tail end of jaipur.

so just one more weekend here in the pink city. i went and got my hair cut this morning to even out the back, and happened to run into one of the MSID staff on his motorcycle, so i hitched a ride to school (my first indian motorcycle experience, and an experience i think everyone needs, i was holding on to that back bar with my life). then today the class went to see a bollywood movie about a kid with dyslexia, 'Taare Zameen Par'. it was predictable, but still a tear jerker (not that that takes much, i don't know if mom remembers watching bridge to terabithia with me, never again) movies here are very different, usually between 3 and 4 hours long, always with an intermission, always with singing and dancing, and assigned seating (which they seam to enforce even when the theatre is nearly empty). No travel plans this weekend, just packing and getting some last minute stuff. It's officially hot now, 90's in the sun. i'm going to try to go get some cheap indian clothes from the old city tomorrow because i don't have anything light enough for the extreme temperatures coming my way.

so i did a packing run through last night, and realized i can fit 6 weeks worth of life into 40 liters. i'm like a hermit crab.

Agra

this was written sunday, i just haven't had internet till now.

I can’t believe I’ve already been here for almost six weeks. I feel like I’ve been constantly in motion. Today I took the day off completely, no errands, just unwinding my thoughts and bones and tired feet. Betsy and I made toast and tea for breakfast, and walked to an internet café, I sent out some resumes for summer jobs (I guess this was an errand, but it was the weather was nice and we walked, so it seemed like much less of one). We got back and had some tasty potatoes and onions with chipatis and dhal with our host parents. Then, after several months hiding from the sun (it was winter at home when I left, and here a t shirt and an ankle length skirt is as risqué as I’m willing to go), I put on my swimsuit and went to soak in some much needed vitamin D on the roof. I just started reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics, it’s starting semi slow but I have been assured in another 100 pages or so I won’t be able to put it down. It made for good laying out reading. It was warm and it was quiet and I was happy.

This weekend we made a trip to Agra. The train took longer than expected to get in Friday night, but that was fine with me as I was completely engrossed in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I feel like I’m going to have to read it again because I couldn’t get myself to slow down. We snacked on oranges and Parle G’s, and talked to a woman from Israel traveling India for 6 months, then moving on to Nepal, Thailand, the rest of South East Asia for another 6 months. She had already traveled extensively through South America and the US, and Australia is her next on her list. I had questions I wanted to ask, like had she already served in the Israeli armed forces? Had she always been traveling alone? But she settled into her book in Hebrew (also weird for me, I always pictured Hebrew as a nearly extinct language, like Latin, what kids recited at their bar mitzvahs, but there is a whole nation speaking it.)

Anyways, Agra. To be honest the city is not somewhere I would miss. It was how I would picture a city rebuilding after a war. Police officers (in thick olive green suits holding rifles stood at every one of the several road blocks, the animals were sick (heart breakingly sick, I saw a dog that I think had polio), and the people we talked to unhelpful. The hotel we stayed at had next to no running water, and a “triple” was 2 twins pushed together, so Betsy and I essentially shared a twin. But we shook it all off, got up at 5:30 to see the Taj at sunrise. It was breathtaking, unusually quiet and we got there before the bulk of the tourist rush. Tour guides are highly recommended for the Taj, but we opted out, I don’t think explanations could have made it more beautiful. doesn't it look like we're superimposed with a picture of the Taj? i promise we were really there. sorry its sideways, i don't have time to fix it.

We then took a bus out to Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s fortified city. There is hardly a way to describe it except just enormous. Gardens, ruins, pools, it was just sprawling. Emma, Betsy and I sat and talked in a courtyard for a while, about how ridiculous it is that we still think about certain times and people and places with a good deal of frequency. But then I realize that I probably think about lawn sprinklers and crawdads at least once a day, so it’s not so ridiculous that even when things lose their importance we still think of them often. We took the bus back, I think the guy sitting next to me was drunk, he kept singing out loud and then passing out. It was 3 in the afternoon. We bought some parathas (basically a chapatti stuffed with spices and any veggies you want, in this case just potatoes. I prefer them with peas and cauliflower though) and bananas from the street and hung out at the train station until our train, which was regrettably not a sleeper, instead a car packed to the max with people, bumping elbows and sitting in the aisles. It was a challenging trip, but definitely memorable, and the Taj Mahal is unimaginably beautiful in real life. My friend’s dad cried when he saw it. I don’t think a building is capable of bringing me to tears, but I understand how it could happen there.

Udaipur.

First of all just let me say thanks you a million times over family for helping my pay for this trip, and thanks to everyone for being such cool people and giving me so much support. I want to tell you all this 15 times every day, if only international calls were less rupees.

