaam Baalak Walk

Today I went on a walk for my history class called Cities of Delhi lead by a ex-street kid who talked about life for street kids in Delhi. The walks are organized by a NGO called the Salaam Baalak Trust, which does a variety of cool things for the street kids. Our guide...whose name was Shakar I think...walked us through the New Delhi train station and surrounding neighborhood to show and tell us about the lives of Delhi street kids. He said a lot of the street kids in Delhi are runaways from rural areas, who leave for a variety of reasons: poverty, abuse, boredom, fantasies of city life they've seen on TV, etc. Our guide said he ran away from Bihar at age 12 because he'd gotten himself into gambling and drugs and realized that he was causing a lot of trouble and pain for his parents and didn't know a better way to turn his life around and stop troubling them (respect and love for parents is very profound here). Many kids, like him, show up at the New Delhi train station without much of a plan, but are picked up quickly by other street kids...or if you are a girl, probably kidnapped by a pimp (the number of runaway girls and street girls is a lot lower for this reason). The networking that happens between these children in an effort to get by is amazing. He said they have essentially informal business relationships with the juice vendors at the station: sometimes sleeping on top of their shacks, sometimes using them as a bank of sorts, sometimes giving them some of the spoils of their train car raids. They sometimes take the money stored at the juice vendors' place to pay police officers off so they don't get sent to the government shelter/prison. They sell old magazines to the media stands and know how to act blind and mute to avoid trouble when traveling on trains without tickets. Our guide said a lot of the kids would rather not go to a government shelter or with organizations like Salaam Baalak because the freedom they have on the streets is amazing and shelters make them study at certain times and bathe everyday! (He wouldn't go until he was told there was a TV he could watch; apparently many of the kids are enthralled with Bollywood). Our guide is now 20 and working on his MBA with dreams of being a Bollywood actor and has already been in a few short films. He's now back in touch with his parents and has a very good relationship with them (and they are quite proud that he's fluent in English and working his way through college). Needless to say, the achievements of some of the kids that go through Salaam Baalak are amazing. (We got to say hi to some of the boys at one of the Salaam Baalak shelters, they were enthusiastic and happy...I really wish I knew enough Hindi to talk to them.)
A word about Salaam Baalak:
Salaam Baalak persuades kids on the streets to come to their shelter and lets them choose whether or not they want to stay. Once there, they are first asked if there's any way they'd go home, if that is unsuccessful, they ask them about they dreams and desires and do their best to set them on that track. It's really an amazing organization. If you want to check out their website it's:
http://www.salaambaalaktrust.com/

This one's for you pops...in some parts of the world they know clergy ought to be 'set apart.'
The beach in Galle, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, perhaps the Indian Ocean?
We went to an elephant orphanage in a place called Pinnewala (I think)...they were pretty cool, but it was kind of sad to see some of them chained up and the deformities some of them had from poachers.

I want KANDY!! (da daa da da da da)

