So I feel I need to backpedal a little when it comes to what I said about Jodhpur. On first glance, the city is a dump. But over the course of my day there I started to like it. It kind of reminded me of Detroit a bit, if Detroit had an amazing fort on a hill. You know, generally dumpy but with remnants of a glorious past. I somehow found myself away from the main clock tower area in search of an alarm clock, and began picking up on the city's really cool vibe. Two days was just enough time there to grow to like it, but not get bored of it.
Now I'm in Jaisalmer, and Lonely Planet is right! This city is like a sand castle in the desert. The only problem is that I have been here for two days and have yet to go exploring. I've been horribly sick and I actually just got back from the hospital about 10 minutes ago. A blood test confirmed that it is not a blood disease, malaria or typhoid. So I was sent home with three days worth of antibiotics and a prayer.
Oddly enough, I'm already starting to feel better. My sinuses are draining, my fever is in check, and I'm feeling a strong appetite. My entire body is still sore so I'm off to lay down in a minute.
I can not wait to go check things out here! I'm glad I took a client's from my old job advice and came all the way over to this side of Rajasthan. It's so cool!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Jodhpur? No thanks.
Hello!
I arrived in Jodhpur yesterday afternoon after what seemed like the longest busride of my life. I called the day before and reserved a single room with a shared bathroom. I decided to share a bathroom because I spent way, way, way too much money in Udaipur and I wanted to cut back on my expenses. But the shared bathroom at this guesthouse was worse than the first floor bathroom at my younger brother's frat house, so I opted to upgrade and have my own toilet and shower.
Now, Jodhpur's main attraction is the Mehrangarh Fort. I went this morning, climbing up the back way through the blue neighborhoods because I'm that sort of traveler, or something. I opted for the audio guide because, apparently, I'm that sort of traveler, too. I have to say wearing the stupid headphones was worth it. The entire fort was impressive due to steps taken by the current Maharaja to care for and restore it.
Aside from the fort, Jodhpur is a dump. The roads are in bad shape even for India standards, and there is garbage, piss and crap (human and cow) everywhere. It's the type of place where one has to be very, very careful about the water. I bought two bottles of water, drank them both, got the stomach rumblies, and then realized it was "treated" tap water. Luckily I have a brick ishthouse immune system and so far, I'm doing okay. But just breathing the Jodhpur air makes me fear catching Typhoid fever.
So that's all. I'm doing well. And aside from a young man telling me he "wants to f*ck" me, not just once, but three times while riding past me on his motorbike, I'm in good spirits. My experience with men in India has now moved past the simple disgust at the burping, farting, hawking and spitting, pissing and shitting everywhere. And I still have two weeks in this country...
Gotta run!
MCC
P.S. Click here for pics from Udaipur!
I arrived in Jodhpur yesterday afternoon after what seemed like the longest busride of my life. I called the day before and reserved a single room with a shared bathroom. I decided to share a bathroom because I spent way, way, way too much money in Udaipur and I wanted to cut back on my expenses. But the shared bathroom at this guesthouse was worse than the first floor bathroom at my younger brother's frat house, so I opted to upgrade and have my own toilet and shower.
Now, Jodhpur's main attraction is the Mehrangarh Fort. I went this morning, climbing up the back way through the blue neighborhoods because I'm that sort of traveler, or something. I opted for the audio guide because, apparently, I'm that sort of traveler, too. I have to say wearing the stupid headphones was worth it. The entire fort was impressive due to steps taken by the current Maharaja to care for and restore it.
Aside from the fort, Jodhpur is a dump. The roads are in bad shape even for India standards, and there is garbage, piss and crap (human and cow) everywhere. It's the type of place where one has to be very, very careful about the water. I bought two bottles of water, drank them both, got the stomach rumblies, and then realized it was "treated" tap water. Luckily I have a brick ishthouse immune system and so far, I'm doing okay. But just breathing the Jodhpur air makes me fear catching Typhoid fever.
So that's all. I'm doing well. And aside from a young man telling me he "wants to f*ck" me, not just once, but three times while riding past me on his motorbike, I'm in good spirits. My experience with men in India has now moved past the simple disgust at the burping, farting, hawking and spitting, pissing and shitting everywhere. And I still have two weeks in this country...
Gotta run!
MCC
P.S. Click here for pics from Udaipur!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Udaipur is for Lovers
Hi!
I will try to write a coherent entry despite my excitement. I wrote something on my laptop thinking I would switch it to the guesthouse computer, but there is a rule of no USB drives for transferring documents. There is also a rule of no washing your own laundry in your room, but I did mine any way. You can take the girl out of Khedi Milak, but you can't take the Khedi Milak out of the girl...
Let me try to begin at the beginning. I left Jaipur on Friday on the night train to Udaipur. Before leaving the I met two other solo female travelers who were heading to the same train. We decided to share a rickshaw and we ended up hitting it off completely. One is from Spain, Angela, but living n Ecuador. She came to Mumbai for a friend's wedding and decided to do a bit of traveling afterward. The other girl is Moona and she comes from Jordan. She was teaching for a year in China and just made her way overland through Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal. She's one of the coolest people I have ever met. We ended up getting along so well we decided to share a room once we arrived in Udaipur.
So here we are. The first day here I wanted nothing more than to sit and read my book and drink a lot of chai. Nothing else. Period. So I did that, and the next day I hit the town for a bit, then spent a large portion of the day reading and drinking chai. It has rained a lot more in Udaipur than it ever did in Jaipur or the surrounding areas, so that has put a bit of a limitation on how much I've wanted to do.
Moona and I decided to have our palms read after having a brief conversation about men. It was a pretty ridiculous experience, but it was fun. I think she got a bit more out of it because she knew exactly what she wanted to know, and asked all the questions she had. I was told that I will be successful in literature (after he first told me science in math), that I have a good head, heart, and will enjoy good health. But he advised me that I need to start setting goals and making plans. I think this is pretty sound advice; I am constantly doing really cool and awesome things without a set goal or plan, believing it will somehow work out perfectly. It usually does, and that's probably why I continue to do it, but at some point a person does need to develop a master plan. So I'm setting a goal of beginning to set goals for myself. Haha!
Yesterday's awesome adventure was an authentic Ayeurvedic massage. I can tell you right now that it was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. I'm not quite comfortable with explaining the details of what happened to the public, over the Internet. If you know me well, prepare yourselves for a story. If not, come to India and get yourself an Ayeurvedic massage. It's definitely something to talk about.
