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.