This is It

Wow, where has the time gone?!  When I prepared to leave for India, it seemed that study abroad would last for a very long time.  Now, just a few months later, I wonder how it all went so quickly!  That's right: I leave tomorrow for Minnesota.  I visited a few last sites.  I ate some last-minute favorite foods.  My bags are filled with souvenirs and waiting to go to the airport in the morning.  It all seems so surreal that I do not even know how to approach going home.

During the past few months, I have fallen in love with Kolkata.  It may be dirty and noisy, but it is unquestionably the most vibrant place I have ever experienced.  And I don't just say this because Indian people have a knack for wearing colors and patterns that most Americans and Europeans would avoid at all costs (and look great wearing these items).  There is a real, unique life in the city.  It's so...well...I cannot even describe it.  All I know is that Kolkata has become another home.  Minnesota will always be my favorite place in the world, but I feel like I could easily experience the "coming home" feeling if (when) I visit Kolkata again in the future.  People are incredibly friendly, from curious gawkers staring at foreigners to taxi drivers who speak almost no English but can name our president to the wonderful friends I have made.  My friends and host parents have insisted that I find some reason to return to their city sooner rather than later.  It may be later than they wish, but I hope to see them and their unbelievable city again someday.

As with any experience, not everything has been perfect.  Some experiences brought frustrations, and I was unable to visit all of the many places I dream of traveling (next trip?).  Moreover, I experienced a variety of unforeseen challenges as we worked out the kinks of this first ever CSB/SJU semester-long study abroad program in India.  However, I return home without regrets.  I have seen and experienced things that I would have never imagined.  I have also learned and grown such that I am not the same person who left Minnesota in December.  And I cannot wait to use what I learned in India to be the best teacher and the best person that I can possibly be.  India has been absolutely phenomenal.  I refuse to say more than just a temporary goodbye.

In other news, I may be leaving India, but I do not wish to leave this blog...for now at least.  I have more pictures and videos to share.  More importantly, I hope to share more reflections once I return home relating to readjusting to Minnesota and the new perspectives I gain on India after my return.  Don't worry, I'm not going away yet!

Picture Perfect

Another batch of photos up for all to see!  I have uploaded just a few (or more) of my photos from the Kerala trip that I discussed in the last post.  Check them out HERE.  It was an unbelievably beautiful and photogenic trip.

God's Own Country

 

Ashley and me before an early morning boat ride

Hello, again!  I am excited to tell you all about my most recent adventure: a seven day excursion to Kerala, a state on the southern tip of India.  The state promotes itself as "God's Own Country," with reason.  The views were outstanding, and churches abounded.  This was the final opportunity for the twelve students from CSB/SJU and our professors to travel as a whole group, and we had a fantastic time.  Nothing like a vacation to provide some relaxation before final exams!  Then again, it also means less time to prepare for the semester's end, but we'll survive.  Now for some highlights from the trip:

The Beds: Indian people prefer to sleep on much harder mattresses than the pillowtops Americans love.  The hotels we stayed in while in Kerala, however, had the soft beds we had not experienced since leaving home.  This, and other very Western elements of the tourist locations, provided a feeling of luxury as one of the first things we noticed upon arrival.  It actually took me a few minutes to adjust to the fact that we were still in India.  I don't think it was the beds or the showers or anything of that sort that truly made this a highlight so much as the way they forced me to change my image of India.  These tourist resorts, too, are part of the country's culture today.

The Houseboat: We had the fun of spending one night of our trip on houseboats.  The service and food was fantastic as we relaxed and watched the beautiful landscapes pass by.  There were plenty of opportunities to take photos of palm trees, the sunset, and more.  After dark, we introduced my friend Kia to the wonderful movie that is The Sound of Music.  I heard snippets of the movie's songs on everyone's lips for the rest of the trip.  Like many of the places we stayed for the night, we would have loved to stay on the boat for much longer.

Easter: As I said, churches are everywhere in Kerala.  I believe we entered five or so (and a synagogue), but we saw many more.  However, that does not mean that finding a Catholic mass in English is easy.  The four of us who chose to attend Easter mass ended up deciding that our best option was a 7am mass at a church near the resort...in the language Malayalam.  We arrived to find women and men sitting in different sides of the church, women covering their heads, and the Eucharistic prayer led by a priest facing away from the congregation.  I think I now know what masses were like prior to the Second Vatican Council, although I may have understood Latin a bit better than Malayalam.  Thank goodness for the fact that masses all contain the same mass parts, because I only recognized "Amen", "Hosanna", and "Happy Easter!"  It was nonetheless a fantastic and spiritual experience...followed by reading the Gospel from a Lenten prayer book my godmother had sent.

Demonstrations: Of course, what is a trip without some cultural and other demonstrations?  We visited a spice garden to learn about the many spices that Kerala is famous for as well as a tea museum to learn about how plantations make tea.  We also watched a demonstration of a local martial art and two kinds of traditional dances.  It was great to learn a bit about Kerala's culture, which is different in many ways from what we saw in northern parts of India.  To add to this, we learned a bit about the local history and walked around the hill city of Munnar.  I loved experiencing yet another culture in India.

Boat Ride: We woke up early one morning for a boat ride to see wildlife.  At least, that's what we thought.  When our bus hit a spot of traffic, our local guide told seven of us to go to a jeep up front.  We were confused but did as told.  It turned out, people had been waiting for hours, lined up at the gate to the tiger reserve in a way that seemed like what Oklahoma's border probably looked like with people waiting to claim their land many years ago.  When the gate opened, it was practically a NASCAR race of jeeps and autos racing into the park.  We thought it was the strangest, unexpected experience so far!  Then, when the jeep stopped at another gate, the men with us threw open the doors and told us to run!  We ran with no idea what we were running for and finally learned that the footrace was for boat tickets.  Apparently, the early morning ride is so popular that people must race the day of to get tickets for the best seats.  This amused us, as the ride itself ended up anticlimactic - relaxing but not particularly exciting.  What will I remember of it?  The strangest way to queue for a ticket that I have ever heard of.

