So I have 11 days left in India. It is a very strange feeling to know that I will be setting foot on US soil soon, it feels like I just got here. In some ways I am ready to go back but there is just so much to see in this country that I don't want to leave. I have resorted to coming back at some point and exploring this country further.
At the beginning of the semester the professors were always telling us that we will not realize what we learned here until well after we have left this place. So if I see any of you that read this blog and you ask me what I learned or what I learned about myself I will have to get back to you on that one. Maybe I will come back to this blog and write a final entry on that subject in however long it takes me to realize what I did here.
These last 11 days will be full of writing, preparing for my presentation, and shopping for last minute gifts (I am pretty much done but there are things that have managed to slip my mind for the past three months). The weather seems to have cooled down just a little bit, and by that the temperature has probably dropped only a couple of degrees, it is still well above 100F don't worry.
There is nothing much to report just that I will be seeing some of you very shortly and I can't wait!
Peace
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Agra
My internship has been going well, and I have observing the programs that CFI runs. They are all really interesting and seem to be making an impact on these kids lives. The slums that I have been going to are a lot different than the ones that I saw in Mumbai. One of them was very crowded and the homes were very small, maybe the size of a single dorm room for a family of four. I am in the process of writing my big paper, and I met with my advisor yesterday and he's the type of person than hates structure. So this paper is basically going to be my reflection and thoughts along with trying to write a paper that would be satisfactory for back home if I ever needed it- not gonna happen. He doesn't want quotes from other readings pulled in, and it will basically be one long journal entry ending with whether or not I think the NGO is doing a good job and what they can do better. AWESOME
This past weekend five of us went to Agra, and one of my friends dad came as well! He treated us the whole weekend which was really nice, and the monuments we saw were beautiful. The Taj is unbelievable. It is made completely out of marble and has intricate carvings and in-laid work, and all of the in-laid work is made with semi-precious stones- basically really expensive! We also saw the Agra fort which reminded me a lot of the Amber Fort in Jaipur- i think they were done around the same time. We also saw Fatehpur Sikri which is an abandoned city 30km outside Agra. It took 15 years to make and then everyone left and went to Agra. It is thought that they left because there was no water, but normally thats the first thing you look for in a city, so it is kind of a mystery. We flew into and out of Delhi and didn't really see much of it which is fine, I feel like it is mostly government buildings anyways.
Ok thats all for now, I am spending the weekend in Pune and will be writing furiously!
Peace
This past weekend five of us went to Agra, and one of my friends dad came as well! He treated us the whole weekend which was really nice, and the monuments we saw were beautiful. The Taj is unbelievable. It is made completely out of marble and has intricate carvings and in-laid work, and all of the in-laid work is made with semi-precious stones- basically really expensive! We also saw the Agra fort which reminded me a lot of the Amber Fort in Jaipur- i think they were done around the same time. We also saw Fatehpur Sikri which is an abandoned city 30km outside Agra. It took 15 years to make and then everyone left and went to Agra. It is thought that they left because there was no water, but normally thats the first thing you look for in a city, so it is kind of a mystery. We flew into and out of Delhi and didn't really see much of it which is fine, I feel like it is mostly government buildings anyways.
Ok thats all for now, I am spending the weekend in Pune and will be writing furiously!
Peace
Monday, April 5, 2010
Go Go Goa!
Sorry I haven’t updated in a long time, last week was exams and I had a lot of papers to write! I probably wrote more in these past two weeks than I have ever. I had about four papers to do all over the length of 8 pages, no fun. But classes are over and its time for Internships! I still don’t have an internship lined up, but I am hoping to work with an NGO that does slum rehabilitation. This NGO does a couple of things, they may put sanitation systems in a slum, add proper roads, or construct low rise apartment buildings. The basic objective of my internship is to see how this NGO chooses what projects to undertake in the slums, and where the funding comes from. Hopefully I will get this started soon because April will fly by!
This past weekend a few of us went to Goa and it was so fun! It was great to relax for four days after doing papers, and the resort we stayed at was amazing. It was pretty small, had two pools and was right on the beach. We also had really good seafood, and it was a nice change from the Indian food we have been having for the past 3 months. We got back this morning at like 6am, after being on a sleeper bus for 8hrs.
It is weird to think that I have a month left, and then I am heading back home! These three months have gone by quickly, and April is going to fly. This coming weekend I am going to a tribal village for my Public Health class, the following weekend I am going to Agra to see the Taj, then we have about two weeks after that! Crazy!
Ok not much to report just that I am happy classes are over. I will post again soon!
Peace
This past weekend a few of us went to Goa and it was so fun! It was great to relax for four days after doing papers, and the resort we stayed at was amazing. It was pretty small, had two pools and was right on the beach. We also had really good seafood, and it was a nice change from the Indian food we have been having for the past 3 months. We got back this morning at like 6am, after being on a sleeper bus for 8hrs.
It is weird to think that I have a month left, and then I am heading back home! These three months have gone by quickly, and April is going to fly. This coming weekend I am going to a tribal village for my Public Health class, the following weekend I am going to Agra to see the Taj, then we have about two weeks after that! Crazy!
Ok not much to report just that I am happy classes are over. I will post again soon!
Peace
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A Busy Week
Last weekend was Holi, and we played colors with the kids on our street. Playing colors consists of colored powder, water, water guns, and water balloons. Being the rookies that we were, we only had a few water balloons and one water gun between the eight of us. The kids in the neighborhood had water guns that had reservoir tanks on their backs; we did not have a chance. When we were done playing the eight of us were pink, and I mean pink. My body looked like I had a bad sunburn on it- my elbows are still pink. We had it better than some other people though. When we went out we saw people that had colored powder all over them, it didn’t even look like water was used, just powder. The next day at school a few of the blondes had green, pink and purple in their hair, it actually looked really good!
Tuesday night we left for Mumbai as a program, and spent the next three days there. We had packed days full of speakers and sightseeing. We saw the dhobi ghat, which is like a Laundromat in Mumbai. People live in this area and their job is to wash clothes. It is enormous, and not a single article of clothing is ever lost. We also saw dharavi. If you have seen Slumdog Millionaire, dharavi is the slum that the main character is from. It is the largest slum in Asia, and instead of people leaving this slum for work, a lot of people come into it. The areas we saw were extremely organized and it is nothing like it is portrayed in the movie (but then again it’s a movie). Like any city today, people are moving out of Mumbai and going north to the suburbs. Dharavi is located north of Mumbai proper, and now this huge piece of land has become very valuable. The government is trying to rehabilitate the slums, but doing it in such a way that the developers can get as much profit out of the area as possible. They have proposed that everyone who has been in dharavi since 2000, and can prove that they have owned a home since then, will get housing. But they have not taken into consideration that most of these people live above their place of work, and by putting them in 20 story high rise they cannot run their business the same way they did before. There are many groups who are protesting this development, and trying to provide a better way to house these people and still keep their work in tact.