For our evening meal we were invited to Angela's friend's home for dinner. She met some Indian people at a temple a few weeks ago and kept in contact with them. Check out this romantic story! One of the young men goes to the Jagdish temple every evening for the chance to see a girl he fell in love with four years ago. He saw her once during a festival, fell completely in love, and continues to go back every evening at the same time in case she's there. He has seen her four times since, once a year at the same festival. He has never spoken to her and doesn't even know her name. Last night he broke out his harmonica and played Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On for her. In the end, all this romance is quite sweet, but sad at the same time. The young man is the Brahmin Caste, but his love is the Rajput Caste. This simple fact means that there is absolutely no chance for the two to ever marry. But he still loves her with all his sweet little heart.
Dinner was amazing. The company was lighthearted and fun. Today they are taking us to some temple in the mountains on their motorbikes. This should be fun and exciting! I was supposed to take the bus to Jodhpur this morning, but staying another day seemed like a no-brainer. So I will leave tomorrow instead, same time as my new friends.
I have to run! I have been spoiled by free internet at Gram Chetna. All this pay as yo go stuff gets expensive!! xo
MCC
I will try to write a coherent entry despite my excitement. I wrote something on my laptop thinking I would switch it to the guesthouse computer, but there is a rule of no USB drives for transferring documents. There is also a rule of no washing your own laundry in your room, but I did mine any way. You can take the girl out of Khedi Milak, but you can't take the Khedi Milak out of the girl...
Let me try to begin at the beginning. I left Jaipur on Friday on the night train to Udaipur. Before leaving the I met two other solo female travelers who were heading to the same train. We decided to share a rickshaw and we ended up hitting it off completely. One is from Spain, Angela, but living n Ecuador. She came to Mumbai for a friend's wedding and decided to do a bit of traveling afterward. The other girl is Moona and she comes from Jordan. She was teaching for a year in China and just made her way overland through Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal. She's one of the coolest people I have ever met. We ended up getting along so well we decided to share a room once we arrived in Udaipur.
So here we are. The first day here I wanted nothing more than to sit and read my book and drink a lot of chai. Nothing else. Period. So I did that, and the next day I hit the town for a bit, then spent a large portion of the day reading and drinking chai. It has rained a lot more in Udaipur than it ever did in Jaipur or the surrounding areas, so that has put a bit of a limitation on how much I've wanted to do.
Moona and I decided to have our palms read after having a brief conversation about men. It was a pretty ridiculous experience, but it was fun. I think she got a bit more out of it because she knew exactly what she wanted to know, and asked all the questions she had. I was told that I will be successful in literature (after he first told me science in math), that I have a good head, heart, and will enjoy good health. But he advised me that I need to start setting goals and making plans. I think this is pretty sound advice; I am constantly doing really cool and awesome things without a set goal or plan, believing it will somehow work out perfectly. It usually does, and that's probably why I continue to do it, but at some point a person does need to develop a master plan. So I'm setting a goal of beginning to set goals for myself. Haha!
Yesterday's awesome adventure was an authentic Ayeurvedic massage. I can tell you right now that it was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. I'm not quite comfortable with explaining the details of what happened to the public, over the Internet. If you know me well, prepare yourselves for a story. If not, come to India and get yourself an Ayeurvedic massage. It's definitely something to talk about.
For our evening meal we were invited to Angela's friend's home for dinner. She met some Indian people at a temple a few weeks ago and kept in contact with them. Check out this romantic story! One of the young men goes to the Jagdish temple every evening for the chance to see a girl he fell in love with four years ago. He saw her once during a festival, fell completely in love, and continues to go back every evening at the same time in case she's there. He has seen her four times since, once a year at the same festival. He has never spoken to her and doesn't even know her name. Last night he broke out his harmonica and played Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On for her. In the end, all this romance is quite sweet, but sad at the same time. The young man is the Brahmin Caste, but his love is the Rajput Caste. This simple fact means that there is absolutely no chance for the two to ever marry. But he still loves her with all his sweet little heart.
Dinner was amazing. The company was lighthearted and fun. Today they are taking us to some temple in the mountains on their motorbikes. This should be fun and exciting! I was supposed to take the bus to Jodhpur this morning, but staying another day seemed like a no-brainer. So I will leave tomorrow instead, same time as my new friends.
I have to run! I have been spoiled by free internet at Gram Chetna. All this pay as yo go stuff gets expensive!! xo
MCC
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Early departure!
I must warn you. This is not my best writing.... One of these days I will properly compose a blog ahead of time. But I suddenly felt moved to write to you all.
Yesterday morning around 11:30 I decided I was leaving Gram Chetna within 24 hours. I know my last entry was all warm and fuzzy, but since John left, GCK turned into quite the hell hole. If I thought I was being treated strangely before I was the only girl there, magnify that by 10 and that might be a reasonable estimate of the discomfort.
Have I told you about the creepyness factor? I know I've mentioned it in a few emails to various people, but I can't remember if I have specifically written about it in my blogs. Men in India tend to look at western women like we're filthy whores, yet undress us with their eyes at the same time, all the while not speaking... just staring.
Anyway, A few days ago a pair of my undies went missing. Normally I wash them in the shower and hang them dry in my room. I find this process to be easier than waiting till I have no more clean pairs and being forced to figure something out. And every day, except for this day, I remember to bring my under ware back to my room from the shower. So it has always worked very well.
However, the other day I forgot my clean underwear in the shower and when I went back for them, they weren't there. This means that one of the creepy Gram Chetna men has a pair of my underwear. Part of me is relieved I washed them before I forgot them, but the other part is annoyed that I have a pair of my underwear floating around the dorms of Gram Chetna.
CREEPS!
But this wasn't the reason I left early. I have been completely ignored and excluded from everything since I became the only intern last week. And I've been going out of my way to be social and engaging since John left. But the straw that broke the camels back was yesterday morning when I was made to wait until all of the men had eaten before I could have breakfast. You might be thinking, "maybe this is all a big misunderstanding." But I know it was intentional because there was a guy who stayed the night at Gram Chetna and told Govind he didn't like me (a woman) eating with everyone (the men. So the next morning, he was still at Gram Chetna, and I was not invited to eat breakfast until the men had eaten and the food was cold.
So at that very moment I decided to get the eff-word out of that mother bleeping hell-hole.
When I told Rajiv that I was leaving, he acted like he understood completely. He said I didn't seem to enjoy myself because the staff was not in a position to accommodate an intern. He mentioned that during the weeks John was there, he went on 15 or 17 micro-finance field visits. I only went on three. THREE! I can't left myself think about this without feeling extremely disappointed and upset. I think in a few days, when I have cooled down, I am going to write a respectful email to Prashant. I want to explain to him that in the future, if he knows Gram Chetna is not able to accommodate interns he should not invite interns. I could have gone somewhere else for my internship and it really upsets me that I had a sub par experience because he accepted me when he shouldn't have.