Beach: Our last night of the trip brought some much-anticipated time on a beach.  We stayed in a beach resort next to the Arabian Sea and, yes, swam in said body of water.  The waves came quickly to make for a fun, albeit salty, experience.  Better yet, all twelve of us shared this experience together as we counted down the time left as a complete group.  Move over, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans!  I swam in the Arabian Sea!

I could probably write for another few hours and still not exhaust everything I want to say about this fun trip.  However, I assume that you are already thinking that this post has gone on far too long.  As a result, I will wrap this post up by saying that I had an unbelievable experience in this week-long vacation with my study abroad family.  It was an excellent final excursion to a wonderful semester abroad!

Off to Kerala

Kia and me at the Bengali New Year party

I head out tomorrow morning for a CSB/SJU group trip to Kerala, a state on the Southern tip of India.  From what I hear, it promises to be a fantastic experience.  In the meanwhile, I posted some photos from a short walking-tour in Kolkata (where, unfortunately, my camera's battery failed early) and last night's celebration of the Bengali New Year.  Both were fun and visually interesting experiences.  You can see the pictures on my PhotoBucket album Random and a New Year.  Enjoy!  Happy Easter, and I hope to post about a wonderful experience when I return from the trip next week.

Make a Difference

Remember my post and photos from the Sundarbans?  My friend Bekkah is working on a project to provide solar lamps for children in the villages of the Sundarbans so that they can study more easily after dark.  This project is sponsored by a non-profit organization called ASED but relies on donations from to achieve its goal.  For more information, see Bekkah's blog post "This Little Light of Mine: Solar Lamps for Children in the Sundarbans" or the donation sight's page "Solar Lamps for 700 Students in Sundarbans, India."  This project is very important to Bekkah, and donations of any size are greatly appreciated.

Catholic India

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week.  To honor the most important week of the Church's year, I would like to share a few reflections on what India has taught me about my faith.  This country is practically a world religions course in itself, but here is what the Christian-minority country and culture has taught me about Catholicism so far:

Most people in India are Hindu or Muslim, but the Christian presence is still strong.  Catholic religious orders run countless English-medium schools, and Sunday masses can become quite full.  On the other hand, even students at the Catholic college where I attend classes asked why there was a smudge on my forehead on Ash Wednesday.  I also have had a few interesting conversations while attempting to explain Lenten observances.  This differs drastically from my experiences at Catholic schools in Minnesota.  Christianity exists, but it is not an everyday part of Kolkata's culture.

Readings and Holy Eucharist are the same, but there is something that makes masses different here.  Music is very unlike ours at home.  They say things a bit differently.  But, in the end, it's a Catholic mass.

The Sign of Peace after the Lord's Prayer does not necessarily need to be a handshake.  In a culture where respectful greetings include bowing with hands together at one's chest, this is the Sign of Peace.  But it still means the same thing.

Giving up meat on Fridays during lent is nothing.  Many people are "veg" year-round for their religion.  And this includes no eggs or fish.  Some even refuse onions and potatoes because eating these vegetables kills the plant (whereas I can pick an apple without killing the tree).

I used to think that "Salt of the Earth" referenced salt as something that can add flavor to foods to make them a bit better.  A homily a few months ago changed this image.  Here, nobody will even touch a meal that lacks a heavy dose of salt.  The simple substance that I overlook in America is absolutely necessary for everything.  People even put it on fresh fruit.  In this light, striving to be the "Salt of the Earth" is not an option to make the world a bit better.  It fulfills a necessity such that we fail in our duty to the Earth if we do not act as salt.

Every Holy Thursday, we read about Jesus washing his disciples' feet.  In Minnesota, our feet washing means taking off shoes and socks (or boots, as may be the case this year) to reveal relatively clean feet that we pour water over symbolically.  Religion teachers have tried to explain that washing feet was work for the lowest servants, but I never really understood.  That is, until I began walking the filthy streets of Kolkata wearing sandals.  Within minutes, my feet were absolutely disgusting!  I try to wash my feet every day simply because they become so dirty so quickly.  And I certainly would not wish to make anyone else wash my feet for me - it would be far too demeaning.  Now I understand: when Jesus washed his disciples' feet, he did a thankless and disgusting task that nobody would ever ask him to do for them.  The example tells us to do for others even those undesirable tasks that they would never want to ask anyone to do for them.

Finally, Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata is an inspiration.  Every Catholic church and school that I have seen has some reference to this woman who will be a Saint sooner rather than later.  And a visit to her Missionaries of Charity Mother House explains why this is so: her organization has grown to serve countless needs in Kolkata and beyond.  The original charity, which provided a home for the dying, has been joined by charities aimed at helping children with special needs, feeding and housing the poor, and more.  Mother Teresa prayed for the Sainthood of Blessed Father Damien, who helped lepers in the Hawaiian island of Molokai.  This seems fitting for someone who also left a European home to dedicate her existence to helping strangers in need.  Could I even imagine having the dedication to God required for this kind of life?  I don't know.  For now, I feel honored to have visited Mother Teresa's tomb and volunteered in a school in the city where she lived and worked.

I hope these reflections can be of interest to someone this Holy Week.  Maybe it's taking things out of the context I have been familiar with for so long, but this land that is not primarily Christian has encouraged me to reflect quite a bit about what I believe and why.  And, in case I don't have the chance to send this message again before next Sunday, Happy Easter to everyone!

Apologies

I'm sorry that I haven't written in a while!  As the semester nears an end (Do I seriously have less than a month left before my return to Minnesota?!), crunch time arrives on homework and other assignments.  We will spend a week in South India starting next Thursday, so I hope to finish assignments by Wednesday.  Yikes!  I am currently writing a short dissertation for my international relations class called "Multinational Corporations and their Cultural Influence on the Third World" (unless I give it a better name).  I will also write a research paper for Indian History and Society.  Cross my fingers I can handle those and the smaller papers due next week.

On the other hand, I have some blog posts in my head that I hope to write soon.  I'm eager to share what India has taught me about gender, race, religion, and a couple of other big, important topics.  That and I'll have the exciting trip to South India.  There will be good stuff...once I get my head above water again.  Or maybe just once I have a few minutes to write during a study break.  I'm still having a great time, and I want to share it with the world!