After dharavi we went to the Gateway of India, which is located on the Arabian Sea. It is also located right in front of the Taj Palace Hotel. It was an interesting contrast to go from a slum to a posh area of Mumbai. They were two very different worlds, and it shows you the stark contrast of people that exist in these large cities that we do not seem to see that much or at all at home. Our last big visit on the agenda was to a film institute in Film City (yes where they film Bollywood Movies). We spoke to a few of the professors there, and one of them was great. He talked to us about the differences between Indian story telling and American story telling. We base our story telling off of the Greek tragedies and comedies, and our stories having a beginning, middle, and end with a climax towards the end of the middle. Indian story telling is based off of the two major epics in India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which are long, drawn out epics. He did not go into detail much about the differences because not many people have read those two epics. I would have liked to hear about it though, because I read them this past fall and loved them! If anyone gets a chance read them, R.K. Narayan has good translations of each epic!
Overall it was a jam-packed weekend, and we were constantly moving, but I really enjoyed Mumbai. It had a lot to offer, and I would love to go back at some point and look around some more!
the gateway of india
the dhobi ghat
Peace
Tuesday night we left for Mumbai as a program, and spent the next three days there. We had packed days full of speakers and sightseeing. We saw the dhobi ghat, which is like a Laundromat in Mumbai. People live in this area and their job is to wash clothes. It is enormous, and not a single article of clothing is ever lost. We also saw dharavi. If you have seen Slumdog Millionaire, dharavi is the slum that the main character is from. It is the largest slum in Asia, and instead of people leaving this slum for work, a lot of people come into it. The areas we saw were extremely organized and it is nothing like it is portrayed in the movie (but then again it’s a movie). Like any city today, people are moving out of Mumbai and going north to the suburbs. Dharavi is located north of Mumbai proper, and now this huge piece of land has become very valuable. The government is trying to rehabilitate the slums, but doing it in such a way that the developers can get as much profit out of the area as possible. They have proposed that everyone who has been in dharavi since 2000, and can prove that they have owned a home since then, will get housing. But they have not taken into consideration that most of these people live above their place of work, and by putting them in 20 story high rise they cannot run their business the same way they did before. There are many groups who are protesting this development, and trying to provide a better way to house these people and still keep their work in tact.
After dharavi we went to the Gateway of India, which is located on the Arabian Sea. It is also located right in front of the Taj Palace Hotel. It was an interesting contrast to go from a slum to a posh area of Mumbai. They were two very different worlds, and it shows you the stark contrast of people that exist in these large cities that we do not seem to see that much or at all at home. Our last big visit on the agenda was to a film institute in Film City (yes where they film Bollywood Movies). We spoke to a few of the professors there, and one of them was great. He talked to us about the differences between Indian story telling and American story telling. We base our story telling off of the Greek tragedies and comedies, and our stories having a beginning, middle, and end with a climax towards the end of the middle. Indian story telling is based off of the two major epics in India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which are long, drawn out epics. He did not go into detail much about the differences because not many people have read those two epics. I would have liked to hear about it though, because I read them this past fall and loved them! If anyone gets a chance read them, R.K. Narayan has good translations of each epic!
Overall it was a jam-packed weekend, and we were constantly moving, but I really enjoyed Mumbai. It had a lot to offer, and I would love to go back at some point and look around some more!
the gateway of india
the dhobi ghat
Peace
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Pink City
Short week this week because I skipped school to go see my mom! She came in last Monday night and did a whirlwind trip. She started in Delhi, then to Agra, then to Jaipur and finally Mumbai all in six days. I went up to Jaipur to see her and her friend Frances. When you travel with Frances you only travel in style, and I kid you not. In Jaipur there are a ton of palaces that the royal family has converted into hotels or museums, so for two nights we got to stay in palaces. It was amazing to stay in a nice bed, nice room, and not have Indian food for a few nights.
During our day in Jaipur we went to the Amber Fort. The royal family lived in this fort/palace for 600 years before moving down to Jaipur. To get to this fort you have to take elephants, when they are available. They are only allowed five trips up to the fort so you have to get to the fort early enough to be able to ride one. It was pretty fun, kind of bumpy but it was an elephant so it was worth it. We then went to the Silver and Art Palace and bought jewelry because Jaipur is known for its gems. That was probably a bad idea because I wanted everything. We then went to the City Palace and Museum. The royal family converted part of their palace into a museum and the other part they still live in. Until the current Maharaja there had not been a son born into the family for 100 years, so the Maharaja would always adopt one of his sibling’s boys to become the next king. Well the Maharaja didn’t have a son so he adopted his grandson. The Maharaja does not have any power over the people of Jaipur (Indira Gandhi eliminated Princely rule when she was in office), but he is a political figure now. I also learned that the reason Jaipur is called the pink city is because it is a color of welcome. When Prince Albert came to Jaipur, the Maharaja had the city painted pink to welcome him. A lot of the buildings are still pink!!!
We left Saturday morning for Pune so it was a pretty short trip, plus it’s Holi and we did not want to miss it. It was great to see my mom and Frances, and nice to take a little break from Pune. We are playing colors tomorrow and I will post lots of pictures! Short week this week as well because we are off to Mumbai as a program to hear some talks etc.
Amber Fort
Peace
During our day in Jaipur we went to the Amber Fort. The royal family lived in this fort/palace for 600 years before moving down to Jaipur. To get to this fort you have to take elephants, when they are available. They are only allowed five trips up to the fort so you have to get to the fort early enough to be able to ride one. It was pretty fun, kind of bumpy but it was an elephant so it was worth it. We then went to the Silver and Art Palace and bought jewelry because Jaipur is known for its gems. That was probably a bad idea because I wanted everything. We then went to the City Palace and Museum. The royal family converted part of their palace into a museum and the other part they still live in. Until the current Maharaja there had not been a son born into the family for 100 years, so the Maharaja would always adopt one of his sibling’s boys to become the next king. Well the Maharaja didn’t have a son so he adopted his grandson. The Maharaja does not have any power over the people of Jaipur (Indira Gandhi eliminated Princely rule when she was in office), but he is a political figure now. I also learned that the reason Jaipur is called the pink city is because it is a color of welcome. When Prince Albert came to Jaipur, the Maharaja had the city painted pink to welcome him. A lot of the buildings are still pink!!!
We left Saturday morning for Pune so it was a pretty short trip, plus it’s Holi and we did not want to miss it. It was great to see my mom and Frances, and nice to take a little break from Pune. We are playing colors tomorrow and I will post lots of pictures! Short week this week as well because we are off to Mumbai as a program to hear some talks etc.
Amber Fort
Peace
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Africa House
Sorry I havent updated in so long, my internet does not work!!!!!
Nothing new to report for this week. The program brought in some government officials who talked to us about the bombing but it was nothing that we had not heard, and they sometimes sent mixed messages. I don’t know if it was the language barrier or something lost in translation, but they were telling us not to worry and to go about our business as usual, while also telling us to not go to crowded areas. Another funny piece of advice was don’t travel but the safest way to travel is by airplane. As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed in my daily routine.