So that's that. Now I am in Jaipur waiting to leave on my train tomorrow night. I bought all sorts of shaving supplies and finally I feel like a lady again. Don't worry, I took "before" pictures.
xoxo
Mary
Yesterday morning around 11:30 I decided I was leaving Gram Chetna within 24 hours. I know my last entry was all warm and fuzzy, but since John left, GCK turned into quite the hell hole. If I thought I was being treated strangely before I was the only girl there, magnify that by 10 and that might be a reasonable estimate of the discomfort.
Have I told you about the creepyness factor? I know I've mentioned it in a few emails to various people, but I can't remember if I have specifically written about it in my blogs. Men in India tend to look at western women like we're filthy whores, yet undress us with their eyes at the same time, all the while not speaking... just staring.
Anyway, A few days ago a pair of my undies went missing. Normally I wash them in the shower and hang them dry in my room. I find this process to be easier than waiting till I have no more clean pairs and being forced to figure something out. And every day, except for this day, I remember to bring my under ware back to my room from the shower. So it has always worked very well.
However, the other day I forgot my clean underwear in the shower and when I went back for them, they weren't there. This means that one of the creepy Gram Chetna men has a pair of my underwear. Part of me is relieved I washed them before I forgot them, but the other part is annoyed that I have a pair of my underwear floating around the dorms of Gram Chetna.
CREEPS!
But this wasn't the reason I left early. I have been completely ignored and excluded from everything since I became the only intern last week. And I've been going out of my way to be social and engaging since John left. But the straw that broke the camels back was yesterday morning when I was made to wait until all of the men had eaten before I could have breakfast. You might be thinking, "maybe this is all a big misunderstanding." But I know it was intentional because there was a guy who stayed the night at Gram Chetna and told Govind he didn't like me (a woman) eating with everyone (the men. So the next morning, he was still at Gram Chetna, and I was not invited to eat breakfast until the men had eaten and the food was cold.
So at that very moment I decided to get the eff-word out of that mother bleeping hell-hole.
When I told Rajiv that I was leaving, he acted like he understood completely. He said I didn't seem to enjoy myself because the staff was not in a position to accommodate an intern. He mentioned that during the weeks John was there, he went on 15 or 17 micro-finance field visits. I only went on three. THREE! I can't left myself think about this without feeling extremely disappointed and upset. I think in a few days, when I have cooled down, I am going to write a respectful email to Prashant. I want to explain to him that in the future, if he knows Gram Chetna is not able to accommodate interns he should not invite interns. I could have gone somewhere else for my internship and it really upsets me that I had a sub par experience because he accepted me when he shouldn't have.
So that's that. Now I am in Jaipur waiting to leave on my train tomorrow night. I bought all sorts of shaving supplies and finally I feel like a lady again. Don't worry, I took "before" pictures.
xoxo
Mary
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Live from Gram Chetna!
Hi guys!
Here's another spontaneous (non-prewritten) entry. And I'm working with a computer on a limited battery. Please excuse my typos and gramatical errors.
In the last week when I had Prashant's wireless internet data card, I was able to hop online anytime I wanted. So I did. I spent a lot of time watching music videos, planning future trips to central america, chatting on facebook and gchat. I began to miss home so badly it was unreal. It could have been time for my homesickness to set in, but I can't halp but think my constant facebook and email access had something to do with it.
So I decided to take a break from the internet, specifically facebook, until I'm off on my own. This is, of course, unless something amazing or horrifying happenes. Then I'll send some messages or emails. But until I reach Udaipur, you might not hear from me.
Form here till Saturday, July 24th I am officially off the grid.
I love you all!!!
Here's another spontaneous (non-prewritten) entry. And I'm working with a computer on a limited battery. Please excuse my typos and gramatical errors.
In the last week when I had Prashant's wireless internet data card, I was able to hop online anytime I wanted. So I did. I spent a lot of time watching music videos, planning future trips to central america, chatting on facebook and gchat. I began to miss home so badly it was unreal. It could have been time for my homesickness to set in, but I can't halp but think my constant facebook and email access had something to do with it.
So I decided to take a break from the internet, specifically facebook, until I'm off on my own. This is, of course, unless something amazing or horrifying happenes. Then I'll send some messages or emails. But until I reach Udaipur, you might not hear from me.
Form here till Saturday, July 24th I am officially off the grid.
I love you all!!!
Live from Gram Chetna!
Hi guys!
Here's another spontaneous (non-prewritten) entry. And I'm working with a computer on a limited battery. Please excuse my typos and gramatical errors.
In the last week when I had Prashant's wireless internet data card, I was able to hop online anytime I wanted. So I did. I spent a lot of time watching music videos, planning future trips to central america, chatting on facebook and gchat. I began to miss home so badly it was unreal. It could have been time for my homesickness to set in, but I can't halp but think my constant facebook and email access had something to do with it.
So I decided to take a break from the internet, specifically facebook, until I'm off on my own. This is, of course, unless something amazing or horrifying happenes. Then I'll send some messages or emails. But until I reach Udaipur, you might not hear from me.
Form here till Saturday, July 24th I am officially off the grid.
I love you all!!!
Here's another spontaneous (non-prewritten) entry. And I'm working with a computer on a limited battery. Please excuse my typos and gramatical errors.
In the last week when I had Prashant's wireless internet data card, I was able to hop online anytime I wanted. So I did. I spent a lot of time watching music videos, planning future trips to central america, chatting on facebook and gchat. I began to miss home so badly it was unreal. It could have been time for my homesickness to set in, but I can't halp but think my constant facebook and email access had something to do with it.
So I decided to take a break from the internet, specifically facebook, until I'm off on my own. This is, of course, unless something amazing or horrifying happenes. Then I'll send some messages or emails. But until I reach Udaipur, you might not hear from me.
Form here till Saturday, July 24th I am officially off the grid.
I love you all!!!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A sudden rush!
Lola has still not arrived. The whole situation is incredibly fishy. It seems absolutely absurd that it's OK to invite a French university student to your organization and then drop off the face of the planet. It seems like a parent's worst nightmare. How can Prashand think that is an acceptable way to treat visitors? If the timing was bad to take on a new intern, then that should have been explained. But is seems that in India it is better to knowingly lie to someone than to tell him or her something she doesn't want to hear. It's quite infuriating!
Anyway, with that being said I think I should finally tell you about some of my love for India. Most of the time I write entries with the main purpose of entertaining my readers. That usually involves me elaborating on awkward moments where I find myself grossed out, frustrated and/or confused. Although the main point of this blog focuses on my many (mis)adventures in India, I don't want to leave out the good ol' happy-but-boring stuff for the sake of entertainment.
With that being said, in the last three weeks something about India has put me into a fairly steady oxitocin-induced coma. In the beginning is was triggered by food, chai and the delicious and ubiquitous sweets. But more recently I've been able to conjure up an oxitocin overload by simply thinking about it. And although I miss home something fierce, and am still constantly overwhelmed by culture shock, these warm and fuzzy feelings are keeping me pretty darn happy.