World Champions



Fans at South City Mall

 I expected many great, once-in-a-lifetime experiences to come during my trip to India: riding camels in the desert, visiting the famous Taj Mahal, living for an extended period in a foreign country, etc.  The once-in-a-lifetime experience I did not expect: watching the host country of the Cricket World Cup win the cup for its favorite sport while surrounded by screaming fans.

In case that was too vague, I will explain.  I know that India is too diverse for generalizations, but this one almost works: Indians are almost all crazy about cricket.  It has probably a greater following here than American Football has in the United States.  This means that people in India were excited to see the country host the ICC Cricket World Cup this year, regardless of who wins.  As for our group from Minnesota, we gathered at the only game in Kolkata, Ireland vs. South Africa in early March.  It was a memorable experience, but a long match.  I left before South Africa won, exhausted about five or six hours into the eight hour match.

Combining this excitement for cricket with the national pride that frequently goes into overdrive in reference to sports (and yes, this also applies to state, city, and school pride where applicable), the world cup was an unmistakeable part of India for over a month now.  Stores sold jerseys, and fans were encouraged to "Bleed Blue" (India's team color).  I first noticed that this was more than just a commercial event when India played its first match.  Everyone followed the match in whatever way possible.  And when India played England, I found out immediately upon entering the mall with friends.  Hundreds of people stood in the central atrium to stare at the large screen.  I don't think I have ever seen such numbers of people standing to watch a television screen.  They filled all floors of the mall and cheered loudly for all great plays.  I thought it an exciting atmosphere that I would not soon forget.

Then, India made it to the semi-final match against Pakistan. As everyone excitedly discussed the upcoming match, I likened it to the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey game between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.  Both events postioned countries in the midst of political tensions against each other in a game that could not remain only about the athletic contest.  People try to keep politics out of sports, but only cricket could make the Pakistani Prime Minister and the Indian Prime Minister sit in the same box for more than eight hours.  My friend Kia and I returned to South City Mall to see the hundreds of people again squeezed into the atrium and along the railings to see the match, leaving empty stores save for employees tuned to the stores' televisions.  It was a fantastic atmosphere, for cricket lovers and people watchers alike.  I watched the second half of the match at the house with my host parents.  It was a great ending, not a blow-out but clearly an Indian win, followed by loud celebrations on the streets well into the night.

And then there was the final match: India vs. Sri Lanka.  Yes, we are talking WORLD cup even if the best performances came from teams in Asia.  I watched with friends in a home before moving to City Centre, another shopping complex.  At first, we stayed in a restaurant lounge that afforded a great view of the outdoor screen without requiring us to be cramped in a crowd.  It was fun to watch the party-like reactions to great plays.  But after dinner, we squeezed our way into probably the last space left in the crowd.  Was that ever an experience!  Every commercial break, music blared and people started Bollywood dancing.  Fans screamed, "India, Jeetega!" (India will win), and every four or six (comparable to a homerun in baseball) brought a deafening thunder of excitement.  Sure, we were overcrowded, hot, and dealing with limited visibility.  It's all part of the experience.

It was in this electric atmosphere that I was fortunate enough to watch India sustain an incredible run rate to make up for a dismal offensive start.  With one last blast into the crowd, India was officially the Cricket World Cup champions.  City Centre erupted.  Noise, dancing, hugging, cheering, and more for quite some time.  Everyone wanted to shake hands and, in our case, welcome us to the country.  Someone from a local news station pulled us aside to ask how it felt to experience this while surrounded by native Indians.  Our response: unbelievable.  I do not know if I have ever seen so much excitement in my life, and that's saying something.  We couldn't even walk away from the shopping center as normal, because people insisted upon photos, dancing, and even dousing us in a healthy dose of leftover Holi colors (dry, thank goodness!).

Many people say that sports have a power to turn a group of people into a community.  Well, on Saturday evening, all of India was a community sharing a common cause for celebration.  I am lucky to have been able to see this, and even luckier that the community so willingly welcomed us to be a part of it all.


Photos:
In another note, I have another batch of photos online.  I have finally caught up for the most part, including everything post-Sundarbans through the end of March.  This means that it does include many photos from the colorful holiday Holi.  Actually, it's not too many photos this time.  Take a look at them HERE.

Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset, and More

Pictures from my trip to the Sundarbans are finally up!  There are far too many sunrise and sunset photos (cue Fiddler on the Roof overture apparently), but I just could not decide which ones to select.  So I chose about 150 photos from a weekend of over 400 photos.  You can see them all HERE (click on link).  It was an excellent weekend, and I hope you find the photos as interesting as I did.  Enjoy!

Thoughts on Education

I am not, of course, an expert on education or on Indian education in particular.  However, the past few months have led me, a future teacher, to wonder at both the good and the bad of education in India.  I will try to keep my thoughts relatively brief, but I do have worlds of thoughts/opinions to share.


Right to Education: I think it is admirable that the Indian government has determined that education falls under the constitutional right to freedom.  In guaranteeing free and compulsory education, the government has taken steps toward addressing the persistence of poverty that illiteracy maintains.  Unfortunately, this right is difficult to maintain, especially in India.  There are far too many children to ensure that each has access to education.  Moreover, the system is such that an education in English is necessary to attend college or gain a well-paying job after school.  The free schools teach in Hindi, Bengali, or other local languages.  This perpetrates a system where generations maintain either wealth or poverty with limited room for economic movement.  Anyone with money sends children to private, English-medium schools.  Those without must be content without English.  The desire to educate everyone recognizes excellent goals, but the system leaves room for improvement.  Then again, the United States has encountered some similar but less visible challenges.