Last week we had a break from our IES classes, so I hopped on a plane with my friend Parvoneh to visit her friend Will in a town called Kandy in Sri Lanka. Even if Sri Lanka had been a miserable place, I think I would have been satisified just by staying in a place called "Kandy," but fortunately it was more, as the postcards say, a taste of paradise. After a long day/night/morning of traveling, Parvoneh and I arrived in Kandy and found the hotel Will had booked for us. We honestly weren't expecting too much because we travel and stay on students' budgets, but our room was very nice. We had a balcony view of the Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, the lake in front of it, and the jungle all around. That alone was quite relaxing after buses, trains, and planes. And please ask me what the first thing I did in Kandy was =) haha, right, I ate candy (but that's only because I was starving and the only thing in the fridge at the hotel was pop and chocolate, so it was basically forced on me.) Anyway, Sri Lanka was beautiful. On the train from Colombo (on its west coast) to Kandy (kinda in the middle) we saw the terrain change from beach to marshy farm fields (everything was dripping in green) to jungle. It rained at least 10 times a day in light showers and drive-by downpours, but the rain cooled everything, so the weather there was fabulous (and I can't forget the wonderful lake breeze, which is so refreshing when one is used to Delhi). The people of Sri Lanka are very nice too, which caught us off guard because we are used to friendly people in Delhi, who are almost always up to something. After we let our guard down, we enjoyed their friendliness and hospitality. Probably the best thing we did there was visit a girls' orphanage that Will's study abroad group goes to every week. Basically we were told to just hang out with the girls and talk to them so they could practice their English. It was so much fun, the girls were around 12 or 13 and full of energy and enthusiasm. We discussed our favorite Bollywood heart throbs and played games...I was so sad that we had to tell them we weren't coming back even though everyone else would be. Nevertheless they were truly a delight and blessing. Everything else that was supercool is better told through photos...so I'll be trying to post those soon.
Now I'm back in Delhi almost sad that we have a 2 week break coming up at Ramjas because that means I won't get to see my friends there for quite a while. The timing is pretty good though since I have a test in one of my IES classes next week and some cookie baking lessons to schedule with my girl friends here that have never made chocolate chip cookies (which is a TRAGEDY!) Things here are starting to form into some kind of routine, which is nice, and the weather has actually cooled down for a few days. Manoj, one of our IES staffers, said it'll only stay cool if I believe it will...so I'm trying really hard to maintain faith and not let my conviction that Delhi never cools down win out. I can't really escape the feeling that I'm on some kind of extended vacation (even though I'm taking classes, etc), which kind of frustrates me now and then because I guess I feel like I should be accomplishing something significant, but I think I'm starting to appreciate the opportunity to enjoy experiencing India and the chance to relax and breathe.

Purani Dillee

Chandni Chowk area in Old Delhi. Old Delhi is quite distinct from the rest of Delhi. The streets are really narrow and crowded (this picture is of one of the wider, less congested streets...) and everything just kind of kept building on itself. That being said, it is very cool. Old Delhi is built on what used to Shajahanabad, a city that Shah Jahan built in the mid 1600s...but it was later pretty messed up by the British because the streets are narrow and twisty making them perfect for natives to escape foreign pursuers. The houses there used to be mostly havelis, which are basically houses with open space in the middle, open as in you can see the sky. They are sooo nice and seem quite a sanctuary because they are so quiet and cool compared to the bustle and sweat just outside their walls. The havelis were quite large meant to house extended families and had the open interior because back in the day women weren't exactly allowed to leave so they were allowed at least this space to be 'outside.' Now people have built in and around and over the havelis so the neighborhood is homes piled upon homes and great tangles and knots of electric wires (which makes you amazed that the electricity ever works...) We got to go on the roof of on of the homes, which was so cool because you can clearly just go from one roof/terrace to another so much so that you can go across streets and neighborhoods that way if you know where you are going. We went down one street call patli gali (literally 'thin gully') that was so thin that I wasn't sure my fat back pack would fit through...suffice to say, I'm glad we had a guide who grew up there or we would've easily gotten quite lost. (I can only imagine what fun it is for the kids there, sooo much mischief that could be done and crazy games that could be played. It really kind of reminded me of Aladdin). We didn't really eat anything from the 'chaats' (basically roadside food) there, but I guess that that's half the attraction, so I'll have to go back with someone that knows what the good stuff is; I think the parathas and mithais (sweets) are supposed to be amazing.

On a random note: I went to a Bible study Sunday night (which was quite good) where I ate meat for the first time in a long time; it was nice to be in the presence of other carnivores...I mean Christians.
the calm inside a haveli; this is actually a girls' school now

Soooo kuchi kuchi CUTE!