And I really can't rave enough about how great it is to get out and about in the surrounding comminities. My morning bike rides and the occasional field visits are the two things I look forward to, and will miss the most. This morning on my ride I had a four boy escort. Normally, I pass a group of four thirteen year-old boys coming toward me head-on on their way to school. They shout out, "how are youuuuuu?" and laugh at my response as we cross paths. I was fairly certain that today I left for my ride the same time I always do, but as I passed through the first small village, the four boys were just getting on their bikes to ride to school. So they joined me the entire bike ride, thoroughly enjoying their new celebrity status along the way.
On my way home an old man stopped me and had an entire one sided conversation with me in Marwari. Towards the end I realized he was inviting me back to his house for food. But Govinda was preparing paranthas for breakfast, and I didn't want to miss that deliciousness. I graciously declined, but if he asks me again tomorrow or the next day I will probably take him up on his offer. I was hoping the other old man would invite me in for chai, because today I could make it, but we just waved at each other as I rode past.
I have jokingly referred to my feelings for India as love/hate. But I have to admit that is it far, far more a love relationship than anything else. I think saying love/discomfort would be much more accurate. My endorphins are ensuring that I have plenty of love for this place.
MCC
Anyway, with that being said I think I should finally tell you about some of my love for India. Most of the time I write entries with the main purpose of entertaining my readers. That usually involves me elaborating on awkward moments where I find myself grossed out, frustrated and/or confused. Although the main point of this blog focuses on my many (mis)adventures in India, I don't want to leave out the good ol' happy-but-boring stuff for the sake of entertainment.
With that being said, in the last three weeks something about India has put me into a fairly steady oxitocin-induced coma. In the beginning is was triggered by food, chai and the delicious and ubiquitous sweets. But more recently I've been able to conjure up an oxitocin overload by simply thinking about it. And although I miss home something fierce, and am still constantly overwhelmed by culture shock, these warm and fuzzy feelings are keeping me pretty darn happy.
And I really can't rave enough about how great it is to get out and about in the surrounding comminities. My morning bike rides and the occasional field visits are the two things I look forward to, and will miss the most. This morning on my ride I had a four boy escort. Normally, I pass a group of four thirteen year-old boys coming toward me head-on on their way to school. They shout out, "how are youuuuuu?" and laugh at my response as we cross paths. I was fairly certain that today I left for my ride the same time I always do, but as I passed through the first small village, the four boys were just getting on their bikes to ride to school. So they joined me the entire bike ride, thoroughly enjoying their new celebrity status along the way.
On my way home an old man stopped me and had an entire one sided conversation with me in Marwari. Towards the end I realized he was inviting me back to his house for food. But Govinda was preparing paranthas for breakfast, and I didn't want to miss that deliciousness. I graciously declined, but if he asks me again tomorrow or the next day I will probably take him up on his offer. I was hoping the other old man would invite me in for chai, because today I could make it, but we just waved at each other as I rode past.
I have jokingly referred to my feelings for India as love/hate. But I have to admit that is it far, far more a love relationship than anything else. I think saying love/discomfort would be much more accurate. My endorphins are ensuring that I have plenty of love for this place.
MCC
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Guaranteed Means Nothing.
I think the more work I do at Gram Chetna the more I realize rural community development is not for me. Not that I really thought it was for me in the first place, but I thought it combined the things I find interesting - travel and people - and I would probably be at least appealing. But this work has one other main component that I really find boring, the whole rural community development factor.
It’s Monday morning and I just arrived in the office. Rajiv just walked up to me and placed a stack of folders and binders on my desk, mentioning that this is the information I requested. All I have to do now is read a few more 100 page reports and summarize some information. I hate this shit.
In other news, and so very typical of this place, we still have no new intern. I thought she called yesterday and that was the reason the guys rode off on the motorbike. But I found out last night that they were simply being proactive.
And I was so looking forward to her arriving! After I posted the last blog I went off on the bicycle and bought a kilo of mangos for the welcoming celebration! When I found out John and Rajiv had returned without Lola, I ate four mangos back to back. I guess I can’t feel too guilty about eating my feelings when I’m eating fresh, ripe fruit. It could have been worse.
On a more positive note, mangos are both cheap and delicious here! I bought six for about 80 cents! Another positive thing is that my bike rides are becoming more and more awesome. My random rides have developed into a specific loop I ride every morning, so the people all know me by now. At first I was just getting blank-faced, open-mouthed stares. But now people wave and smile, and a few young men have somehow found out my name. So I ride along to young men calling out, “Good morning, Meddy!” and all the children wave and yell, “bye bye!” There is even one old man who invites me in for chai almost every morning. I haven’t gotten a chance to take him up on his offer yet, but I‘m hoping to sometime in the next few days.
As for the physical aspect of my bike rides, I’m working on some buns of steel over here! I never really thought riding a bicycle did much in that regard. But man! It’s working for me. Of course I have yet to find a mirror larger than 3 in x 5 in to check myself out in, but I feel way stronger. So I am telling myself I’m getting buff. After all, body image really is all in a person's head anyway.
Alright, time to get to these reports. Ugh.
It’s Monday morning and I just arrived in the office. Rajiv just walked up to me and placed a stack of folders and binders on my desk, mentioning that this is the information I requested. All I have to do now is read a few more 100 page reports and summarize some information. I hate this shit.
In other news, and so very typical of this place, we still have no new intern. I thought she called yesterday and that was the reason the guys rode off on the motorbike. But I found out last night that they were simply being proactive.
And I was so looking forward to her arriving! After I posted the last blog I went off on the bicycle and bought a kilo of mangos for the welcoming celebration! When I found out John and Rajiv had returned without Lola, I ate four mangos back to back. I guess I can’t feel too guilty about eating my feelings when I’m eating fresh, ripe fruit. It could have been worse.
On a more positive note, mangos are both cheap and delicious here! I bought six for about 80 cents! Another positive thing is that my bike rides are becoming more and more awesome. My random rides have developed into a specific loop I ride every morning, so the people all know me by now. At first I was just getting blank-faced, open-mouthed stares. But now people wave and smile, and a few young men have somehow found out my name. So I ride along to young men calling out, “Good morning, Meddy!” and all the children wave and yell, “bye bye!” There is even one old man who invites me in for chai almost every morning. I haven’t gotten a chance to take him up on his offer yet, but I‘m hoping to sometime in the next few days.
As for the physical aspect of my bike rides, I’m working on some buns of steel over here! I never really thought riding a bicycle did much in that regard. But man! It’s working for me. Of course I have yet to find a mirror larger than 3 in x 5 in to check myself out in, but I feel way stronger. So I am telling myself I’m getting buff. After all, body image really is all in a person's head anyway.
Alright, time to get to these reports. Ugh.
New Intern! GUARANTEED.