Loreto Day Sealdah: As per a required service-learning class, I have been volunteering this semester with a private girls’ school.  Loreto Day Sealdah has taken huge steps towards addressing some of the issues in India’s education.  Half of its students live in poverty and attend the English-medium school for free.  This provides opportunities for children to potentially attend college on scholarship or at least qualify for better jobs than their parents’ jobs.  The school also has a program to house street children so that they can attend school (some in English, some in Bengali), with results similar to that with the children from slums.  In addition, a Barefoot Teacher Training program and makeshift schools in brickfields, along railroad tracks, and elsewhere with limited access to education help to reach those children who otherwise would not even receive a minimal education.   The list I have provided is not exhaustive, but you get the picture.  As these programs grow and other schools work to provide similar efforts, India is working actively to improve the current education system.


Villages: I have been to a few villages around West Bengal, and the schools continue to amaze me.  Children I have met are unlikely to ever leave their villages, and yet they take the time to learn reading, writing, math, and more.  Some even learn English, leaving me astounded to speak with children half my age who can hold conversations in Bengali, Hindi, and English depending on the situation.  This also speaks to the power of education without technology.  Certainly, the Internet and other technologies help students to learn.  We have developed very high standards for students in the United States because there is access to billions of documents at the click of a button.  But when a student needs to know how to speak in a second language or how to sign their name, determined teachers can do without SmartBoards.


Facts: Now onto a subject that deeply frustrates me.  My education has been one based primarily on ideas with the mindset that a good foundation of fundamental concepts and a thorough knowledge of how to seek information on my own combine to give me the skills necessary to remain well-informed for the rest of my life.  India, from my limited experience, places more emphasis on memorization of facts.  It bothers me to see that my classmates at St. Xavier’s College place all emphasis on learning for exams.  Teachers spend entire class periods dictating notes for students to copy word-for-word.  Then, when the teachers try to expand on the topics and students don’t take notes.  An attempt to hold a class discussion the other day resulted in half of the students skipping class because they are not accustomed to sharing their thoughts on issues…in a political science class.  I, on the other hand, have been fortunate enough to attend a college where many of my classes expect us to learn through discussion.  It forces us to consider other perspectives and to be aware of the arguments used for or against certain positions.  I try hard to understand the reasoning behind a primarily fact-based system (classes too large for discussion, students lack the excellent pool of academic resources that CSB/SJU provides, etc.), but it is very difficult.  I do not want to memorize that capitalism is bad or even that it is good.  I want to understand its successes and flaws.  Guide me to a thorough understanding of all arguments, from which I can form an educated opinion.  But maybe that’s just something that the individualistic American culture has instilled in us without our awareness.  I was prepared for lecture, just not for hearing, “I am not suggesting anything.  These are important facts for you to know,” for something I call an opinion.


Wow, this became long!  Sorry about that!  I guess I should not have held these thoughts in for three months, letting them build day-by-day.  But I wanted to share some of these reflections.  As a student studying for a minor in secondary education, I have put quite a bit of thought into opinions regarding the purpose and methods of a good education.  India has shown me things that inspire me as well as a philosophy that is glaringly different from my own.  I hope that this hyperawareness of my own preferences and my continuous attempts to understand another view will help me to become a more effective teacher when I begin student teaching next spring.

Another Batch of Photos

At this point, you know the drill.  I am painfully late in uploading pictures, so this album is of some of the various activities I was up to in February.  The PhotoBucket album is available HERE.  I called it, quite simply, February in Kolkata.  For more information on some of the photos, see some of my blog posts from February, especially:

• Fun in Kolkata
• Santiniketan
• So Much to Experience!

I'll try to get more pictures up soon, especially because I can't wait to share pictures from Holi.  For now, this random jumble of pictures should entertain.

Happy Holi!

Like the picture?  Yes, that's what I looked like yesterday after playing with colors for Holi, a Hindu festival for spring.  This particular festival celebrates the destruction of a horrible demon.  As it is religious, the first step in playing with colors was for our friend Shreya to offer colors to the gods.  However, I'll admit that the religious part was not my particular focus.  I played to have fun with one of the most visually exciting festivals that I am aware of.

Apparently, it can be dangerous to travel on Holi because people celebrate on the streets and put less-washable colors on unwilling victims.  To avoid this, my friend Bekkah and I slept over with Shreya, a friend from St. Xavier's College.  After a delicious, home-cooked breakfast, we donned destroyable clothes and began the process of playing Holi.  To be honest, I was a bit worried about the activity.  People warned that only the dry colors would come off easily.  Wet colors would stain skin for a few days, and none of my black-haired Indian friends knew what the colors would do to light brown hair.  After a couple minutes of blessings with dry colors inside the flat, we went outside to play with wet colors on the lawn of the housing complex.  Before long, everyone was unrecognizable.  Children squirted colors with special sprayers, and Shreya's friends filled buckets to dump on heads.  It was completely chaotic and fun!  We returned to the flat for pictures (no safe place for cameras with all the activity) looking unrecognizable but incredibly happy.

After showers to wash off some of the colors, lunch, and a nap, Shreya's family convinced Bekkah and me to stay for another night of fun.  We went outside to meet her friends after knowing them only as the people dumping color on us.  While outside, the group watched a bonfire to burn the evils of the past year and watched the moon from the observatory.  Then we went back inside for great conversation and more.  I had another great time!

Bekkah and I returned home this morning.  We are exhausted and still a bit colorful, but the experience was well worth it.  My first Holi was a blast!

The Sunderbans

Oh, my, have I ever been busy recently!  I hate to think that I have gone so long withoug blogging, but I simply have not had the time.  In the past few weeks, I have watched a variety of movies, participated in two sleepovers, attended classes, visited a museum, and more.  Most importantly, last weekend was the much anticipated CSB/SJU group excursion to the Sunderbans, the largest delta region in the world.  I had been looking forward to the trip since before coming to India, and reading Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide increased my excitement.  Fortunately, the experience did not disappoint.

The biggest draw for tourists to the Sunderbans is the nature.  We failed to see a Royal Bengal Tiger, but we saw deer, monkeys, and many birds.  More importantly, we saw the unbelievable six meter difference it water level between high tide (pictured above) and low tide.  Entire boats sat on mud during low tide that were easily in water during high tide.  This variation of water levels required that only trees able to be deep in saltwater could survive.  We sat awestruck during boatrides past impressive mangrove trees.  I also loved the sunrise and sunsets that we watched from the boat.  I took many photos but doubt they can come close to equalling the remarkable beauty of the views themeslves.