Second, Udaipur – full of tourists, full of fun. The lake isn’t quite as glorious as it would be after a good monsoon, but still provided some spectacular views. This was the first time we have traveled with the majority of the group, and it added an extra layer of stress, but everything turned out well. India may try to break our spirits at times, but we always manage to make the best of it. We took an overnight train ride, around 10 hours, and boy did I feel sorry for those poor souls without sleeping bags. I cuddled up with my bag, 2 jackets, a scarf, my ipod, my headlamp, and my knitting and had a very pleasant ride filled with good dreams.

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We got off the train in the morning and went to a Westerner filled café for, gasp, real coffee and peanut butter toast, how I’ve made it without peanut butter for a month is really beyond imagination. We had made elaborate plans for the day, but that was all pretty much foiled when we came across the shopping district. Emma wanted to get some pants tailor made for her, which can be completed in 2 days, isn’t that wild? From scratch and all. I went with her, and needless to say I couldn’t resist. You know that one piece of clothing you look for but can never seem to find the right thing? Well, I decided to get it fitted just for me. And I’m in love with it.

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After we got all the shopping out of our system we explored the City Palace, but at that point we were palaced out, and ended up making fun of the place way more than we appreciated it (but seriously, imported British tile made the place look like a big tacky bathroom, I’m sorry). That night we, again as serious tourists, went and watched some traditional dances at a nearby haveli, which were actually very fun to watch. One woman danced while balancing 8 bowls on her head, and there was a puppet show! Woo! Then we all headed back for some dinner at the guest house we were staying in, which at $3.25 a night, you really could not beat. The restaurant was on the roof, and looked out over the whole city, including the lake. The weather was warm and the conversation was good. My friend Teresa and I tried to cut my hair, I got the length off, but the back looks pretty choppy, but it’ll be fine in a few weeks. No worries.

The next day was excellent. Relaxing breakfast of banana pancakes on the roof, followed by a paddleboat ride around the lake. We rode by the famous hotel and other palace that were floating around in the middle of it, had some street food (oranges and dal samosa) for lunch and explored the less touristy part of the city. That evening we had a cooking class, highlight of the trip. I learned so much and I can’t wait to come home and make you some tofu palak and aloo ghobi and chai samosa. Ugh it was wonderful and we got to eat so so much, when I went to pick up my jacket from the tailors I could hardly get it buttoned. That night we made a pathetic attempt to go explore the “night life” of Udaipur, but just a warning to anyone traveling to India, don’t expect a party scene, it does not exist. I was not sad about this, and had an awesome time falling asleep under the stars while cuddling with my friends on the roof (kind of a half level on top on the restaurant roof) and watching Octopussy, the horrible James Bond movie filmed in Udaipur, and shown at every establishment in the town every night. Hilarious.

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Sunday we got up, another lazy breakfast, this time nutella toast and banana cornflakes. It’s ridiculous how much my life revolves around food, but I honestly feel that my life would only be half as good as it is if I didn’t have taste buds. The four of us girls and two of the boys on our trip rented bikes and rode around a lake with a garden and an observatory in the middle, and then did some “off roading” through this village. There were some minor setbacks, a flat tire and a village kid that stole my pencil, and a few near accidents, but all in all a worthwhile. Exhausted and a little sunburned, we rolled back into the city for some street food (samosas and carrot halwa) in this hold in the wall, where we sat watching this kid make a crazy huge batch of sweets in a huge iron skillet that was bigger than he was. Back to the hotel for some lounging/reading/hindi homeworking, and then night train round 2.

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We made it home for a quick breakfast (garam poa and tea) and a bucket bath, and off we went to school. Needless to say we were dragging today, and sitting through a lecture on the intricacies of the Indian Constitution did not make things easier. But I did receive a letter from grandma mohme (grandma beck, I got yours a few days ago (thanks so much both of you!)) and a package from Ian containing some much appreciated reading, the Sigur Ros DVD (dissipating my jealousy towards Anna’s earlier viewing) and 2 pop punk mixes. I think he sent those CDs knowing that even though punk is not my thing, I’m automatically going to fall in love with them because they remind me of him. Ian, I’m on to you, you aren’t that sneaky. Just kidding, you can’t even imagine how much I appreciate it, even though it makes me miss you more, if that’s possible. Thanks for ruling at life. Today I also went to switch malaria medicine, my skin is not having the doxy (I don’t know if you’ve noticed the Rudolph nose in all the pictures), and this new kind is over 10 bucks a pill (you take one a week) in the US, but when I went to the pharmacy here, only a buck a pop! And my prescription was scribbled on a piece of scrap paper that they didn’t keep, so I’m pretty sure if anyone needs some cheap prescription drugs let me know and I’ll smuggle them home. Just kidding, but its insane how much cheaper medicine and medical services are here. But I don’t know about the legitness of the “pharmacy,” which was really just another hole in the wall shop teaming with boxes and people and a polo game playing in the background. Oh yea, and I finally shaved my legs. It took almost an hour. It was disgusting.