This morning the first thing I did after rubbing the remnants of sleep out of my eyes is wander outside onto our terrace. This is my usual routine because the weather is so nice in the morning and our terrace is the perfect place to watch the sunrise and planes take off (Indira Ghandhi airport isn't too far away). This morning I wandered to the back of the terrace to fold my laundry still hanging from the day before. When I had my pile of clothes I started walking back to the front, eyes still half-shut, but before I made it around the corner my eyes almost popped out of my head because they caught those of a monkey about 2 feet away from me and looking as if were going to pounce. Oh man did that wake me up! I admit it, I screamed bloody murder (which scared the monkey) and retreated. Turns out there were 4 monkeys (one of which was quite large) hanging out on the corner of the terrace...between me and the door into the apartment. I put my clothes back on the laundry machine and waited a good 5 minutes (who knows how long i could've stayed out there...) for them to wander further over on the terrace, then I grabbed a large piece of wood that I used to scare the monkeys when they saw me (they were chillin' by the door into the apartment by now) and said some Alleluias when I stepped back inside. And I used to think the little guys were so cute..
I need to get a better picture of these guys. The above are residents of Shimla, but they pop up all over Delhi too...

Tiranga (tri-color: rang=color)

Last night we went to a performance celebrating Indian Flag Day (August 31). Like many many things here, it was amazing and I cannot do it justice. They explained what the saffron, green, and white colors and blue Ashoka Chakra. To sum it up, I will quote Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (an Indian Vice President at one point time) via wikipedia,
"Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation of disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change."

To celebrate the flag, poetry was read and music played in 4 sections, one for each part of the flag. The poetry was in Hindi...so I could tell when he was using the progressive tense...but the meaning alluded me. Luckily, music is universal and "wvah!" (Hindi "wow!") was it amazing. There was a traditional singer, a guitarist (...probably not a guitar, but to my eyes it was), a flutist (again, American interpretation of what it was), a man playing a large, fat pot that looked like a piece of art, and several drummers of various kinds. The drums were my favorite. They made all kinds of sounds, including one like a huge drop of water falling into a pool. They made such energetic rhythms and their fingers moved soo quickly. The drummers' hands reminded me of the spider I was trying to kill in my bathroom yesterday morning because his fingers all moved separately and at an amazing pace...then suddenly would pause and you never knew what they would do next, so you could feel calm for a moment, then the movement starts again and with it, the excitement (since I enjoyed the drumming so much it made me regret having killed the spider...) I also enjoyed watching the man who played the pot-like instrument because his head bobbled up and down and around with the rhythms as if he himself were part of the instrument. Trianga definitly made me feel the joy of liberation and the hope of peace and good will.

some rambling thoughts follow...
Having the privilage of attending that celebration and just general talk about colonialism (because I am in Indian and it is a theme in a few of my classes) has really put into the forefront of my reality that freedom is still new and fresh in many places in the world (and of course, not a reality in others.) Globalization is happening, and it is fusing identities while thrusting them into the forefront. What does it mean to be Indian or Nigerian or Western? What is progress and who has the authority to dictate history? We have discussed such questions in the classrooms of my past, but being in a place that is itself living this debate really highlights that such questions are not history. They are now and they effect all of us.

Things that makes me laugh...language wise:
"Angali (pronounced sounds like "ugly") larki sundar hai." English:
"the next girl is beautiful" but to an english/hindi speaker sounds like "ugly girl is beautiful"

When I say things in Hindi my Indian friends often repeat what I say in English to confirm that that's what I meant to say. So here's my joke:
me: "Mai hasna pasand hai"
mera dost (my friend): "You like to laugh?"
me: "haahaahaa"
(haa means "yes" in Hindi)

take!