I also enjoyed the opportunity to learn just a bit about life in villages in the Sunderbans.  We watched a jatra (traditional dramatic performance) of the story of Bono Bibi, a goddess who protects villagers in the Sunderbans.  Oddly enough, Bono Bibi's story originates in Islam, and many of her worshipers are Muslim.  This worship deviates noticeably from the monotheistic expectations of Islam.  We also walked through a village to see villagers' homes and rice farms.  Homes unquestionably fail to meet my standards of preferred living, but the happy children we met do not seem to mind.  Some people bought gamchas (like towels) in the market, and we drank fresh coconut water before riding in rickshaw-trucks (think a motorcycle with a flat wooden rectangle on wheels behind it) back to the jungle camp.

In all, I had a wonderful, relaxing experience in the Sunderbans.  The food was delicious, supplemented by quite a bit of masala chai (tea).  We enjoyed great conversations while on the boat watching beautiful scenery.  Some members of our group even fell asleep on the boat, aided by the warm temperatures.  After living for a while in a busy and tiring city, I was happy to experience a break for a few days.  No travelling to class or museums and ending up exhausted by early afternoon.  Just enjoying ourselves and recouperating for another two months in India.

Cows Eat Garbage

 Yes, that's right: cows eat garbage.  Yesterday, I worked on reading with a ten-year-old girl at the Loreto Day School.  As we tried to complete activities in the reading book that her teacher suggested, we worked on a page that required her to select the appropriate response to complete the sentence.  One question was something along the lines of, "Cows like to eat ______ (toys, grass, sugar)."  In America, most children would say, "grass," automatically because the answer is simply obvious.  I would give that answer, at least.  This girl also knew the answer automatically.  Without looking at the choices, she said, "Garbage!"  And she was right.  The book may disagree, but the many cows that roam the streets of India always eat garbage.

Today is the halfway point of my trip.  Upon reflecting on my first two months in India, it occurs to me that yesterday's amusement provides a good example of what India has meant to me so far.  I came with a firm understanding of what is what and how the world works according to my experiences in Minnesota.  India has forced me to change some of these thoughts and reconsider the obvious.  For example, a quality hotel will not necessarily have a working shower head.  The best food may be not at the cleanest restaurant but at the dirty stand on the street.  And, yes, people can kindly make a path to the metro door even when packed tighter than sardines.

I have unquestionably fallen in love with India.  My list of things I want to see and places I want to visit is so long that some items have already fallen into the "Next Trip to India" category.  But in the end, India's impact on me will not be a matter of remembering great trips and sights.  I will never forget the Taj Mahal, riding camels in the desert, or this weekend's trip to the Sundarbans.  More importantly, I will never forget the little things that made me reconsider the obvious.  The "salt of the earth" is not a tasty addition to food but rather an absolute necessity if food is to be edible, as one homily insisted.  Respectable people can eat rice with their hands rather than with silverware.  Cows, dogs, and cats all like to eat garbage.

A Bit Late, But...

I have finally posted pictures from my trip to North Bengal (see blog post)!  Check them out at PhotoBucket.  There are over 125 photos on a variety of subjects.  I hope to post them on Facebook soon as well, followed by more recent photos.  I need to catch up soon, as we leave for another excursion on Saturday!

So Much to Experience!

Wow!  February is almost over, meaning that I have been in India for about two months.  I honestly cannot believe it!  Then again, as they say, time flies when you are having fun.  This cliche has proven itself altogether too accurate in describing the past few weeks.  I have been incredibly busy but having the time of my life.  Here are a few highlights:

As part of a required cultural/art experience, the group from CSB/SJU visited an artist in a village called Krishnanagar.  This particular village is known for the creation of clay dolls.  Artists mold these clay dolls using clay from the Ganges river.  Our group had the wonderful opportunity to try our hand at making these dolls.  I look forward to seeing my clay version of the Hindu god Ganesh when it returns from the kiln.  It was a fun day that even landed us in a Bengali newspaper.

My twenty-first birthday landed on the same day as another group activity, this time far more informal.  Our program director and assistant director, Madhu and Munu, invited us to their home for a sari party.  We selected saris from their extensive collection to wear for the evening.  Then, all dressed up, the group followed a rather unorthodox order for dinner.  We began with a toast to my birthday and to the trip in general, followed by cutting and eating my birthday cake (my second of the day thanks to a cake with breakfast from my host parents).  Then, we ate a delicious dinner that included piyesh, a traditional birthday sweet.  I had a wonderful birthday evening of fun, friends, great conversations, and beautiful saris.

Last Monday, we had the unbelievable opportunity to meet Amitav Ghosh, a famous Indian author whose books we read.  Ghosh gave a book reading and answered questions in a formal presentation at St. Xavier's.  Then, the CSB/SJU group met Ghosh and his wife, author Deborah Baker (who met with our class the next day), for tea.  We loved talking with this very unassuming author.  Ghosh was very curious about our lives and our experiences in Kolkata.  He was impressed that we have adopted various aspects of Indian culture, especially the food.  Apparently, his own kids, who are our age, prefer chow mein and pizza when visiting India from their home in New York.  Madhu proudly added that we eat with our hands like Bengalis to further praise our cultural immersion.  I don't know if we fully appreciated this opportunity to meet Amitav Ghosh, but I enjoyed myself immensely.

This past Wednesday brought Bekkah and me to another wedding with our host parents.  We wore saris and ate delicious foods from around the world.  Just before we left, someone pulled the two of us into a picture with the bride and groom.  I enjoyed seeing the beautiful saris, although I would never want a wedding like that.  It probably literally cost a fortune with the massive quantities of food, an elaborate venue, and unbelievable clothing.  Then again, I have not yet found much that would qualify as an example of simplicity here in India.