bikaner pictures

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here are some pictures, and sadly enough, they are what i could scrounge offline because the wireless internet cafe did not exist. india is so full of illusions.

and i had to change the page layout so you could see all the pictures, which were all badly cut off earlier,sorry if its kind of uglier and harder to navigate now.

Happy birthday dad!

Hey y’all. So this week has been class as usual, no exciting trips or anything to report on, except tomorrows trip to Udaipur, apparently the most romantic city in Rajasthan, for Valentine’s Day. Cute, right? Unfortunately the significant other is a good deal of miles away, so I’ll be spending it with my new loves, the girls of the Bapna complex. We’re planning some cooking lessons and bike rides for this trip, I’m hugely excited. This week school has gotten slightly more serious, as tests and book reports and focus papers needed to be started and finished. But as usual, free time is abundant and well used. I went on my first run here in India, and the 4 km made me realize how out of shape I had fallen. But I’m determined to put some muscle back on these bones, and with easy access to central park I have no excuses. Last night Betsy and I went on our first temple trip with our host family. Religions of all kinds baffle me. But I’ve decided Hinduism may be somewhere near top baffler. We took off our shoes and left them in the car, walked carefully down the street into the temple, avoiding spit, broken glass, and other street unmentionables. We walked in to the bright, warmly colored temples with garlands of marigolds hanging from every crevice, up to the priest that handed us an Indian sweet. Then we walked clockwise around the shrine and that was that. No endless sermons (or as anna will surely remember endless games of hangman), wafer chips, or wooden pews here. Just a personal moment of reflection in front of a human size idol of an orange god with 5 faces.

Yesterday was a good day. I had a quick and successful trip to the train station, post office, and the cell phone shop. These may seem like small things, but getting my bearings here has given me a lot of confidence. I had a nice chat with the book store owner and he’s ordering some books for me, and he even e-mailed me today to say that he put it all in and to keep in touch, isn’t that nice? Plus I got to talk to Ian and Anna. Things are really great. I also got some recommendations for internships, and as of now it looks like I may be working with CECOEDECON – the Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society, a civil society organization that undertakes development projects leading to community self reliance and empowerment. I would probably be shadowing and doing research based around women’s self help groups in villages around Rajasthan. I’m pumped to the max about this.

And I have located a wireless internet coffee house. Yes.

camel safari and random things.

So the camel safari was amazing. I'm sore all over, from my belly to my knees, but it was completely worth it. we had this hilarious guide that taught himself english, and some pretty cool card tricks. he taught us how to play pairs, which reminded me a lot of old maid (grandma beck, remember when we played that game all the time? i still remember that funny old card deck) we had 3 camels to ride, and one that pulled our cart, and a place to take a rest from riding. there were 4 guys traveling with us, and they made us chai tea and chippatis and ghobi allu from scratch for our meals. we all layed out in the desert, watching the sun set and the stars pop out. i saw probably the best shooting star i've ever seen in my life. the girls and i are getting really close, the share your deodorant and accidentally spoon in your sleep kind of close. its great. we were going to try to sleep outside our tent, but due to freezing toes and some wild dogs we ended up in the tent. thanks god for my sleeping bag, thats probably the best thing i brought on this trip. we got back today, taking a way too crowded bus (i love the buses though, no tourists, and it offers the best opportunity to people watch), and went to a palace dedicated to rats. one crawled across my foot. they were everywhere. and to worship then, people were laying belly down on the floor. no wonder the plague still exists. it was super gross. then we packed up and headed into town, had some lunch and are hanging out at an internet cafe until our train.

ok, grandma sent me a list of questions, and i thought i'd answer on here in case anyone else was wondering.

How about the toilets?
at school and home we have western toilets, but no one has toilet paper (but its available at some shops, so no worries), because they use water and their left hand to wash after. and thats why you only eat with our right hand here. the "indian" toilet is a hole you just squat over, but mostly at the places we stay its a mix of both, it looks like a low western toilet with a place to stand, and you really shouldn't sit on it.

when you are back with your host family do you have indoor plumbing of is it outside?
everything is indoor, but public urination is completely acceptable for men.