John and Rajiv are on their way to Jaipur to pick up Lola, the new intern, as I type. John told me last night that he didn’t really feel like heading in on the bus, so I might have to go get her. I could have told him then and there that wasn’t happening, but I kept my mouth shut and played the whole thing by ear. From the get-go he’s taken the majority of the responsibility for this intern coming. Prashand asked him to take a look at her resume, then Prashand asked him to write her an email inviting her to stay, and then John wrote an email from his private email account to introduce himself and offer support if she needed anything. And then he tells me last night that he might not feel like heading into Jaipur to pick her up adding, “but someone has to,” meaning me.
I would have been more flexible, but my special monthly visitor is set to arrive today and spending four hours on a bus, then wondering around Japiur without the guarantee of access to a bathroom is not my ideal way to spend the day (I know, I know... too much information). So while I did feel a little bad for making it clear I wasn’t going to do it, I did feel fairly justified. John signed on to this intern project right away. Neither John nor Prashand ever made any effort to include me before, so why involve me now just because things have become inconvenient?
So Rajiv and John left about an hour and a half ago on the motorbike. I don’t know about this girl Lola, but I would be a little terrified if I had to ride three to a motorbike on my second day in India, especially with the luggage! But I have the feeling she’s been here before, so it might be alright.
In preparation for her arrival, and her becoming my new roommate for the next two weeks, I cleared off a shelf for her clothes, thoroughly swept the floor, and picked some flowers to spruce up the joint. My bedroom still looks a bit like a holding cell out of the movie Saw III (especially since I took up the area rug to avoid crickets), but I can see some improvement.
I hope they pick her up and head straight back to Gram Chetna and no funny business like seeing a movie!! I can’t wait to meet this Lola chick.
I would have been more flexible, but my special monthly visitor is set to arrive today and spending four hours on a bus, then wondering around Japiur without the guarantee of access to a bathroom is not my ideal way to spend the day (I know, I know... too much information). So while I did feel a little bad for making it clear I wasn’t going to do it, I did feel fairly justified. John signed on to this intern project right away. Neither John nor Prashand ever made any effort to include me before, so why involve me now just because things have become inconvenient?
So Rajiv and John left about an hour and a half ago on the motorbike. I don’t know about this girl Lola, but I would be a little terrified if I had to ride three to a motorbike on my second day in India, especially with the luggage! But I have the feeling she’s been here before, so it might be alright.
In preparation for her arrival, and her becoming my new roommate for the next two weeks, I cleared off a shelf for her clothes, thoroughly swept the floor, and picked some flowers to spruce up the joint. My bedroom still looks a bit like a holding cell out of the movie Saw III (especially since I took up the area rug to avoid crickets), but I can see some improvement.
I hope they pick her up and head straight back to Gram Chetna and no funny business like seeing a movie!! I can’t wait to meet this Lola chick.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Unevents
Next week Tuesday is John’s last day at Gram Chetna. For a while I was a little bummed because I would be the only intern for the following week and a half. At one point we were going to have an intern from France, but it seemed like she was bailing because she wouldn’t return any of the emails John sent her. Prashand has been gone for the last few days and we haven’t been able to reach him. He’s in Uttar Pradesh visiting his wife and he shut his phone off for the week.
John had the bright idea this morning to check the Gram Chetna email account to make sure the French intern really wasn’t coming. She wasn’t responding to his emails from his personal account, but she originally emailed the main Gram Chetna address. When he signed in he saw that she and Prashand have been corresponding with one another for the last week, and Prashand didn’t tell anyone. She is coming, tomorrow in fact.
I’m overjoyed, but what the hell?! I had just gotten comfortable with the idea that I would be alone for my last week here. Prashand knew she was coming, gave her his cell phone number as the Gram Chetna contact number, then left for a week and shut his phone off. What was he thinking, if he was thinking at all?
Not much has been happening this week. I gave Prashand a list of information I need to finish my projects and then he left without giving me anything. Oh, and the generator was down, so we had no power for half the day. And then today we’re in day three of eight hour staff meetings. Luckily Prashand left his wireless internet data card, so most of my days have been spent screwing around online. I pretty much have next summer’s traveling planned out. How does Central America sound?
John had the bright idea this morning to check the Gram Chetna email account to make sure the French intern really wasn’t coming. She wasn’t responding to his emails from his personal account, but she originally emailed the main Gram Chetna address. When he signed in he saw that she and Prashand have been corresponding with one another for the last week, and Prashand didn’t tell anyone. She is coming, tomorrow in fact.
I’m overjoyed, but what the hell?! I had just gotten comfortable with the idea that I would be alone for my last week here. Prashand knew she was coming, gave her his cell phone number as the Gram Chetna contact number, then left for a week and shut his phone off. What was he thinking, if he was thinking at all?
Not much has been happening this week. I gave Prashand a list of information I need to finish my projects and then he left without giving me anything. Oh, and the generator was down, so we had no power for half the day. And then today we’re in day three of eight hour staff meetings. Luckily Prashand left his wireless internet data card, so most of my days have been spent screwing around online. I pretty much have next summer’s traveling planned out. How does Central America sound?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
For Real!
I told you all that I would write some of my observations on the caste system, but it’s proving to be very difficult. First of all, I don’t even know enough about the caste system to know what I don’t know. Second, writing about the caste system in India makes me feel like I’m somehow ignoring the fact that discrimination is very much alive and well in my home country and community. As a white, middle class young woman born to educated parents, I have personally benefited from the racial discrimination found in the USA. Although I worked hard to get to India, many of the reasons I was able to come were a result of unearned privileges I have been granted because of my social class and ethnicity. I don’t want my observations to come across as if discrimination is foreign to me.
That being acknowledged, I still don’t feel all that comfortable writing about caste. I can, however, do what I usually do and tell you all a story.
The Gram Chetna staff is primarily made up of Brahmins. The founding team were all Brahmin, Big Boss is Brahmin, and both his son (Amit) and brother (Vishnu) work here and are obviously also Brahmin. Brahmins are at the top of the caste system and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes are at the bottom. “Scheduled” means that they are given certain affirmative action style rights in the constitution. It’s also a nicer name for what they were once referred to - Untouchables.
Gram Chetna’s has a huge presence in the surrounding communities. The name can be roughly translated to Village Awareness Center and it provides education on health, safe water and sanitation, child development, nutrition, family planning among many other things. The center also arranges for dairy cooperatives among the farmers, and provides support to women’s microfinance schemes. The work done here is generally done with and for the uneducated, rural poor. Rajiv once said that as a social worker, there is very little room for caste discrimination in his line of work.
Now, there is a young man, Mahendra, who comes to Gram Chetna every morning, seven days a week, to sweep the dust, clean the bathrooms and take out the trash. He arrives before we wake up and takes a short break when morning chai is served. While we all sit around on lawn chairs drinking out of ceramic tea cups, he is served his chai in a plastic cup and sits about ten yards away, on some concrete steps. From the very beginning I thought these behaviors were caste related, but I never said anything about it.