On Friday Brynna, Naani, and I went to Ahmedabad to visit some of my family. My dad’s cousin lives there and my dad’s sister was also in Ahmedabad for a few weeks. It was nice to be among family, and be in a home, which I feel like I haven’t been in for a long time. My dad’s best friend ended up marrying my dad’s cousin, so it’s funny to hear all the old stories. According to the stories my dad was the instigator of every party and every wild thing they did… not so much anymore (what happened dad?).
When we first got to Ahmedabad we saw yellow and green rickshaws, which is different from the black and yellow rickshaws we are used to in Pune. Amit told us that they run on natural gas, and that they have really made a difference in the pollution levels in Ahmedabad. I would really like to know why this initiative hasn’t reached Pune yet, because it is smoggy and really polluted here compared to Ahmedabad. On Friday night we went to see my great grandfathers house, and it’s the house that my dad lived in when he was in India. It’s called the Africa House and it’s pretty cool, from the outside at least. The outside is painted all different colors, and they named it the Africa House because everyone grew up in Kenya. No one lives there now and it is some disrepair, but it would cool if someone in the family bought it back and fixed it up (hint hint family!). Saturday we saw the Gandhi Ashram, and did some shopping (as always). We also went and saw a step well Dada Hari Wav, which was cool. It got significantly colder as you walked down and the walls were beautifully carved. On Sunday morning we did a heritage walk through the old parts of Ahmedabad. The neighborhoods, called pols, were all separated by a gate and there were sometimes secret walkways between them. Most of the houses were supported by these intricately carved wooden beams, and I have seen maybe one building like that in Pune. It is interesting because Ahmedabad seems like it has been able to keep the older housing and integrate it with the new. In Pune all the buildings look the same and they are not old or pretty in any way. All in all it was a great weekend, and we agreed that we like Ahmedabad a lot better than Pune. It seemed a lot cleaner, breathing wise, still had a lot of the old city in tact, and seemed a lot more hip than Pune. We are thinking of transferring to Gujarat University!!!
This week will be another short one, and on Thursday morning I am off to Jaipur to see my mom! Then it’s Holi on Sunday!!! For those of you who don’t know about Holi, you basically have a huge water, and colored powder fight- don’t worry pictures will be taken and they will be great!!! Holi signifies the start of summer (which I am totally looking forward too…) and there are other meanings behind it but I can’t remember. I’ll look it up and post it later.
Elephant carvings on the step well
Africa House
The three S's are the initials for my grandfather, great grandmother, and great grandfather
Plaque outside the house- not my grandfathers name though!
Peace
Nothing new to report for this week. The program brought in some government officials who talked to us about the bombing but it was nothing that we had not heard, and they sometimes sent mixed messages. I don’t know if it was the language barrier or something lost in translation, but they were telling us not to worry and to go about our business as usual, while also telling us to not go to crowded areas. Another funny piece of advice was don’t travel but the safest way to travel is by airplane. As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed in my daily routine.
On Friday Brynna, Naani, and I went to Ahmedabad to visit some of my family. My dad’s cousin lives there and my dad’s sister was also in Ahmedabad for a few weeks. It was nice to be among family, and be in a home, which I feel like I haven’t been in for a long time. My dad’s best friend ended up marrying my dad’s cousin, so it’s funny to hear all the old stories. According to the stories my dad was the instigator of every party and every wild thing they did… not so much anymore (what happened dad?).
When we first got to Ahmedabad we saw yellow and green rickshaws, which is different from the black and yellow rickshaws we are used to in Pune. Amit told us that they run on natural gas, and that they have really made a difference in the pollution levels in Ahmedabad. I would really like to know why this initiative hasn’t reached Pune yet, because it is smoggy and really polluted here compared to Ahmedabad. On Friday night we went to see my great grandfathers house, and it’s the house that my dad lived in when he was in India. It’s called the Africa House and it’s pretty cool, from the outside at least. The outside is painted all different colors, and they named it the Africa House because everyone grew up in Kenya. No one lives there now and it is some disrepair, but it would cool if someone in the family bought it back and fixed it up (hint hint family!). Saturday we saw the Gandhi Ashram, and did some shopping (as always). We also went and saw a step well Dada Hari Wav, which was cool. It got significantly colder as you walked down and the walls were beautifully carved. On Sunday morning we did a heritage walk through the old parts of Ahmedabad. The neighborhoods, called pols, were all separated by a gate and there were sometimes secret walkways between them. Most of the houses were supported by these intricately carved wooden beams, and I have seen maybe one building like that in Pune. It is interesting because Ahmedabad seems like it has been able to keep the older housing and integrate it with the new. In Pune all the buildings look the same and they are not old or pretty in any way. All in all it was a great weekend, and we agreed that we like Ahmedabad a lot better than Pune. It seemed a lot cleaner, breathing wise, still had a lot of the old city in tact, and seemed a lot more hip than Pune. We are thinking of transferring to Gujarat University!!!
This week will be another short one, and on Thursday morning I am off to Jaipur to see my mom! Then it’s Holi on Sunday!!! For those of you who don’t know about Holi, you basically have a huge water, and colored powder fight- don’t worry pictures will be taken and they will be great!!! Holi signifies the start of summer (which I am totally looking forward too…) and there are other meanings behind it but I can’t remember. I’ll look it up and post it later.
Elephant carvings on the step well
Africa House
The three S's are the initials for my grandfather, great grandmother, and great grandfather
Plaque outside the house- not my grandfathers name though!
Peace
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
More Pictures
This is Ruhan, our host mom's nephew. He is probably the best behaved 3 year old I have ever met
Panorama of the Ajanta caves
Unhusked Rice
Panorama of the Ajanta caves
Unhusked Rice
Monday, February 15, 2010
Pictures
wind turbines on the opposite hill
cool quote in the school- sometimes i love being alone...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Wake Up Call
Sorry I haven’t been updating in awhile, it’s been a busy week. Thursday and Friday we took trips to two different villages. On Thursday we went to a village east of Pune. The story of this village is a testament to what people can do with the land, and how simple things like changing the way you farm or view your land can drastically help people’s welfare.
Twenty years ago this village was full of alcoholics. It was also known for producing really good wrestlers (which apparently is a big thing in India). So the men in the village basically drank, and wrestled. What a life! The amount of poverty, hunger, and water shortage in this village was also very high. A few of the younger men decided that they wanted to help the village and bring people out of poverty. They took over the council from the elders, and started instituting new initiatives to improve the watershed of the land. When these programs started the people did not think it made a difference because the stream that they got water from had the same amount of water, some even thought there was less water. What they soon realized was that their wells were actually higher at certain points in the year. This village now has 1400 people living in it, and only three or four families are below the poverty line. They are known for their farming and there are even a few millionaires within the village.
The second village also improved their watershed, and also diverted a small spring to two hamlets that were not getting enough water.