Beyond that, we have visited a variety of sites around Kolkata:

• The Victoria Memorial is a beautiful building dedicated to Queen Victoria that houses a museum.  I enjoyed learning more about the history of Kolkata itself.
• The Rabindra Bharati Museum commemorates Rabindranath Tagore (see my Santiniketan post) at his birthplace.  It displays countless photographs from the man's life and travels.
• The Botanical Gardens is a large park area with ponds, trees, and other wildlife.  It's most famous site is a huge, 250-year-old banyan tree with thousands of post-roots.  When we first saw it, my friends thought we were looking at a forest rather than a single tree!
• My favorite site of the bunch was the Missionaries of Charity Motherhouse.  We saw Mother Teresa's tomb and walked through a quaint museum.  The whole place had a sense of memory for the sake of memory rather than for profit.  Then, we attended a mass in the room that housed her tomb.  This prayerful experience left all of us reflective of our lives and our stay here.  I know I am not alone in hoping to return for another mass there.

As you see, I have been busy lately!  I am literally having the time of my life learning about India and its culture through a variety of means.  Beyond this, my friends and I have been studying, shopping at markets, eating out at restaurants as well as on the streets, watching a Bollywood movie (Three Idiots) and more.  Talk about a whirlwind of fun!

Close Your Eyes and Pray

When I was ten years old, my family went to Europe to visit friends.  On our two-day trip to Paris, we developped a theory for surviving taxi rides: close your eyes and pray that the car will not hit anything.  Traffic and travel in India often forces me to recall that theory.  There are far too many cars on the road, and many drivers do not have licenses.  As a result, traffic lanes are irrelevant.  Even more noticeable, drivers only pay attention to objects in front of them (most lost their side mirrors anyways) and honk to gain the attention of anyone they pass.  Think the traffic rules of biking (using a bell to pass, easily crossing to the other lane) on overcrowded streets of too many people.  I hope to detail the various types of transportation, of which there is quite the combination, in another post, but here are a few anectdotes from recent experiences in traffic:

Auto-rickshaws are little three-wheeled vehicles that are a dirt-cheap form of transportation (the yellow vehicles in the picture above).  They should probably only hold two passengers and a driver, but the vehicles only move with four passengers: three squeezed in back and one with the driver.  Often, a fifth passenger sits on the other side of the driver, holding on for dear life while only half sitting on the seat.  As the vehicles move, they make for quite the experience.  I worry that I may at some point hit that bus the auto drives past leaving less than a foot of space between!

In another auto experience, my friend Bekkah and I were in one last night that broke down in the middle of the road.  The driver pushed it to the side of the road and tried to fix it.  We stayed in the auto, unsure of what to do next because we had not yet paid for our trip but were also not at our destination.  Fortunately, our driver caught another auto for us that only had three passengers, and we rode the rest of the way.

The metro actually entertains me and, in my opinion, shows how kind people can be.  It gets extremely crowded during peak hours.  People shove their way in and pack tighter than sardines.  This can make for an uncomfortable ride at times.  However, whenever someone needs to leave the car, people somehow find a way to create exit paths.  It amazes me that riders, uncomfortable as they are, willingly squeeze tighter in order to let me stand in front of the door before it opens.  Then the flow out involves another shoving episode...

I mentioned that drivers often ignore traffic lanes.  This often includes the center lines.  Just as we in America sometimes move into the opposing lane of traffic briefly to pass slow vehicles, so also Indian drivers pass slow vehicles...all the time.  I feel we sometimes spend more time passing than driving in our lane.  This is fine, but it moved to a more extreme experience last Sunday.  Our van saw traffic ahead while on a major highway, size-wise comparable to I-94 in Central Minnesota - two lanes each way divided by a ditch.  Our driver crossed the ditch to the other side and proceeded to drive in the wrong road until the end of the traffic jam, forcing cars to change lanes rather to avoid head-on collisions. Talk about frightening!  I think I would have rather sat in traffic!

This last bit is not amusing at all, but it fits the general topic.  In a very frightening and sad experience, our bus was in an accident on Wednesday.  I was reading when the bus slammed on its breaks.  There was a thud followed by the windshield shattering.  Then I heard, "Oh, my God!  We hit a man!"  A motorcyclist had been in the wrong lane and lost control before he could change lanes or we could stop.  I never want to relive the experience of seeing him pass in the vehicle that took him to the nearby hospital (they didn't wait for an ambulance).  Fortunately, last we heard, the man is likely to recover.  The bus driver should be able to keep his job, as it was obvious that he could not have prevented anything.  Then again, we were told that only the presence of police immediately on the scene kept people from attacking the driver and possibly even the bus itself.  The nightmarish experience literally forced us to reflect on the dangers of driving anywhere in the world.  Passing slower vehicles is easier said than done, and even motorcycles cannot squeeze into all spaces.  I pray that we will never again encounter the horror of another accident.

I did not intend to end on a sad note, but I feel it would be disrespectful to the situation if I followed the last story with something funny.  So I will not.  Expect another post soon with more on some of our recent activities.  I may also have more pictures prepared and even possibly videos.  But for now, goodbye.

Santiniketan

Sound unfamiliar?  Well that's where I went with the group from CSB/SJU last weekend: a famous village called Santiniketan.  Only a four or five hour drive away from Kolkata, Santiniketan brought the group more interaction with the culture of West Bengal.

Saturday's highlights took two forms: shopping and watching a dance.  We visited a weekly market for handicrafts.  The hand-made jewelry, clothing, bags, and other beautiful items forced us to see everything before making any decisions.  Fortunately, everything was remarkably inexpensive.  One pair of earrings cost me only 10 Rupees, which is less than 25 cents in America!  We just wish there had been more time before we had to leave for a dance.  We went to a small, rural village to see a performance of a traditional wedding dance.  The dancers only perform this dance, unique to this particular village, at weddings and upon special request from visitors.  It seemed that the entire town gathered, partially to see the performance and partially because they were as interested in us as we were in them.  Upon leaving, we visited the Amar Kutir Society for Rural Development, a one-time refuge for Indian nationalists that is now famous for its leather products.  By the end of the day, we were "shopped out" but quite content.