Two weeks ago we went to a marriage party where caste was directly brought up by Amit and Rajiv. To make a long story short, two girls sat with our Gram Chetna group for dinner. I didn’t pick up on any of this at the time, but it was discussed later on the way home. One of the two girls wasn’t going to eat with us because her friend (!!!!!) was of a lower caste, and she wouldn’t eat with her. Amit, who is Brahmin, didn’t care about anyone’s caste and told the one girl to eat. So she did, but Amit and Rajiv laughed about it in the car on the way home.
The above story gave me the impression that caste was largely ignored by the people at Gram Chetna. But the chai served to him in a plastic cup was really throwing me off. Finally I brought it up to John and he said something about age being a possible factor. He read somewhere that if a young man is younger than 18, he is still often treated as a child. But that didn’t seem right to me. John then asked Prashand and he confirmed my beliefs, that it was indeed caste related. And unfortunately, he also told us some more upsetting information about caste discrimination at Gram Chetna.
Not only does Mahendra have to drink his tea from a plastic cup away from the group every morning, he must also keep his dishes separate from everyone else’s, he is also not allowed in the kitchen, and he is not allowed to drink from the electrocuting water cooler. When he sweeps in the mornings he is not allowed to step foot in Big Boss’s office, Amit’s office, or Vishnu’s dormitory. If he goes in, the rooms are considered contaminated because he is a member of the Scheduled Caste.
Prashand added that although the caste system is reinforced through Hindu beliefs, Rajasthan was the birthplace of discrimination based on caste. He is from a Uttar Pradesh and said that things weren’t like this back at his home. I have no way of knowing how accurate that is. It may be like saying Chicago is less racist than Detroit. It might just be that the discrimination in Rajasthan is more overt than other places in India. Who knows.
That’s that on caste.
In other news, I had to break out the mosquito net. Before coming I read countless blogs about how useless mosquito nets are in India. I read that there is never any place to hang it from, it creates a cocoon of heat around you, and there aren’t really any bugs to worry about. After all, it was pretty useless while I was in Kenya. For a minute I thought about leaving it at home, especially because I was packing so light. But in the end I decided to bring it anyway. And thank the lord I did! The bugs just seem to get worse and worse by the minute. Yesterday after dinner I went to wash my dishes and found the outdoor kitchen sink was fill of squirming fly larvae. I definitely gagged at that one…
And I’ve decided to tell you all one more short story. It has to do with the sweeper, Mahendra. Yesterday morning I decided to forgo my bike ride and spend the morning getting rid of the bugs in my room. Crickets and ¾ inch long ants had taken over the place. So I decided to take my luggage from under my bed, the two boxes of empty mineral water bottles from the corner, and my floor rug and place it all on a shelf. The ants and crickets hide under and behind those things, so I got rid of it all.
When Mahendra saw me pulling everything out of my room he asked if I wanted him to clean. Being fully capable of cleaning my own bedroom, I smiled and said, “no thanks”. Now there is a chance that he took that as me asking him not to enter my room, like Vishnu. This morning on my bike ride, I was really looking forward to coming back to a swept room. I know, I know… But if he is going to sweep (which he usually does), I prefer it to happen when I’m gone. I get embarrassed when he comes in to sweep when I’m relaxing on my bed, reading. I feel like I should get up and help him.
But when I got back from my bike ride my room was still a mess. There was dust everywhere, dead bugs were all over the floor. It definitely had not been swept yet. Mahendra had moved onto the other section of the building, so I knew he was done with my room. I know I am fully capable of sweeping out my own room, and that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I just can’t help thinking something else happened, maybe some sort of a miscommunication.
As I see it, I’m stuck either ignoring the possible miscommunication, or deliberately asking him to sweep my room in the morning. Both options make me uncomfortable. While I have no problem sweeping my own room, I don’t want my actions to be misconstrued as caste related. Certainly asking him to sweep my room would clarify that I don’t care about caste, but my Western (or maybe American) values makes me uncomfortable with asking someone to clean up my mess.
I guess my third option would be to tell him it is nothing caste related, but I can sweep my own room. But I’m sure no one would understand why I was making such a distinction. Why is this so damn complicated?!
That being acknowledged, I still don’t feel all that comfortable writing about caste. I can, however, do what I usually do and tell you all a story.
The Gram Chetna staff is primarily made up of Brahmins. The founding team were all Brahmin, Big Boss is Brahmin, and both his son (Amit) and brother (Vishnu) work here and are obviously also Brahmin. Brahmins are at the top of the caste system and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes are at the bottom. “Scheduled” means that they are given certain affirmative action style rights in the constitution. It’s also a nicer name for what they were once referred to - Untouchables.
Gram Chetna’s has a huge presence in the surrounding communities. The name can be roughly translated to Village Awareness Center and it provides education on health, safe water and sanitation, child development, nutrition, family planning among many other things. The center also arranges for dairy cooperatives among the farmers, and provides support to women’s microfinance schemes. The work done here is generally done with and for the uneducated, rural poor. Rajiv once said that as a social worker, there is very little room for caste discrimination in his line of work.
Now, there is a young man, Mahendra, who comes to Gram Chetna every morning, seven days a week, to sweep the dust, clean the bathrooms and take out the trash. He arrives before we wake up and takes a short break when morning chai is served. While we all sit around on lawn chairs drinking out of ceramic tea cups, he is served his chai in a plastic cup and sits about ten yards away, on some concrete steps. From the very beginning I thought these behaviors were caste related, but I never said anything about it.
Two weeks ago we went to a marriage party where caste was directly brought up by Amit and Rajiv. To make a long story short, two girls sat with our Gram Chetna group for dinner. I didn’t pick up on any of this at the time, but it was discussed later on the way home. One of the two girls wasn’t going to eat with us because her friend (!!!!!) was of a lower caste, and she wouldn’t eat with her. Amit, who is Brahmin, didn’t care about anyone’s caste and told the one girl to eat. So she did, but Amit and Rajiv laughed about it in the car on the way home.
The above story gave me the impression that caste was largely ignored by the people at Gram Chetna. But the chai served to him in a plastic cup was really throwing me off. Finally I brought it up to John and he said something about age being a possible factor. He read somewhere that if a young man is younger than 18, he is still often treated as a child. But that didn’t seem right to me. John then asked Prashand and he confirmed my beliefs, that it was indeed caste related. And unfortunately, he also told us some more upsetting information about caste discrimination at Gram Chetna.