Today in Hindi class we had a funny conversation with Geeta ji, our professor, about being polite and eating. She asked us what the difference between "Come on in" and "Do come in" is to an English speaker. White debating it amongst ourselves, Julia said she'd said "would you like to come in?" Geeta ji said she would never go in if someone asked her that because it's part of Indian culture to assume that if you are asking them "would you like some? would you like to? would you, etc?" that the questioner doesn't really want you to accept...like such questions are only asked because the asker feels forced to by the other person present. She told us how she went to dinner with some of her first Hindi students from UK, New Zealand, and Scotland and they would ask her "would you like this?" and so she would always refuse...and always be hungry. See in India, you don't offer something so much as demand someone to take it. You must understand that in India when you sit down at someone's table for a meal, you are told "take! take!" upon finishing anything on your plate again you are told "take! take!" (or sometimes it reappears on your plate when your head is turned the other way and in your blindness you can't refuse). She told us that if Indians go to someone's house to eat and the food is before them and they are starving they will not eat unless they are told "take" (and for that matter, it's rude to take it without being told...which made some of us feel a bit awkward in retrospect). Luckily Geeta ji and her first students soon figured out the differences in culture and established a system of 'western no' and 'hindi no.' The former meaning actually 'no' and the latter meaning ask or offer again and I will say yes (in fact I do want it, but must deny at least once to be polite). She also said in Delhi this formality of refusing once or twice is fading in the culture so if she really wants something (but doesn't want to sound rude) she will say "abhi nahi" meaning "not right now," which she says assures she won't lose the offer completely (unless the other is rude). What I want to know is how to say a Western 'no' to people who aren't language teachers...I'm afraid I may be unrecognizable upon my return home from taking in too much =)

Notes on Everyday Things

I thought there some everyday Delhi things may be of interest...maybe not =)
Transportation:
This is an autorickshaw...we have fun arguing with the autowallas (drivers) about using the meter and getting fair prices, my favorite phrase of these encounters is, "Bhaiya, thik boliye," which means "Brother, speak the truth!"

Below is one of the DTC (delhi transportation corp) buses. These 'blue buses' are notorious for being crowded and dangerous, i.e. they kill about 6oo people on the street per year. I sometimes take them in the morning (7-7:30ish) when I can still get a seat since I get on at the beginning of the line. They are significantly cheaper (and sweatier) than autos.
Everyone honks while driving...
I see the India Gate almost everyday because it is by the Metro yellow line stop I take to DU. "British Delhi" is physically quite distinct compared to the rest of Delhi. Hmmm...other daily happenings:
I have troubling studying while on the campus of Ramjas College (the branch of Delhi University I attend) because wherever I choose to sit (be it the library, canteen, sports field, hallway) guys that I do not know start talking to me. I don't mind talking to people and some of them are nice and interesting...but some of them clearly just want to talk to me because I am a white American female...which is pretty awkward. My new tactic for avoiding this is to always be with someone I know, but that also makes it hard to study because then we talk. It gets done eventually.
Professors regularly do not show up to class, which is frustrating since I have to commute about 1 1/2 hours to get to Ramjas and since I like going to class. On the up side, I was soo excited to actually have class today!
The food on the street and in the canteen (cafeteria) is reaaally good and is a nice change from the repetition of food I'm used to at home.
I'm not quite used to seeing monkeys here and there just hanging out, it's cool though as long as they do not want your fruit.
I usually get up around 5 or 6 am to catch the very nice morning weather. My host mom thinks I'm an early riser...my family may beg to differ.
Thik hai (ok)...that's all for now =)

Outside of one of Akbar's Hindu wife's room in the palace at Sikri. There were intricate carvings everywhere, one pole (not shown) has designs to symbolize Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism because he was very accepting of all religions. (His other wives were Muslim and Turkish).

so many kids here love it when you take their picture...so I don't know these folks, but they're happy =)