Is it a lot of veg. or do they raise corn and wheat there?
the farms we went to grow veggies and wheat, i haven't seen any corn yet, but i know it exists here, not as much though. in northern india,where i am, the food is wheat based, but in the south it's more rice based.

You said they irriagate so it must be small patches?
Yea, the average farm is probably 5 to 10 acres. it is run mostly by families, but some of the larger farms hire workers around harvest time, which is around 3 times a year.

How are you doing your laundry?
all by hand. we could give it all to one of the servants to do for a few bucks, but i didn't really feel right doing that. so betsy and i bought some liquid detergent, fill up a bucket, clean it, and lay it out in the sun to dry. needless to say, i wear a lot of dirty clothes.

if you guys have any other questions, let me know, i'll keep you updated.

Shekawati and Bikanir

I don't have long to type, i'm staying at this crazy guesthouse in bikaner with 3 other girls from my trip, and i'm currently using the internet in one of the owner's teenage son's room, and boy is it kind of awkward. this week was the trip to the sustainable village, which was such a unsettling experience. they put us all up in this 5 star resort (including free ping pong), with these over the top meals and and super touristy group events. but then we went to these really awesome organic farms and training centers, where we learned about their irrigation systems and vermicomposting and the like. did you know that the indian government buys organic produce for 15% more than the pesticide filled stuff? but it was beautiful and i learned a lot, and it was nice to take my first real shower in almost a month, but i just wish we were doing more than these sheltered sort of tours. but i have decided i'm going to do a rural internship, and probably request to be the only one in a village so that i can really immerse myself, push myself.

today we girls took off for bikanir, a desert town that doesn't see too many tourists. it was great, we ate at this great place called amber, walked around probably the coolest streets i've seen since ive been here, and almost got involved in a gambling match with some old guys on the street. the bizarres here are amazing, the kind i really thought would be in india, streets only wide enough for a scooter, fabric hanging out across the streets, colors, sounds, smells. so great. and tomorrow we leave bright and early on safari into the desert, and we're sleeping out under the stars. i love my life.

i'm almost done with "the space between us." the busride here, though bumpy and crowded gave me lots of time. i need something new to start. any suggestions?

love,
sarah

here and there.

So I’ve decided to consolidate my blog and my actual journal, because I am really repeating myself a lot, and writing by hand is really hard for me. So be ready for even more posts than usual. (and mom, I really don’t have that long on the internet ever, I write these at night before bed and then post them in my ½ hour break at school.)

Today Betsy, Dana, Emma and I got up extra early so we could run over to our favorite internet café for all of our skype dates. Of course, as the computer was almost done booting up, a “scheduled blackout” took over Raja Park, which lasts for around 2 hours, and I still haven’t figured out the method to their madness. So I sadly had to call ian to cancel our chat. It’s hard when you’re almost 12 hours apart, very few times work when you are both awake, and both with internet capabilities. But not a huge deal, I’m not much of a phone talker, I just miss you alls voices.

Hindi was as always an adventure, and I’m getting really good at the alphabet, I can read most things, but my speaking skills are decidedly lacking. Practice practice practice. The rest was all class as usual. I got to talk to anna for a few minutes, I have no idea how we’ve been able to make it this long without seeing eachother. I missya sista.

Our host family is really starting to open up to us. Today Manjuji taught us how to make “chay” the Indian way. In the winter, she uses cinnamon, pepper, and cloves to spice it up. Then we went to the market with her and Girdhariji, our host dad. It made me not want to come back to America. None of this self service self checkout talk to no one no eye contact convenience above all sort of society we live in. Here all the groceries are behind the counter, like you are at a jewelry store or something, and you tell the guy working what you’re looking for, he pulls down some options, and checks you out right there. Oh and there is one store just for snacks. Bins and bins of crispy crunchy snacks. Wow.

For dinner we had south Indian again, and I’m under the impression that we will keep having south Indian until the coconut curry from the party they had the other night has run out (and this is not a complaint, it’s delicious). We also had soup, and the cutest thing Girdhariji has said to us, “we make this noise to show we like it.” And slurped up his soup.

Other things that made me happy today:
• We found a store that rents out movies for 75 cents, and they have big fish.
• I can finally sleep without my coat on
• Only one more day of school this week
• I don’t have to ship my suitcase home anymore
• My jeans are clean for the first time since I’ve gotten here

Love,
sarah

Bundi.

outside the RN Haveli, and that's momma

"Rajastani Pizza" and dried up "lake" outside the "garden" restaurant. false advertisement at its best.


Livia, this ones for you. They're everywhere.


after dinner at the haveli


outside our haveli, all the houses are bright colors, the whole city looked lavender from far away. This kids begged me to take their picture, and then they took pictures of us with their camera. hehe.