On Saturday and Sunday our host mom took us to the Ellora and Ajanta caves. These caves were unreal and I have never seen anything like it. The Ajanta caves were carved, by Buddhist monks, into the mountain. The monks lived there and meditated and carved away. The detail that went into these caves was amazing. Just trying to think how they did it boggled my mind. The Ellora caves were even more impressive. They were carved into the rock face, and for some reason just looked more majestic. They consisted of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples. Cave number 16 at Ellora is probably the most famous. It is the Kailasa temple, and it is basically carved from one big rock. The story goes that the Hindu priests made a small version of the temple, put it in a bowl of water, and would scoop away a cup of water at a time. Whatever was not in the water is what they would carve. This would go on until there was no more water in the bowl. If this sounds confusing don’t worry I will post a picture from the top view and it will make sense.
The details on this temple were unreal. There were scenes from the Mahabharata, there was a huge Shivalinga (like Lord Shiva, but male and female form) in the temple, and various gods were carved on the façade of the temple. It was pretty breathtaking.
At dinner on Saturday night we got a text from our program director saying that we had must of heard of what went on in Pune, and that everyone was safe. We had no idea what that meant, and literally a minute later my dad called and said, “Supriya, did you hear what happened and where are you?” He told me that a bomb had gone off in the German Bakery and that eight people had died and thirty or so were injured. This took us all by surprise of course, but was a wake up call at the same time. A few weeks ago the U.S. issued a travel alert for India saying that terrorism attacks would most likely take place in tourist cities. We took this warning seriously but did not think anything of it because we were in Pune, and this city is not a major tourist site. The German Bakery is located in a part of the city that a lot of westerners go to because of the Ashram that is there. We fortunately do not frequent that area a lot and tend to stay more in areas that not many westerners go to, but it was a little scary knowing that two of my friends had been there six or so hours before the bomb went off.
As of now no one has claimed the attack so we do not know the real reason this was done. We do not know what will happen with the program in terms of being suspended or giving students the option of going home. The U.S. did issue another travel alert saying that attacks would most likely continue. It is difficult to gage how safe we are because not much is known right now. I think that most of us do a pretty good job of not drawing attention to ourselves, but that wasn’t really the case in this attack. It makes me feel like I can’t go anywhere that reminds me of home, or tourist sites because they are all going to potentially be targets (this could prove difficult seeing as I’m traveling a lot within the next few weekends). Attacks like this were a thought in the back of my mind when I came here, but I always pushed it aside because you never think something like this is going to happen until it does, and it hits a little too close to home. I will update as soon as more details come in, and as much as I miss you all and home I hope I don’t have to see you anytime soon.
Peace
P.S. Pictures will come I promise! I’ll have a few posts with just pictures- it is sometimes hard to post them because internet is slow here!!!!
Twenty years ago this village was full of alcoholics. It was also known for producing really good wrestlers (which apparently is a big thing in India). So the men in the village basically drank, and wrestled. What a life! The amount of poverty, hunger, and water shortage in this village was also very high. A few of the younger men decided that they wanted to help the village and bring people out of poverty. They took over the council from the elders, and started instituting new initiatives to improve the watershed of the land. When these programs started the people did not think it made a difference because the stream that they got water from had the same amount of water, some even thought there was less water. What they soon realized was that their wells were actually higher at certain points in the year. This village now has 1400 people living in it, and only three or four families are below the poverty line. They are known for their farming and there are even a few millionaires within the village.
The second village also improved their watershed, and also diverted a small spring to two hamlets that were not getting enough water.
On Saturday and Sunday our host mom took us to the Ellora and Ajanta caves. These caves were unreal and I have never seen anything like it. The Ajanta caves were carved, by Buddhist monks, into the mountain. The monks lived there and meditated and carved away. The detail that went into these caves was amazing. Just trying to think how they did it boggled my mind. The Ellora caves were even more impressive. They were carved into the rock face, and for some reason just looked more majestic. They consisted of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples. Cave number 16 at Ellora is probably the most famous. It is the Kailasa temple, and it is basically carved from one big rock. The story goes that the Hindu priests made a small version of the temple, put it in a bowl of water, and would scoop away a cup of water at a time. Whatever was not in the water is what they would carve. This would go on until there was no more water in the bowl. If this sounds confusing don’t worry I will post a picture from the top view and it will make sense.
The details on this temple were unreal. There were scenes from the Mahabharata, there was a huge Shivalinga (like Lord Shiva, but male and female form) in the temple, and various gods were carved on the façade of the temple. It was pretty breathtaking.
At dinner on Saturday night we got a text from our program director saying that we had must of heard of what went on in Pune, and that everyone was safe. We had no idea what that meant, and literally a minute later my dad called and said, “Supriya, did you hear what happened and where are you?” He told me that a bomb had gone off in the German Bakery and that eight people had died and thirty or so were injured. This took us all by surprise of course, but was a wake up call at the same time. A few weeks ago the U.S. issued a travel alert for India saying that terrorism attacks would most likely take place in tourist cities. We took this warning seriously but did not think anything of it because we were in Pune, and this city is not a major tourist site. The German Bakery is located in a part of the city that a lot of westerners go to because of the Ashram that is there. We fortunately do not frequent that area a lot and tend to stay more in areas that not many westerners go to, but it was a little scary knowing that two of my friends had been there six or so hours before the bomb went off.
As of now no one has claimed the attack so we do not know the real reason this was done. We do not know what will happen with the program in terms of being suspended or giving students the option of going home. The U.S. did issue another travel alert saying that attacks would most likely continue. It is difficult to gage how safe we are because not much is known right now. I think that most of us do a pretty good job of not drawing attention to ourselves, but that wasn’t really the case in this attack. It makes me feel like I can’t go anywhere that reminds me of home, or tourist sites because they are all going to potentially be targets (this could prove difficult seeing as I’m traveling a lot within the next few weekends). Attacks like this were a thought in the back of my mind when I came here, but I always pushed it aside because you never think something like this is going to happen until it does, and it hits a little too close to home. I will update as soon as more details come in, and as much as I miss you all and home I hope I don’t have to see you anytime soon.
Peace
P.S. Pictures will come I promise! I’ll have a few posts with just pictures- it is sometimes hard to post them because internet is slow here!!!!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Kihim Beach
This week went by fast, which was nice, and my Public Health class started this week as well. We were given an assignment to interview people and ask them what they think makes a healthy person and an unhealthy person. I have been getting the usual answers like eating poorly etc. but my host mom gave me a really interesting answer. She said that a person is unhealthy if their mind is unhealthy, and if they have something weighing down on them that they do not resolve. I asked her if a certain diet or daily exercise would also be considered healthy, and she said no, if ones mind is healthy everything else would fall into place. I thought this was really interesting and I have never really considered the mind to be the determining factor for the health of a person, but it makes sense.