Wonders of the World

Saturday and Sunday we went on a tourist excursion to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri, one of the Capitals of the 3rd Mughal - Akbar The Great, built during 1569-72AD. The Taj is simply amazing. It's huge and truly awesome. It was crowded to say the least when Saturday because it was the anniversary of the death of Shahjahan, the Mughal emperor who built the Taj for his 'love' wife, so there was a large religious procession going on. The tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (I think her name is actually longer than that...)are in the basement, but there are replicas on the main floor which are equally intricate and beautiful. I think standing at the foot of it and just looking up is the most amazing view, but taking a closer look at all the intricate carvings literally all over the building almost makes it surprising they could finish it in 22 years. I guess the going joke is to ask your husband if he loves you enough do something as amazing as building the taj for you (which of course he says, "yes, as soon as you die...hurry up!") Mumtaz died giving birth to their 14th child in 18 years of marriage...Anyway, we did venture down to the basement to see the real tombs, but it honestly was not worth it that day. It was a small room with the tombs, but Saturday it was packed with people praying and moving and the walls were all wet (which could have been from holy water or perspiration), there was barely room to move. The Fatehpur Sikri palaces were also beautiful and fun to walk around and hear the history. It's amazing to walk through history.
Upon our return to Delhi I realized that I was strangely happy to be back. I say strangely because I would have to say I like Delhi, but I don't think of Delhi like I think of Chicago, meaning, as a city that I just absolutely love. I think I'm starting to like Delhi because I'm starting to get familiar with it. This is probably a bad analogy, but for almost 3 hours on the bus we were talking about arranged marriages vs. love marriages, and I feel like I'm in an arranged marriage with Delhi and as I get more familiar with this stranger that has just come into my life my affection for it grows. I feel like I've been asked a lot lately if I like India and I just find it to be a funny question to ask...some things just can't be yes or no. Some days I feel like everything is backwards and not worth dealing with, but then there times when I'm completely happy to be here discovering new tings (new to me at least). My favorite thing about India is the people, but I'd have to think for me that's universally true. Anyway, I'm about to start rambling on and on, so it's time I sign off.

showing our affection =)
Juhi practices cheek squeezing like a crazy great aunt, hopefully I'll still have some when I come back

pictures can't do this place justice on any level

pardon my rambling

We took a long weekend to Simla, which was the British summer capital back in the day. I never thought I'd actually be taking a toy train through the Himalayans, it is so beautiful and cool up there. We had to take 2 trains to get there (a total of about 12 hours traveling each way). The first train was pretty normal, but the toy train from Kalka to Simla was more like what you'd see in movies where people are traveling in India. It was small with paneless windows so everyone with a window seat hung half way out of the train and it was completely acceptable to hang out of the doors. I've never appreciated cool air so much in my life, so if I wasn't already happy enough, the view was amazing, green mountains with clouds hanging out here and there, sometimes we went right through them. Simla is completely a tourist town now, so it wasn't hard to find a place to eat or stay, but it was a challenge to walk around there. The roads there remind me of this hill on a cross country course in Kansas that we went to every year in high school, it was so steep you felt like you ought to just grab on with your hands and climb it like a ladder...but in Simla that's everywhere. We hiked up part of the mountain to the Jakhu Temple, which is a temple of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman. After dragging myself up the mountain, I understood why it was a temple for the monkey god: they are everywhere. It was odd to see them so often especially since the terrain, filled with evergreen type trees...and the random cactus...isn't exactly where I picture monkeys. We were warned not to carry anything because of the monkeys. As it turns out some people have trained them to take things like glasses, then the people retrieve them and charge 50 rupees (this happened to a girl in our group...). Since I don't wear glasses I enjoyed watching the monkeys when we got to sit down at the top...and as it turns out the other tourists liked watching us. In fact, we had quite a few groups of Indian people ask to take pictures with us. They all seemed like normal people just touring Simla, one man and wife even asked if we'd be in a picture with their little boys. We did that, then started saying no...although I was more on the "yes for 20 rupees" side (the group didn't take that seriously...but we could've paid off our weekend escapade had we set up shop).