Sunday brought more academic experiences.  After a visit to terracotta temples, we ate a traditional Bengali street breakfast.  Then, we visited the sites that made Santiniketan famous: sites related to Rabindranath Tagore.  Although unknown in America, Tagore is extremely famous in India as a poet, writer, artist, composer, playwright, actor, educator, and more.  Tagore's writings and speeches greatly influenced the Indian nationalist movement, although he often disagreed with Gandhi.  In addition, both India and Bangladesh selected songs by Tagore as their national anthems.  We saw a museum about Tagore and walked through some of his many, architecturally artistic houses.  But my favorite part was the school.  Tagore began a high school and later a university on the belief that school should be interesting and based on student motivation to learn rather than on teachers force-feeding information.  As part of this, classes occur outside in nature when possible.  I marveled at the circular benches under trees that even included chalkboards.  Then again, our frequent requests to work outside in my Educational Psychology class last spring suggests that this concept should not surprise me.  Something about being outside just makes learning a bit more enjoyable.  Tagore's school is by no means an academically superior educational institution, but it certainly encouraged greater efforts to make learning enjoyable in Kolkata's schools.

The trip to Santiniketan was by no means as exciting to write and read about as some of our earlier adventures.  On the other hand, I loved our weekend and would have enjoyed more time there.  But, alas, we had to return to Kolkata for that funny little thing called class.  Sometimes, it takes a few reminders to recall that we are in India for STUDY abroad.  And an eighteen credit course load is certainly nothing to sneeze at when we also wish to make friends and explore the city...

At this point, I have a request of readers.  Do you have any questions regarding life here in India or other factors of my trip?  If so, I would love to answer.  Just comment on any blog post or contact me through another means of communication.  I may respond directly or turn your thought/question into a topic for a blog post.  After all, I want to share that which interests you.

Fun in Kolkata

I’ve already told you a bit about the more program-oriented elements of my stay in India—the host family stay, St. Xavier’s College, and service at the Loreto Day School.  But what do my friends and I do for entertainment?  Here are a few things we have been up to lately:

Shopping: Of course, we love shopping, especially as we grow new wardrobes more suitable for the warm weather and Indian culture than our Minnesota wardrobes.  At New Market—ironically, New Market is the oldest market in Kolkata—or Gariahat Market, we can find pretty much everything for what we consider reasonable prices.  But we risk paying far too much for low quality items, as sellers immediately recognize us as foreigners.  When we want to avoid this hazard with the knowledge by paying higher prices for high quality items, we frequent South City Mall.  This five-story mall also makes a fantastic hang-out spot when we just want to get out of the house.

Eating Out: This is a more challenging activity due to its expensive nature, but we enjoy eating out, especially with our new friends from college.  Lunchtime favorites include chicken egg rolls (a very different food from what Americans think of as egg rolls) and veg-cheese grilled sandwiches, although I must admit to also trying food at a McDonalds very unlike its American counterpart.  We have also visited a fantastic Chinese restaurant, a delicious Italian restaurant, and more.  Just remember: even non-Indian foods have a strong Indian influence such that they are quite different from what we are accustomed to.  The spaghetti you ordered may just be extremely spicy!

Special Events: We have been to three special, once-a-year events.  Xavotsav in January was a three-day arts festival at St. Xavier’s.  All colleges here have a festival of this sort, but St. Xavier’s has the largest in Kolkata, if not the largest in India.  With a variety of music and dance competitions for college students from around India, Xavotsav was quite the experience!  Then, the beginning of February brought the Kolkata Book Fair, the largest public book fair in the world.  We went two days, looking at books in stands for publishers and distributers alike.  I may just have bought out the Penguin Publishers stand if it hadn’t been for the fact that anything I buy needs to get back to Minnesota one way or another!  Finally, last weekend was the weekend of Sufi Sutra, a music festival during which musicians from around the world played Indian classical music.  We went on Sunday evening and enjoyed ourselves despite the resulting plethora of mosquito bites.

Yesterday brought a variety of fun.  The group from CSB/SJU took a boat ride on the Hooghly River.  We saw a different view of the city and stopped at the Sri Ramakrishna Temple, a collection of Hindu temples.  Then, Bekkah and I visited a new friend from St. Xavier’s.  We ate aloo (potato) bharatas (a type of flatbread) before going for a walk and shopping at a mall called Hiland Park.  I laughed at the mall’s name, but this smaller mall made for a great time.

Of course, this is just a snippet of the various activities my friends and I have been up to.  We have been quite busy, which is just fine in my book!

The Jungle Post

Sorry that I have not posted in so long!  Expect more frequent posts in the future.  For now, I hope an overview of my trip to North Bengal can make up for the two week silence.

I guess the best way to begin may be to explain where we went.  The term "North Bengal" probably doesn't evoke excitement nearly as much as a different way of defining our location last weekend: the Himalayas.  We (the group from CSB/SJU) left last Friday morning on a flight from Kolkata to Bagdogra.  From there, a long ride in three vehicles brought us to a two night stay at the Chilapata Jungle Camp followed by two nights at the Neora Valley Jungle Camp.  We enjoyed our stay enough that Tuesday's return trip to Kolkata came altogether too quickly.

Our first location, Chilapata, rests within a wildlife preservation jungle.  We arrived at night, so all we knew was that our cottages were on stilts and surrounded by dense vegetation.  An early morning safari brought us a better view of the wonderfully green jungle.  I loved seeing the trees and other plants.  This led me to take many photos, which I hope to share soon.  We also saw wild elephants and rhinos!  They were hidden behind vegetation and difficult to make out, but we saw them!  In other highlights from Chilapata, I tried my hand at fishing with a bamboo fishing pole, mostly to say that I did.  Then, six of us biked to some villages.  We were able to follow paths too narrow for cars, from which we saw a variety of facets of everyday life in these rural communities.  In all, it was the perfect bike ride as part of an excellent few days.