We went to the beach this weekend, which was sooo nice! It was about three and a half hours from Pune, and it was the perfect weekend trip. We stayed at a place called Mauli Village, and we were all expecting the worst. Instead we got great rooms, great food, and all for really cheap. The people that worked there were so nice and were really accommodating. The beach was about 2KM from the place we were staying and it was nice to see some water! Granted the beach wasn’t the cleanest, it was just nice to relax out in the sun. The Arabian Sea is surprisingly not that cold at all. We met some people from Mumbai who worked for Barclay’s bank, and it’s funny because every time I introduce myself people sort of do a double take, and are like wait you’re Indian? I normally chime in before they ask. People are also able to pinpoint exactly which state my dad is from because of my last name, which I find fascinating, because our last names aren’t like this. I was talking to a girl in my hostel about this and she said that there are certain names that only appear in certain areas of India. She said you could also tell what caste people are from by their last name, which is also something very odd. The caste system in India is still very prevalent. Now there are some people that have risen above the certain jobs of their caste, but there are also people that have not. It is a complicated and foreign situation to me. Once we learn more about it in class I might come back and address that issue… but back to the beach!
We met a lot of nice people there, and of course we got more of the staring. It is something that we are all getting used to and it does not bother us so much anymore, but sometimes it does irk us.
This village we stayed in is actually a farm. It is about 200 acres, and they grow squash, peanuts, different fruits, and have about 250 chickens somewhere on the property. The food was amazing and I think most of it came from the farm. There are about three families living on the property, and they also have people come from around the town to work on the farm. They also have a solar panel on the building that we stayed in. My friends who went on the hiking trip last weekend said that the village they stayed in also had a solar panel. It is interesting because the amount of pollution in India is amazing, but also these small villages and farms have solar panels. I am curious to know whether these solar panels are government subsidized or these people took it upon themselves to lower their carbon footprint while also lowering their costs?
Here are some pictures of Kihim Beach! Enjoy!
Peace
We went to the beach this weekend, which was sooo nice! It was about three and a half hours from Pune, and it was the perfect weekend trip. We stayed at a place called Mauli Village, and we were all expecting the worst. Instead we got great rooms, great food, and all for really cheap. The people that worked there were so nice and were really accommodating. The beach was about 2KM from the place we were staying and it was nice to see some water! Granted the beach wasn’t the cleanest, it was just nice to relax out in the sun. The Arabian Sea is surprisingly not that cold at all. We met some people from Mumbai who worked for Barclay’s bank, and it’s funny because every time I introduce myself people sort of do a double take, and are like wait you’re Indian? I normally chime in before they ask. People are also able to pinpoint exactly which state my dad is from because of my last name, which I find fascinating, because our last names aren’t like this. I was talking to a girl in my hostel about this and she said that there are certain names that only appear in certain areas of India. She said you could also tell what caste people are from by their last name, which is also something very odd. The caste system in India is still very prevalent. Now there are some people that have risen above the certain jobs of their caste, but there are also people that have not. It is a complicated and foreign situation to me. Once we learn more about it in class I might come back and address that issue… but back to the beach!
We met a lot of nice people there, and of course we got more of the staring. It is something that we are all getting used to and it does not bother us so much anymore, but sometimes it does irk us.
This village we stayed in is actually a farm. It is about 200 acres, and they grow squash, peanuts, different fruits, and have about 250 chickens somewhere on the property. The food was amazing and I think most of it came from the farm. There are about three families living on the property, and they also have people come from around the town to work on the farm. They also have a solar panel on the building that we stayed in. My friends who went on the hiking trip last weekend said that the village they stayed in also had a solar panel. It is interesting because the amount of pollution in India is amazing, but also these small villages and farms have solar panels. I am curious to know whether these solar panels are government subsidized or these people took it upon themselves to lower their carbon footprint while also lowering their costs?
Here are some pictures of Kihim Beach! Enjoy!
Peace
Friday, January 29, 2010
Backwards
I don’t want to write a post like this but I just have to get this off my chest. Tonight we were at a friend’s house because it was her birthday and we had dinner there after school. It was getting pretty late and everyone in my apartment is going hiking tomorrow (I am staying behind and writing cover letters… joy). We were walking along the street trying to find a rickshaw and three or four young girls came up to us asking for money. Now I have had children come up to me before asking for money and I normally just ignore them and keep walking. They may follow us for a little but then they eventually give up. We gave these girls the same treatment and ignored them. At some point they realized that we were not going to give them anything and instead of walking away from us they followed us and were basically taunting us. During our orientation session our program directors said that we will get looked at because we are so different from everyone here, but no one will do anything but look. These girls took it to a whole new level. There were things thrown in our direction, and they did not stop until we drove off in our rickshaw.
I must live in some sort of fantasy world because I really just cannot fathom how one person can treat another person like this. I have seen it in the news etc. but I have never done this to someone nor have I been on the receiving end of something like this. I knew that India would be different but I did not expect to be stared at, or treated like we were tonight, as much as we are. I thought I would be OK because I am half Indian, and have the dark hair, dark eyes, and a darker complexion, but I still get stared at. We have had discussions about the stares and I always say that I don’t understand why people here look at us like we are the blue aliens from Avatar (we just saw that movie here so we always compare ourselves to the blue creatures). It is not like Indians have never seen a white person, they are all over billboards in Pune. I come from a society that doesn’t see color. We are used to interacting with people of different religions and cultures. My friends on the program always say that seeing a person on the TV or a billboard is different than seeing someone in person. I guess that is true, but tonight just set me over the edge.
There are people like this in every society. I am not that naïve, but sometimes I do like to believe that we live in an ideal world. We live in a time where so many different people come together and do great things. But we are all also somewhat backwards. This term backwards is used so much in Indian society. The term to me has come to mean that a country that is on its way to becoming a very important player in the world economy, can still have people that don’t have basic human rights, like water, electricity or an education. And I also think that there is no society that is not backwards. There are still people in every society that do not have basic human rights, and also are not accepting of others- and that’s where the importance of an education comes into play. But I digress…
What happened tonight pretty much opened my eyes to how much of a journey we all have to becoming accepting of others, and who knows if we will ever get to that point. I really hope we do in my lifetime, and I hope I will be able to come back to India some day after this trip and not be harassed like I was tonight.
Sorry for the heavy post, but it had to happen sometime, and may even happen again who knows.
On a lighter note- I noticed that I am developing a healthy farmers tan… what fun.
Peace
I must live in some sort of fantasy world because I really just cannot fathom how one person can treat another person like this. I have seen it in the news etc. but I have never done this to someone nor have I been on the receiving end of something like this. I knew that India would be different but I did not expect to be stared at, or treated like we were tonight, as much as we are. I thought I would be OK because I am half Indian, and have the dark hair, dark eyes, and a darker complexion, but I still get stared at. We have had discussions about the stares and I always say that I don’t understand why people here look at us like we are the blue aliens from Avatar (we just saw that movie here so we always compare ourselves to the blue creatures). It is not like Indians have never seen a white person, they are all over billboards in Pune. I come from a society that doesn’t see color. We are used to interacting with people of different religions and cultures. My friends on the program always say that seeing a person on the TV or a billboard is different than seeing someone in person. I guess that is true, but tonight just set me over the edge.