So I successfully made it back from my first unMSID journey. It made me want to drop the program and just go traveling indefinitely. We left Friday afternoon, after a field trip to where they made blue pottery, block printed fabrics, and then to this “hand made” paper shop, who in their display room afterwards had products packaged for sam’s club. They wouldn’t let you take pictures, and the tour lasted for all of 7 minutes, and there was so much loud machinery I didn’t get to ask any questions. I think it was a “fair trade” factory, but not how I pictured it would be. It was a bizarre trip. Anyway, so we bargain the rickshaw walla down to 40 rupees from 100 (still a rip off, but we’re white so we can pretty much guarantee we are getting ripped off with pretty much every purchase). Our driver was hilarious and kept yelling “woo!” every time we would go over a bump or make a sharp turn (so continuously). We get to the train station with time to spare, but couldn’t find our car, which, to our credit, was labeled SE2, which didn’t exist. So, utilizing our superior Hindi skills, we went up to anyone we can find shrugged our shoulders and pointed at our ticket. As effective as this may sound, we got pointed in both directions several times, but after near defeat we got on car S6, SE2’s alter ego.

And the train, an experience everyone needs to have I think. There is no concept of personal space here, and “better out than in” is a lifestyle. Hilarious, and I can’t wait for my first train overnight. So 4 hours later we get off in Kota, our rickshaw gets followed by another full of super creepy guys yelling at us. And by full I mean at least 8 guys in this tiny thing, and by following I mean his auto was touching ours. It was dark and super scary. Then we get off at this random street fire, cow hangout known as the “bus station,” and guys just start yelling “Bundi! Bundi!” at us, and that was our destination, so we let them push us onto the sketchiest bus I’ve ever seen, and off we are to bundi. I’m making this sound scary, but really it was just more funny than anything. Bundi is a pretty small place, and we don’t get in until 11, on a dirt road with no one around, so this guy we were talking to on the bus hooks us up with a rickshaw and takes us to our final destination, RN Haveli.

We pull up and this mid sixties Indian woman greets us at the door, and we spend the next 10 minutes trying to get these street puppies that ran in back outside. Well, really we just let them play inside while we sat and had chai with the other guests. First of all, its no wonder to me so many people are depressed in the US. Its hard to get two weeks off of work. All the travelers here have been in India for months. It was so great listening to talk about all these places, and taking quick mental notes of all the places I now have to go in May. And it has cemented my belief that Australians are the happiest people on earth. I’ve also decided when I travel I’m going to try to stay in as many guest houses as I can. It cost me less than 2 bucks a night, and the woman running it made us call her mama. She hates money so she makes you keep your own tab, and when I tried to show her, she just shut her eyes and said, “mama’s good in the kitchen, don’t deal with money.” So we left her what we owed, isn’t that crazy? She just trusts you to pay for what you take. And she was right, so good in the kitchen. Sweet dosas for breakfast, stuffed with kalwa, my favorite dessert, kind of like sugared carrots.

While we were there we went to this great fort with no one around, so we basically played explorer all morning. There are no guards, we didn’t pay anything, and if mama wasn’t so awesome we would have just pitched a tent and stayed the night up there. We went to the bizarre, got some great street food, and checked out some local artists paintings. And had lunch in this garden, and being the only people there, our waiter brought over a portable radio and started blasting bollywood music. We got some rajastani pizza, which was topped with everything from pomegranate seeds and grapes to nuts and peppers (and a live worm, but that didn’t stop us). It was interesting for sure. Got back to the Haveli, read a book and listened to some Scottish burnouts play the didgeridoo. Dinner was great, pretty much family style with all the guests.

Came back today, almost finished my book, and would have if the kids across from me on the train would have quit screaming and throwing toys at my head (not soft toys either, we’re talking plastic motorcycles. Twice). Plus their dad was playing really annoying music super loud on his phone (I always wondered who bought those stupid cell phones that you could use to play music, and now I know), and passing a lot of gas. Not such a good trip back. But we made it with no serious hitch, which was a pretty big accomplishment, and I’m more excited than ever to be here.

Oh yea, and mom, I wore my money belt. It was hilarious, I’d have to pull up my shirt to get any money out, so it was not as discrete as promised. And for some reason it made me constantly insecure that my pants were unbuttoned. I think I’d rather be robbed than wear that thing again.

This week, 2 days of class and then 3 day field trip to the Shekhawati region to a sustainable village. My life rules. Wish you were here. This was really long, I wonder if anyone made it this far.

i'll try and post pictures soon.