On Sunday we (Julia, Caitlin, and I) went with the woman we were staying with to a girls' ashram (orphanage) about 1 1/2 hours away. The drive was fairly terrifying between the narrow, poorly kept roads (covered with "NO OVERTAKING" signs that nobody obeys), the huge buses, and the steep drops (that had great views, but minimal railings...). However, I was glad we went when we got there. The girls live perched on a mountain side and are equally as beautiful. We got to each lunch with them, and the food (made by some of the girls) was some of the best we've had in India and of course, they fed us way too much (I've never seen little girls eat so much). There was an old man there that we decided is a cross between Santa and Gandhi (because he had was so jolly and kind, but also taught the girls songs about community and overtaking hurdles in life and never becoming destitute...roughly translated). It was such an inspiring place, the girls, who were silly, healthy and happy, were such a breath of fresh air.

Sunday night we took a sleeper train home. We we were in a car with a group of "Britishers" (as Indians say) in our car that said they had been robbed by armed drunk men on their way north and consequently lost $4,000...or something like that. The bunks were comfortable enough, but our car was unairconditioned, so the sticky air greeted us back home to Delhi. There was definitely a stick of a scandaless "Rahul" on Julia's bunk, haha. It was fun experience although probably not the best night's sleep I've ever had. We arrived droopy-eyed and crazy-haired to the morning streets of Delhi at 6:30 am. Turns out that people sleep all over the place, we saw men sleeping on walking bridges and bags of who-knows-what commodity in the medians. There's always something new here for better or worse.

One final note, I saw a sign today saying basketball practice at Ramjas College is 6:15 am every day. I don't think I can get an auto or bus early enough to get there, but I'm really excited at the prospect of getting involved in something here that I 'belong' in, lol. My campus experience today was much better. We're discovering that some professors just don't show sometimes...and that the student recreation center is hidden behind a huge pile of dirt, but air conditioned and accompanied by students playing guitar. I'm starting to feel more comfortable and really excited to get involved in extracurricular activities no matter how much digging and questioning it takes to figure out what's going on. Everything here is figured out because you know someone who knows someone who is involved in whatever, so meeting people is on the top of the list. I've also learned that wearing black disguises my pool of sweat, haha.

Fresher

Monday was my first day of class at Delhi University. Most students there who are not freshmen there think we (the IES students) are because here you go to your three years of school with essentially all the same people in all your classes, so if there are people you don't know you assume they are new (...and people don't transfer here either). Although it's important to explain we really are 3rd year students to avoid 'fresher ragging' I really did feel like a stereotypical freshman again at least for the first half of Monday. I know I've mentioned it's kind of hot and humid here, but for some reason I was sweating more than usual on Monday, so when I got to Ramjas (the college I'm enrolled in in DU), my shirt was a completely darker shade and my face a fountain of sweat, then I couldn't find room 120...because it was actually room 102, then the people in the room before the class told me the class wasn't held in there (even though it was...) and of course if my sweatiness and lost state weren't enough everyone kind of stared at me because I seemed to be the only white person there on Monday. When class was about to start I was feeling like the stereotypical miserable freshman in high school. I really felt very isolated with my pool of sweat. Then a girl sat next to me, introduced herself as Kritika and asked me my name and where I'm from. When I said America, she said, and I quote "What the hell are you doing here?!" And in that moment I answered quite honestly "I was just wondering that myself." Of course the day got better after that, it was nice to make a friend, she even called me after my next class to make sure I had someone to eat lunch with and it turns out her best friend lives exactly where I live in South Delhi. Friendly people really do make quite a difference. The classes at DU seem like they are going to be easier than I would have expected, but I've been told it's because in India some students are granted admission due to reservation laws (affirmative action) and these students by and large come from terrible school systems so many professors try to make things easier so they can start to catch up. I am a bit frustrated with the seeming ease of the classes, but I've only been to 2 days of class so I'm sure it will pick up a bit...and if not I'll have that much more time to study Hindi and manage my essentially 2 hour commute (one way). The classes that IES is offering will be more demanding I think and hopefully I have an internship or volunteer opportunity once a week, so I think my days will be full enough (even without much class I pretty much collapse at 9 or 10 every night...right after dinner at 8 or 9pm because just getting from here to there is exhausting here). I am glad to be getting into a more regular schedule now and starting some classes, it'll all balance out soon enough.
Some things you don't lose across country lines: I went to see Harry Potter with my host sisters on Sunday. I find it funny how it's quite the craze here almost as much as at home, I even saw copies of it written in Hindi. Juhi thought it was funny that I was so tired after the movie and thought there must be something wrong with me (since I was quiet and calm...), but I was trying to explain to her that in America movies never start at 10 am!
I learned how to make plum juice today, it's wonderful =)

bangles galore after our trip to the Hindu temple. (me and shilpa)