There are people like this in every society. I am not that naïve, but sometimes I do like to believe that we live in an ideal world. We live in a time where so many different people come together and do great things. But we are all also somewhat backwards. This term backwards is used so much in Indian society. The term to me has come to mean that a country that is on its way to becoming a very important player in the world economy, can still have people that don’t have basic human rights, like water, electricity or an education. And I also think that there is no society that is not backwards. There are still people in every society that do not have basic human rights, and also are not accepting of others- and that’s where the importance of an education comes into play. But I digress…
What happened tonight pretty much opened my eyes to how much of a journey we all have to becoming accepting of others, and who knows if we will ever get to that point. I really hope we do in my lifetime, and I hope I will be able to come back to India some day after this trip and not be harassed like I was tonight.
Sorry for the heavy post, but it had to happen sometime, and may even happen again who knows.
On a lighter note- I noticed that I am developing a healthy farmers tan… what fun.
Peace
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sinhagad
This past Tuesday was Republic day in India, and that is when India declared itself a sovereign state. This is different from Independence Day because India was still occupied by Britain when India declared itself a sovereign state. So basically republic day was the start of India’s quest to claim independence. We went to a school that one of the girls in our hostel teaches at, and they did a big program with dances from classical dance to folk dance to what they call western dance. This little boy pictured below is adorable!
We all took a bunch of pictures of him, and he was so cute in his little orange turban! I don’t think he was very rhythmically gifted because he stood there waving the flag while his classmates all danced to Jai Ho. And yes they did multiple dances to Jai Ho, unfortunately not the Pussycat Dolls version, which I thought would have made for a more interesting number. After the performance we went to Sinhagad Fort. The story of this fort is really cool and should remind you of a certain movie….
This fort belonged to Lord Shivaji, who was the ruler of Maharashtra about 600-700 years ago. He was away from his fort when 2,000 Moghul warriors attacked. There were a total of 300 of Shivaji’s men (here’s where the story becomes familiar) left to defend the fort. Sinhagad was the general in charge and he and his men fought off all 2,000 Moghuls. Lord Shivaji’s men won but Sinhagad died in battle. So Shivaji decided to name this fort after his brave general. Just like 300 the movie but the Indians did not all die like the Spartans did.
And here is what’s left of the fort
It is interesting that the Indian government let phone towers be built on top of this fort, but to each his own.
Now to get to this fort it is a 10k trip up a very large hill/small mountain. I was with 13 other people plus the taxi driver in a car that is the equivalent of a jeep. The roads were not paved very well, and the road was only one lane. I put my complete trust in that taxi driver going to and from the fort. Once we were at the fort it was cool to see Pune in the distance. There is also a village on top of this fort. People have made their homes there, and they cook meals and sell snacks to the tourists. Their food is also a specialty of Pune. I did not try anything seeing as it was 10:30 in the morning and I had already had breakfast. I hear it’s supposed to be really good though.
After the fort we came home, chilled a little bit, then we went with our host mom/hostel owner to a music performance in the evening. We were told he plays the water bowls so we were all excited about seeing a Sandra Bullock, Miss Congeniality water glasses performance type of thing but way better. This performer did no such thing. He was seated on the floor with different sized bowls filled with water in front of him, and he played them like they were drums. It was really interesting to watch because I have never seen anything like that but a few of us were so tired from the day that we could not really appreciate it. Also the mic’s were way to close to the bowls and certain notes, that he tended to play a lot, really hurt my ears.
The performance was supposed to start at 6, and in true Indian fashion it did not start until 6:45. They played a few songs and finally everyone started clapping and the EMCEE came out on stage and said a few words in Marathi and the curtains closed. We thought, “Yes! It’s over we can go home and eat dinner!” We said to one of the Indian girls “It’s over right?” She said, “No, it’s only intermission.” I looked at my roommates, Naani and Brynna, and we were like we have got to go home. We told our host mom that we were tired and needed to go to bed, so we got a rickshaw home. The rest of the girls from our program did not get home until 10:30. Good decision by us!
And the rest of the week continues with school, and the weekend will be filled with cover letter writing because I need an internship this summer!
Keep checking back! Sorry it’s kind of random when I post, internet in India is not as reliable as it is in the states. Also keep checking my flickr page (link is at the top of the page)! There are pictures on there that aren’t on facebook!
Peace out cub scouts!
We all took a bunch of pictures of him, and he was so cute in his little orange turban! I don’t think he was very rhythmically gifted because he stood there waving the flag while his classmates all danced to Jai Ho. And yes they did multiple dances to Jai Ho, unfortunately not the Pussycat Dolls version, which I thought would have made for a more interesting number. After the performance we went to Sinhagad Fort. The story of this fort is really cool and should remind you of a certain movie….
This fort belonged to Lord Shivaji, who was the ruler of Maharashtra about 600-700 years ago. He was away from his fort when 2,000 Moghul warriors attacked. There were a total of 300 of Shivaji’s men (here’s where the story becomes familiar) left to defend the fort. Sinhagad was the general in charge and he and his men fought off all 2,000 Moghuls. Lord Shivaji’s men won but Sinhagad died in battle. So Shivaji decided to name this fort after his brave general. Just like 300 the movie but the Indians did not all die like the Spartans did.
And here is what’s left of the fort
It is interesting that the Indian government let phone towers be built on top of this fort, but to each his own.
Now to get to this fort it is a 10k trip up a very large hill/small mountain. I was with 13 other people plus the taxi driver in a car that is the equivalent of a jeep. The roads were not paved very well, and the road was only one lane. I put my complete trust in that taxi driver going to and from the fort. Once we were at the fort it was cool to see Pune in the distance. There is also a village on top of this fort. People have made their homes there, and they cook meals and sell snacks to the tourists. Their food is also a specialty of Pune. I did not try anything seeing as it was 10:30 in the morning and I had already had breakfast. I hear it’s supposed to be really good though.
After the fort we came home, chilled a little bit, then we went with our host mom/hostel owner to a music performance in the evening. We were told he plays the water bowls so we were all excited about seeing a Sandra Bullock, Miss Congeniality water glasses performance type of thing but way better. This performer did no such thing. He was seated on the floor with different sized bowls filled with water in front of him, and he played them like they were drums. It was really interesting to watch because I have never seen anything like that but a few of us were so tired from the day that we could not really appreciate it. Also the mic’s were way to close to the bowls and certain notes, that he tended to play a lot, really hurt my ears.
The performance was supposed to start at 6, and in true Indian fashion it did not start until 6:45. They played a few songs and finally everyone started clapping and the EMCEE came out on stage and said a few words in Marathi and the curtains closed. We thought, “Yes! It’s over we can go home and eat dinner!” We said to one of the Indian girls “It’s over right?” She said, “No, it’s only intermission.” I looked at my roommates, Naani and Brynna, and we were like we have got to go home. We told our host mom that we were tired and needed to go to bed, so we got a rickshaw home. The rest of the girls from our program did not get home until 10:30. Good decision by us!
And the rest of the week continues with school, and the weekend will be filled with cover letter writing because I need an internship this summer!
Keep checking back! Sorry it’s kind of random when I post, internet in India is not as reliable as it is in the states. Also keep checking my flickr page (link is at the top of the page)! There are pictures on there that aren’t on facebook!