Not only does Mahendra have to drink his tea from a plastic cup away from the group every morning, he must also keep his dishes separate from everyone else’s, he is also not allowed in the kitchen, and he is not allowed to drink from the electrocuting water cooler. When he sweeps in the mornings he is not allowed to step foot in Big Boss’s office, Amit’s office, or Vishnu’s dormitory. If he goes in, the rooms are considered contaminated because he is a member of the Scheduled Caste.
Prashand added that although the caste system is reinforced through Hindu beliefs, Rajasthan was the birthplace of discrimination based on caste. He is from a Uttar Pradesh and said that things weren’t like this back at his home. I have no way of knowing how accurate that is. It may be like saying Chicago is less racist than Detroit. It might just be that the discrimination in Rajasthan is more overt than other places in India. Who knows.
That’s that on caste.
In other news, I had to break out the mosquito net. Before coming I read countless blogs about how useless mosquito nets are in India. I read that there is never any place to hang it from, it creates a cocoon of heat around you, and there aren’t really any bugs to worry about. After all, it was pretty useless while I was in Kenya. For a minute I thought about leaving it at home, especially because I was packing so light. But in the end I decided to bring it anyway. And thank the lord I did! The bugs just seem to get worse and worse by the minute. Yesterday after dinner I went to wash my dishes and found the outdoor kitchen sink was fill of squirming fly larvae. I definitely gagged at that one…
And I’ve decided to tell you all one more short story. It has to do with the sweeper, Mahendra. Yesterday morning I decided to forgo my bike ride and spend the morning getting rid of the bugs in my room. Crickets and ¾ inch long ants had taken over the place. So I decided to take my luggage from under my bed, the two boxes of empty mineral water bottles from the corner, and my floor rug and place it all on a shelf. The ants and crickets hide under and behind those things, so I got rid of it all.
When Mahendra saw me pulling everything out of my room he asked if I wanted him to clean. Being fully capable of cleaning my own bedroom, I smiled and said, “no thanks”. Now there is a chance that he took that as me asking him not to enter my room, like Vishnu. This morning on my bike ride, I was really looking forward to coming back to a swept room. I know, I know… But if he is going to sweep (which he usually does), I prefer it to happen when I’m gone. I get embarrassed when he comes in to sweep when I’m relaxing on my bed, reading. I feel like I should get up and help him.
But when I got back from my bike ride my room was still a mess. There was dust everywhere, dead bugs were all over the floor. It definitely had not been swept yet. Mahendra had moved onto the other section of the building, so I knew he was done with my room. I know I am fully capable of sweeping out my own room, and that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I just can’t help thinking something else happened, maybe some sort of a miscommunication.
As I see it, I’m stuck either ignoring the possible miscommunication, or deliberately asking him to sweep my room in the morning. Both options make me uncomfortable. While I have no problem sweeping my own room, I don’t want my actions to be misconstrued as caste related. Certainly asking him to sweep my room would clarify that I don’t care about caste, but my Western (or maybe American) values makes me uncomfortable with asking someone to clean up my mess.
I guess my third option would be to tell him it is nothing caste related, but I can sweep my own room. But I’m sure no one would understand why I was making such a distinction. Why is this so damn complicated?!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Food!
It dawned on me the other day that there are two entries I need to write. I’ve been getting some emails asking what the food is like, so I thought I’d give you an entry based on food. I was also moved last night to write a entry about the caste system. I’m by no means an expert, as I’m sure you all will see. And I don’t plan on offering any patronizing statements espousing my strong Amerrrrrkan values. I’m just going to tell you some things that I’ve seen.
But first I want to tell you a story.
The rains have started as predicted and brought around a fair, cool temperature. I’m not talking 65 F degrees; I mean more like 85 F and humid. Regardless, it’s a nice break from the weather in the last few weeks. Since the rain has come and the temperature has dropped, we have seen an increase in bugs. Last night was an event of biblical proportions and I really wanted to take pictures or video, but my camera was locked in the office. Imagine heavy clouds of swarms by every illuminated light bulb and every wall coated with flies. Yuck! Add to this the fact the generator was out and the water pump couldn‘t be turned on. Normally this would not have been a problem. The drinking water cooler was working (I don‘t know how), I didn’t need to shower, and I can usually make do without electricity.
But this morning I needed to shower, like most mornings. There are several water tanks on the roof of the buildings, so water was accessible. I filled a bucket with an awkward blue hose coming down off the roof and brought it over to the bathing rooms. The Gram Chetna driver, Ramu, saw me lugging the water bucket and let out a surprised sounding “Oh!”, as if he was surprised to see me doing any physical labor. I think the general consensus among the men is that I’m a princess (by rural Rajasthan standards). While I think I’m a pretty good sport, roughing it with the squat toilets and the bucket showers, hand washing my clothing and eating on the floor; they only see my red brick pedicures, my use of a fan at night, and my avoidance of cooking detail. They think I’m soft, but I don’t! I just like my feet looking nice, I get hot at night, and I don’t like my hands smelling like onions all the time.
Anyway. I took the bucket into the bathrooms where there are two showers to choose from. I prefer one over the other because it has a wire rack and hook to hang my clothes on while the other shower just has one broken hook. Unfortunately the door to my favorite shower wasn’t latching all the way so I had to use the other shower, which was overrun with bugs - nasty flies, grasshoppers, ants! And I’m not talking about a few here and there. The flies were crawling the walls and there were probably upwards of twenty grasshoppers huddled in the corners.
So I got in with my bucket of tank water and tried the nozzle of the faucet one more time. Still no water. I began to splash myself with water and begin my showering routine. About three minutes in I heard a gurgling noise followed my a low pitch hissing sound. All of the sudden the faucet turns on, spraying water everywhere. I had forgotten to turn it off when I checked a few moments prior and it was startling the grasshoppers. It was sort of like that Jackass skit when one of those idiots dresses like a mouse and rolls around in a room full of mousetraps. One cricket set off another, who set off another, who set off another. Suddenly I had close to twenty jumping crickets bouncing off my legs. Luckily I kept my cool. I quickly finished my shower and got the hell out of there, having thoroughly shaken out all of my clothing before getting dressed. I’m realizing that I will have nerves of steel by the time I get home.
Come to think of it, I don’t really feel like writing about the caste system right now. I think I’ll leave that to another time. Let’s talk about food!
I’ve had a lot of questions about the food here and I don’t think I’ve really taken any time to answer. Yes, the food is excellent, for the most part. When I first arrived I was operating under the assumption that all of the food here would be amazing and delicious and even more amazing. That idea lasted for about two weeks, when I had the unfortunate experience of nearly gagging on mango sabji. Since then I’ve had to eat some other less than delicious Indian food, but I’d say on average the food is pretty darn good.