Juhi was saying "noooo!!" as in don't take the picture...so I thought she meant "post it on your blog!"

Radhika and Juhi, my sisters =)

Yesterday I got and road an autorickshaw all by myself for the first time and I didn't even get cheated. That's sounds like a silly thing to be excited about, but it is something of an achievement since my Hindi isn't so existent and my skin is such that everyone wants to make an extra buck off me. I even knew how to get where I was going, which is nice because it is a bit nerve wrecking to always be trusting people you don't know and can't really communicate with. It's hard not trusting people, but we are constantly told not to trust people we don't know and not to talk to them, don't smile, etc. It's not that everyone is going to hurt you, but safety over being friendly right?
It absolutely poured yesterday...but I missed it =( because I was in a movie (Partner, it's basically the Bollywood version of Hitch...apparently there are lots of Bollywood movies that are take offs of American ones - literally some lines and scenes are identical). I'm starting to wonder what it will be like if it really does start acting like monsoon season because with the one rain yesterday the roads were pretty flooded making it hard to drive and walk down them without getting too much too wet. My host mom thinks the lack of rain in Delhi is due to the people here. She says people don't follow the rules here and they don't do what's right. She often says she wishes someone would take over for 20 years and fix it all, she even said she hoped the army took rule (considering they would do the right things for the people).

Tomorrow I'm planning on going to class at Delhi University for the first time. We (IES students) aren't supposed to start class for another week, but DU started class last week and since I can go to class, I figure why not? I'm a little nervous since I don't know anyone...and don't know if my enrollment is complete yet...and don't know what books to get or where, but I figure the only way to find out is to start showing up. I'm starting realize that here you just have to do things if you want them done or you want to know something. I say that like it's different from home...but it really is. There is some much that is so simple and straightforward at Loyola that is not here. At home if I wait around to do something eventually someone will call me on it or go with me somewhere or help me figure things out, but here it's more like if you wait...you'll just keep waiting and waiting and waiting. The stereotypical competitiveness that is associated with India scholastically is starting to make more sense to me. There are just so many people here that if you just sit and wait, you will be left behind. In colleges here it's something like 2,000 students competing for one seat. It makes me grateful that I have more lee-way in life; I can be in college and be unsure of what the next step is...and have things work out. I could be a good student in high school and know for sure that that meant I would go to college. It's not so simple here. I knew all of this before coming here, but it's different when I know my host sister, Juhi, is in the thrust of it all. I can't answer the question: "what's this change for me?" and that's frustrating. Being here just makes those nagging questions that you sometimes ponder about equality and basically luck in life all the more present and frequent. Why is that kid a beggar, where are his parents, why is she a house maid and why does he have to do unsafe construction work in 100 degrees? Why do I assume that my life is better than theirs? (better, of course, meaning more enjoyable as I go through it) Why even ask these questions over and over? I ask the same ones of the streets of Chicago, but I guess it's easier to think of reasons there or easier to be isolated.

Enough of that. There are many things I love here. My host family being on the top of that list. They are so goofy, which makes me feel more comfortable. They even started tugging my cheeks, which I think means I'm in, haha. Of course, I'm going to have to fight off food hard to not gain 20 pounds while I am here. Purnima ji even has put more food on my plate when I was looking the other way! It's good food, but my tummy can only hold so much. I also really like Delhi University and I'm excited to start classes there, it'll be nice to meet people my age and get into campus life.