Peace out cub scouts!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tiger Balm
HINDI IS FINALLY STARTING TO MAKE SENSE! I spent most of last night writing and re-writing the characters and the combinations, and I am now looking around town and sounding out words… I feel like a five year old learning how to read but it’s awesome. This is how I must have felt when I learned to read English. I did yoga today and its really different here than what we are used to back home. It is less about movements and more about breathing and relaxing every part of your body. At one point we were breathing like a dog, tongue out and everything, and I almost burst out laughing. Other than that it was really relaxing.
I discovered something great… Tiger Balm. I think we have it in the states and its pretty much like Bengay but sooooo cheap. 33 rupees to be exact, which is a little under a buck. I am going to buy out the Ayurvedic store slowly and build up a supply. I am basically using Tiger Balm on my back every night because my mattress here couldn’t be any thinner. I am pretty much just sleeping on the metal planks that make up my frame.
If Tiger Balm sounds interesting to anyone let me know and I’ll get some for you!
That’s all for now, Peace
I discovered something great… Tiger Balm. I think we have it in the states and its pretty much like Bengay but sooooo cheap. 33 rupees to be exact, which is a little under a buck. I am going to buy out the Ayurvedic store slowly and build up a supply. I am basically using Tiger Balm on my back every night because my mattress here couldn’t be any thinner. I am pretty much just sleeping on the metal planks that make up my frame.
If Tiger Balm sounds interesting to anyone let me know and I’ll get some for you!
That’s all for now, Peace
Realizations
And the first week of school is over! It was a long week I have to say. Maybe because I am at the school all day, which is not how it is back at Bucknell. Usually I go to class a couple of hours then go back to my room or the library. It is too far to go back to my apartment/hostel during my breaks, so I stay on campus. Right now I am taking four classes and may be adding a fifth next week. I am taking political economy and development, contemporary India, a research methods class, Hindi, and may add public health. All of my classes are interesting so far but I know that research methods and Hindi are going to be a lot of work. Research methods has a few papers during the time that we are in school which is fine, then a 5000 word paper for our internship. Anyone who knows me knows I am shaking in my boots right now about that 5000 word paper. I don’t write, I don’t like to write, and the shorter the paper the better. I will let you know in April how that paper is coming along!
Now to Hindi… man is it hard. I took Italian in the fall, which wasn’t that bad, mainly because it uses the same alphabet as English. Hindi does not. It has about 53 characters, half of which are the same letter but have different sounds most of which we don’t even use in English. Then there are the consonant vowel combinations, which have a combined script, and we haven’t even gotten to the consonant consonant combinations! I have to say though it is a beautiful script, and sometimes I will just sit in class and write the alphabet out.
This week and weekend we used just to settle in more. We have been shopping a lot, and I bought three saris, and I know there will be many more that clutter my closet! We have been acclimating ourselves more to the city, and we are not letting the rickshaw drivers over charge us anymore! We actually got into a fight with one of the rickshaw drivers because he was trying to charge us 20 rupees more than the meter. Not that 20 rupees is a lot of money (its actually about 50 cents) but it’s the principle of the matter!
I have also recently found out that Hulu and any other video streaming sites do not work outside of the U.S.! Again anyone who knows me knows I love my TV shows…. It has been a little bit sad that I can’t watch my shows, but I have gotten over it. Honestly there is too much to do around the city, and I am too tired to stay up and watch TV. I am planning on catching up with my shows when I am back in Lewisburg and everyone is studying for exams in the spring!
Tuesday is republic day so no school yay! I have been looking through my schedule and we actually have quite a few days off of school, which is a nice surprise seeing as we don’t even get labor day off back at home. The Indian girls in the hostel are planning on taking us to a fort nearby so I will have plenty of pictures to share! That’s all for now I am tired and going to bed!
Peace
Now to Hindi… man is it hard. I took Italian in the fall, which wasn’t that bad, mainly because it uses the same alphabet as English. Hindi does not. It has about 53 characters, half of which are the same letter but have different sounds most of which we don’t even use in English. Then there are the consonant vowel combinations, which have a combined script, and we haven’t even gotten to the consonant consonant combinations! I have to say though it is a beautiful script, and sometimes I will just sit in class and write the alphabet out.
This week and weekend we used just to settle in more. We have been shopping a lot, and I bought three saris, and I know there will be many more that clutter my closet! We have been acclimating ourselves more to the city, and we are not letting the rickshaw drivers over charge us anymore! We actually got into a fight with one of the rickshaw drivers because he was trying to charge us 20 rupees more than the meter. Not that 20 rupees is a lot of money (its actually about 50 cents) but it’s the principle of the matter!
I have also recently found out that Hulu and any other video streaming sites do not work outside of the U.S.! Again anyone who knows me knows I love my TV shows…. It has been a little bit sad that I can’t watch my shows, but I have gotten over it. Honestly there is too much to do around the city, and I am too tired to stay up and watch TV. I am planning on catching up with my shows when I am back in Lewisburg and everyone is studying for exams in the spring!
Tuesday is republic day so no school yay! I have been looking through my schedule and we actually have quite a few days off of school, which is a nice surprise seeing as we don’t even get labor day off back at home. The Indian girls in the hostel are planning on taking us to a fort nearby so I will have plenty of pictures to share! That’s all for now I am tired and going to bed!
Peace
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
We Shall Do Better Than Anyone Else Can
The first couple days in Pune have been fun. We got a chance to explore the city by ourselves and Indian students also showed us around. Traffic is still something I have to get used to. Whenever we cross the street it is inevitable that one of us is clinging for dear life to another person in our group, in hopes of either being dragged across the street, or bring someone down with us when we are eventually hit. Our program directors say, in time, we will be able to navigate the streets; hopefully that time will come soon.
We went to one of the big markets here in Pune, and looked around at clothes and jewelry. As people walked by I looked at their saris and I wanted almost every one I saw. We went into a few sari shops and just pulled fabric after fabric off the shelf, and all of them were gorgeous. The prices for really fancy ones run about 1200 rupees, and other ones that are still really pretty but are more for everyday wear run from 150 to 500 rupees. Now remember that the exchange rate is about 45 rupees to one US dollar. So the really fancy saris are about $27 US, and the everyday sari’s are about $4 to $12 US. If we were to buy these in the US or Britain they would be ten times the price they are here… expect me to come back with a lot of saris!
A thing about the cost of living here: I eat out for lunch, and sometimes will eat out for dinner; I have been buying new clothes because I did not come with much, and I have transportation costs. On average I am spending between $10-$15 a day, sometimes less than that depending on the day. I normally spend that much on lunch back home. I knew it would be cheap to live here, but I did not expect this. It is funny because we will go out shopping, and look at prices and it may be a really nice sari and we say “oh 1200 Rupees, hmm that’s pretty expensive” when in comparison to home it is not expensive at all.
Our hostel is really nice. It is an apartment that I share with three other girls from the program, and two Indian students. I am sharing my room with an Indian student, and she is a fourth year law student. She wants to be a criminal lawyer, and she’s from Mumbai. She is really nice, but kind of quiet. I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to her because she comes home pretty late and I have been so tired that I go to bed early. Our hostel owner’s parents live across the street and run their own hostel, and four other girls from our program live there. We go over to their hostel to eat dinner every night, and the Indian girls there are so fun. We went shopping with them yesterday and had dinner at a restaurant near our hostel with them as well. They have been teaching us Marathi phrases (the language spoken in Maharashtra) and they tell us when we are overpaying for things on the streets.