That being said, I had to put myself on a diet. In the first few days at Gram Chetna I was stuffing myself at every meal. We are only served two official meals a day, breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is served anywhere between 9 am and 11 am, and dinner is served at around 9:00 pm. When I first got here I would eat as much as I could, to the point where I was in pain, for both breakfast and dinner. About two weeks into my stay I felt like I was becoming a fatty, so I imposed a two chapatti rule. I gained a lot of weight in Kenya and I didn’t want the same to happen in India. The two chapatti rule means I can have a regular sized portion of daal or sabji, but I can only eat two chapattis with it. So far it seems to be working. But I’m also taking daily hour-long bike rides. So who really knows what’s doing what.
I also thought I should explain the meaning of some of the words I am using. They’ve become part of my daily vocabulary and I don’t even think to tell you all what they mean. First, chai is tea made is milk and it’s delicious. Well, it has a little bit of water mixed in, but it’s mostly milk. It is also loaded with sugar, so in a way it’s more like candy than tea. It’s one of the things I am going to truly miss when I get home. As for daal, it’s a lentil soup type dish. You can eat it over rice or scooped up with some chapatti bread. Sabji is a general term for any sort of sautéed or stewed vegetable dish. Chapatti is circular flat bread with an approximate 5 inch diameter. Oh, and two rules here is that food must all be vegetarian and no alcohol. But apparently the latter is merely a suggestion because we had beer to celebrate Canada Day.
And Govinda is coming back today! He normally works seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so every six weeks he gets time off to visit his family and relax. This time he was going to a family wedding as well, so he’s been gone for more than two weeks. I can’t say he doesn’t deserve the time off, but when he left he took the joy of this place with him. In his absence we have Lala, who isn’t nearly as good of a cook or as friendly. But allegedly Govinda is coming back today… we’ll see if that actually happens. He’s been coming back “tomorrow” for the last seven days.
Ok, that’s all! Love ya!
MCC
But first I want to tell you a story.
The rains have started as predicted and brought around a fair, cool temperature. I’m not talking 65 F degrees; I mean more like 85 F and humid. Regardless, it’s a nice break from the weather in the last few weeks. Since the rain has come and the temperature has dropped, we have seen an increase in bugs. Last night was an event of biblical proportions and I really wanted to take pictures or video, but my camera was locked in the office. Imagine heavy clouds of swarms by every illuminated light bulb and every wall coated with flies. Yuck! Add to this the fact the generator was out and the water pump couldn‘t be turned on. Normally this would not have been a problem. The drinking water cooler was working (I don‘t know how), I didn’t need to shower, and I can usually make do without electricity.
But this morning I needed to shower, like most mornings. There are several water tanks on the roof of the buildings, so water was accessible. I filled a bucket with an awkward blue hose coming down off the roof and brought it over to the bathing rooms. The Gram Chetna driver, Ramu, saw me lugging the water bucket and let out a surprised sounding “Oh!”, as if he was surprised to see me doing any physical labor. I think the general consensus among the men is that I’m a princess (by rural Rajasthan standards). While I think I’m a pretty good sport, roughing it with the squat toilets and the bucket showers, hand washing my clothing and eating on the floor; they only see my red brick pedicures, my use of a fan at night, and my avoidance of cooking detail. They think I’m soft, but I don’t! I just like my feet looking nice, I get hot at night, and I don’t like my hands smelling like onions all the time.
Anyway. I took the bucket into the bathrooms where there are two showers to choose from. I prefer one over the other because it has a wire rack and hook to hang my clothes on while the other shower just has one broken hook. Unfortunately the door to my favorite shower wasn’t latching all the way so I had to use the other shower, which was overrun with bugs - nasty flies, grasshoppers, ants! And I’m not talking about a few here and there. The flies were crawling the walls and there were probably upwards of twenty grasshoppers huddled in the corners.
So I got in with my bucket of tank water and tried the nozzle of the faucet one more time. Still no water. I began to splash myself with water and begin my showering routine. About three minutes in I heard a gurgling noise followed my a low pitch hissing sound. All of the sudden the faucet turns on, spraying water everywhere. I had forgotten to turn it off when I checked a few moments prior and it was startling the grasshoppers. It was sort of like that Jackass skit when one of those idiots dresses like a mouse and rolls around in a room full of mousetraps. One cricket set off another, who set off another, who set off another. Suddenly I had close to twenty jumping crickets bouncing off my legs. Luckily I kept my cool. I quickly finished my shower and got the hell out of there, having thoroughly shaken out all of my clothing before getting dressed. I’m realizing that I will have nerves of steel by the time I get home.
Come to think of it, I don’t really feel like writing about the caste system right now. I think I’ll leave that to another time. Let’s talk about food!
I’ve had a lot of questions about the food here and I don’t think I’ve really taken any time to answer. Yes, the food is excellent, for the most part. When I first arrived I was operating under the assumption that all of the food here would be amazing and delicious and even more amazing. That idea lasted for about two weeks, when I had the unfortunate experience of nearly gagging on mango sabji. Since then I’ve had to eat some other less than delicious Indian food, but I’d say on average the food is pretty darn good.
That being said, I had to put myself on a diet. In the first few days at Gram Chetna I was stuffing myself at every meal. We are only served two official meals a day, breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is served anywhere between 9 am and 11 am, and dinner is served at around 9:00 pm. When I first got here I would eat as much as I could, to the point where I was in pain, for both breakfast and dinner. About two weeks into my stay I felt like I was becoming a fatty, so I imposed a two chapatti rule. I gained a lot of weight in Kenya and I didn’t want the same to happen in India. The two chapatti rule means I can have a regular sized portion of daal or sabji, but I can only eat two chapattis with it. So far it seems to be working. But I’m also taking daily hour-long bike rides. So who really knows what’s doing what.
I also thought I should explain the meaning of some of the words I am using. They’ve become part of my daily vocabulary and I don’t even think to tell you all what they mean. First, chai is tea made is milk and it’s delicious. Well, it has a little bit of water mixed in, but it’s mostly milk. It is also loaded with sugar, so in a way it’s more like candy than tea. It’s one of the things I am going to truly miss when I get home. As for daal, it’s a lentil soup type dish. You can eat it over rice or scooped up with some chapatti bread. Sabji is a general term for any sort of sautéed or stewed vegetable dish. Chapatti is circular flat bread with an approximate 5 inch diameter. Oh, and two rules here is that food must all be vegetarian and no alcohol. But apparently the latter is merely a suggestion because we had beer to celebrate Canada Day.
And Govinda is coming back today! He normally works seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so every six weeks he gets time off to visit his family and relax. This time he was going to a family wedding as well, so he’s been gone for more than two weeks. I can’t say he doesn’t deserve the time off, but when he left he took the joy of this place with him. In his absence we have Lala, who isn’t nearly as good of a cook or as friendly. But allegedly Govinda is coming back today… we’ll see if that actually happens. He’s been coming back “tomorrow” for the last seven days.
Ok, that’s all! Love ya!
MCC
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