Classes start today and I can’t wait to start learning Hindi. It is tough here not being able to speak the language, and most people here only know a little bit of English. Also every sign here is either in Hindi or Marathi, and we have no idea where we are sometimes.
Here are a few pictures of Pune University. This is the main hall, and it is under reconstruction right now, but it was a really cool building. I also saw this sign that said “Pune University for the Nation, We Shall Do Better Than Anyone Else Can” I thought it was really interesting, and showed how seriously academics are taken here.
That’s all for now, Peace
We went to one of the big markets here in Pune, and looked around at clothes and jewelry. As people walked by I looked at their saris and I wanted almost every one I saw. We went into a few sari shops and just pulled fabric after fabric off the shelf, and all of them were gorgeous. The prices for really fancy ones run about 1200 rupees, and other ones that are still really pretty but are more for everyday wear run from 150 to 500 rupees. Now remember that the exchange rate is about 45 rupees to one US dollar. So the really fancy saris are about $27 US, and the everyday sari’s are about $4 to $12 US. If we were to buy these in the US or Britain they would be ten times the price they are here… expect me to come back with a lot of saris!
A thing about the cost of living here: I eat out for lunch, and sometimes will eat out for dinner; I have been buying new clothes because I did not come with much, and I have transportation costs. On average I am spending between $10-$15 a day, sometimes less than that depending on the day. I normally spend that much on lunch back home. I knew it would be cheap to live here, but I did not expect this. It is funny because we will go out shopping, and look at prices and it may be a really nice sari and we say “oh 1200 Rupees, hmm that’s pretty expensive” when in comparison to home it is not expensive at all.
Our hostel is really nice. It is an apartment that I share with three other girls from the program, and two Indian students. I am sharing my room with an Indian student, and she is a fourth year law student. She wants to be a criminal lawyer, and she’s from Mumbai. She is really nice, but kind of quiet. I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to her because she comes home pretty late and I have been so tired that I go to bed early. Our hostel owner’s parents live across the street and run their own hostel, and four other girls from our program live there. We go over to their hostel to eat dinner every night, and the Indian girls there are so fun. We went shopping with them yesterday and had dinner at a restaurant near our hostel with them as well. They have been teaching us Marathi phrases (the language spoken in Maharashtra) and they tell us when we are overpaying for things on the streets.
Classes start today and I can’t wait to start learning Hindi. It is tough here not being able to speak the language, and most people here only know a little bit of English. Also every sign here is either in Hindi or Marathi, and we have no idea where we are sometimes.
Here are a few pictures of Pune University. This is the main hall, and it is under reconstruction right now, but it was a really cool building. I also saw this sign that said “Pune University for the Nation, We Shall Do Better Than Anyone Else Can” I thought it was really interesting, and showed how seriously academics are taken here.
That’s all for now, Peace
Saturday, January 16, 2010
First Couple Days
So the flight to Mumbai was not so bad, but the second leg (Frankfurt to Mumbai) did not seem to end, I don’t know if it was because I couldn’t sleep or I had run out of movies to watch, but the landing could not come fast enough. Also I have one question- why don’t some mom’s tell their children not to do certain things? On my first leg this kid would not stop kicking the back of my chair. His mom did not say a word to him. I guess I should have said something but I was too tired and cranky and would have yelled at the kid. Now I know my parents would have told me to stop right away because its not fair to the person in front of me but this mom did not, so the first leg was a bit bumpy.
I arrived at Mumbai two and half hours late and didn’t get to the hotel until three in the morning. Overall, a long, but successful trip.
We ventured to a campsite the next day. It was more like a hill station, and it was really pretty. I never realized how mountainous this part of India seems to be. I really thought that it was only mountainous near the Himalayas, but there are significantly sized mountains in the middle of the country.
Also Mumbai is dirty and crowded. If you can make out the picture the buildings are basically made of tin, and are packed really close together, and they are not that wide. The traffic is also unreal. There are motorcycles, rickshaws and cars going every which way, and they DO NOT adhere to traffic signals… a girl could get killed.
So we spent two days in this camp for Orientation, and we basically went over everything from how to dress, and act, and what to expect in Pune (I thought it was always pronounced Poo-na, but apparently it is pronounced Pu-ney). The weather here is fantastic! Sunny and warm but not too hot. It is cool at night and I pretty much need a light sweater. Sorry for those of you reading this who are stuck in a cold PA windy winter, I am glad I am not there!
We arrived to Pune today (1/14/10), and have gone through academic orientation, and saw the college and city. This city is 10x cleaner than Mumbai, and it looks like a really pretty city! I will be moving into my hostel tonight, and will keep you updated with pictures and more posts
Peace
I arrived at Mumbai two and half hours late and didn’t get to the hotel until three in the morning. Overall, a long, but successful trip.
We ventured to a campsite the next day. It was more like a hill station, and it was really pretty. I never realized how mountainous this part of India seems to be. I really thought that it was only mountainous near the Himalayas, but there are significantly sized mountains in the middle of the country.
Also Mumbai is dirty and crowded. If you can make out the picture the buildings are basically made of tin, and are packed really close together, and they are not that wide. The traffic is also unreal. There are motorcycles, rickshaws and cars going every which way, and they DO NOT adhere to traffic signals… a girl could get killed.
So we spent two days in this camp for Orientation, and we basically went over everything from how to dress, and act, and what to expect in Pune (I thought it was always pronounced Poo-na, but apparently it is pronounced Pu-ney). The weather here is fantastic! Sunny and warm but not too hot. It is cool at night and I pretty much need a light sweater. Sorry for those of you reading this who are stuck in a cold PA windy winter, I am glad I am not there!
We arrived to Pune today (1/14/10), and have gone through academic orientation, and saw the college and city. This city is 10x cleaner than Mumbai, and it looks like a really pretty city! I will be moving into my hostel tonight, and will keep you updated with pictures and more posts
Peace
Friday, January 8, 2010
Still At Home
So I leave tomorrow for Chicago, and I still haven't packed. My room is a mess, clothes are all over the house, and my suitcases are still in the basement, untouched. As I sit on the couch watching Julie and Julia, I still have to make copies of my passport and visa, print out multiple handbooks that have been sent to me, and somehow grasp the fact that I am going half way around the world for four months.
People, my mother in particular, have been asking me if I am excited. Honestly it has not even hit me that I will be in India for so long. I think it will hit me on the plane, but I don't think that is the best place to finally realize what I am doing.
The one thing I am excited about is the warm weather. Apparently India is unusually hot right now aka 85 degrees and sunny. Just what I need. It is unusually cold in the Lou, and I hate the cold. That is the one thing I am looking forward to, no Lewisburg winter, and hot weather for four months.
Ok going to try and pack... as soon as I'm done with this movie!
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