Next, we drove for a few hours to the Neora Valley.  We passed countless tea plantations before beginning the winding roads into the foothills of the Himalayas.  The fog was too thick to allow for visibility of the snow-capped peaks and the passageway to China (yes, we were that close!), but we did see villages and beautiful hills.  My first impression was that it looked just like textbook pictures of Nepal, which makes sense in a community so close to the neighboring country that their primary language is Nepali.  The best part of our stay in the Neora Valley was a long hike down to one of the most remarkable waterfalls I have ever seen.  The site was fantastic!  We were exhausted by the time we were done hiking, but the view was well worth the effort!  Other highlights from the Neora Valley included: a short exploratory hike off the main road, visiting a Buddhist monastery in the nearby town of Lava, late-night conversations while huddled under blankets for warmth, and trying a local beer (non-intoxicating: children drink it) made with millet.  The Neora Valley was COLD, but well worth the visit.  Thank goodness the political tensions eased just long enough for us to experience it!

I know that's a lot of information to take in with one blog post, but we were busy!  Most people in the group did not even find a chance to shower during the five days of constant activity!  I say that not to make you think that we were disgusting, but to show how constantly on-the-go we were (I showered once, but it was too cold at night and in mornings).  We loved the food and drank probably close to our body weight in masala chai, a tea beverage similar to what Americans call Chai Tea.  I am happy to be back and able to sit (and warm up!), but I'll always have fond memories of this fantastic trip!

In other news...
MORE PICTURES!

I have another PhotoBucket album up!  These photos include pictures from our trip to Agra (the Taj Mahal) and my first few weeks in Kolkata.  Just click HERE for 75 more photos from my amazing experiences in India.  Enjoy!

I Feel Comfortable

As I walked along Park Street the other day, it occurred to me that I actually feel comfortable living in Kolkata.  I don't mean this as a tourist might say that she feels safe or able to enjoy a two week vacation.  I mean that Kolkata feels like a comfortable place to live.  At this point, I know how to get around to some of the more important places (school, shopping, and my host family's home) and feel less of an outsider than my physical appearance might suggest.  After all, people recognize immediately that I am not a full-time resident whose family has lived in India for generations.  But I feel like I am no longer a tourist, bound by maps and disoriented at every turn.  In fact, after two weeks in the city, I finally have something resembling a routine.

My friend Bekkah and I live with an Indian couple in South Kolkata.  Shantanu and Rashmi live on the third and fourth floors of his family home.  Bekkah and I share a bedroom with two single beds and two closets.  Next to the bedroom is the bathroom.  The shower head only has cold water, so we fill a bucket with warm water to shower, but it works.  The shower and connecting pipes are also where the maid washes our clothes every day after sweeping the floors.  It was certainly an unfamiliar experience to see a maid cleaning the floor for us as we slept and hand washing our clothes!  The other room that we use frequently has a couch, a few chairs, and a desk for homework.  Bekkah and I enjoy living here.  Shantanu and Rashmi are very kind and generous people who always try to provide good food and good experiences.

I attend St. Xavier's College for classes.  The school is only a short walk, an auto-rickshaw, and a metro ride away from the house where I live.  It is considered the best college in India from what we have heard.  However, I am more interested in the comparisons so easily visible between my college experience in Minnesota and college at St. Xavier's.  Students here stand when their professors enter the room and when speaking, addressing professors as "sir" and "ma'am."  They also spend more time each week in class, although they do not receive nearly as many assignments to complete outside of class.  In all, I take eighteen credits worth of classes:

• 4-credit Study Abroad Seminar: Our trip director, Professor Madhu Mitra from CSB/SJU teaches a class that looks at India through Indian novels
• 4-credit "Perspectives on India": Dr. Sweta Ghosh from St. Xavier's teaches a class on the history and sociology of India
• 2-credit Bengali: Learning the Bengali language with a professor from St. Xavier's
• 2-credit fine arts: We will attend a variety of performances and workshops to learn about art, especially folk art, of West Bengal
• 2-credit Service Learning: We will work with students at the Loreto Day School (one of the reasons why I came to India) and reflect on our experiences
• 4-credit International Relations: I am taking an International Relations class with fourth-semester political science students at St. Xavier's.  In addition, I will write a dissertation relating to international relations.  My plan is to probably write something relating to the changing relationship between the United States and India, especially with regards to their foreign policies.

So there you have it: a bit about my home and school here in Kolkata.  After all is said and done, Kolkata is in the process of becoming a new home to me, a good thing considering that I will be here for another few months.

Picture Time!

At long last, I have finally begun to load photos onto the internet.  In fact, I have created an album on Photo Bucket (a photo sharing site) called India Begins.  This album includes photos from Sunday, December 26 (the day we left Minnesota) through Wednesday, January 5 (the day we returned to Delhi from Rajasthan).  I should warn you, though - the album contains 181 photos out of a desire to share everything.  It may be more worthwhile for you to pick and choose photos to look at based on their previews.  I also hope to upload photos onto Facebook for any Facebook friends to see in an album that will have fewer photos.  But for now, I will let my pictures tell you a bit about my story so far.  They are random and many, but you are sure to find something interesting.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Namaste (Hello) everyone!  I am finally now in Kolkata.  However, before I describe my unbelievable experiences here in my new home, I should first provide some sort of quick update on the end of the more "vacationy" part of my stay in India.  For some unknown reason, last week seems to fit quite well with the popular phrase, "the good, the bad, and the ugly."

The Good: Our Adventures
We (the group from CSB/SJU and I) have had some amazing adventures.  I detailed some in my last post, ending with a rocking New Year's celebration.  On January 1, we continued to welcome the new year in unbelievable fashion by riding a bit further into the desert.  Why?  We went to a camp where we rode camels.  Let's just say, I prefer to ride horses any day.  Camels are taller and much bumpier, no pun intended!  However, the view of the sunset over the sand dunes was completely and utterly unlike any sunset I have ever seen.  None of my pictures do it justice!  Then, we returned to camp for dinner and a cold night's sleep in huge tents.  No, really huge tents.  They really weren't tents in any way except for the fabric walls.  Each had a double bed, a variety of other furniture, and a complete bathroom with toilet and shower.  Talk about waste!  It's a tad confusing whether to consider it good that tourism provides income to a desert community in the midst of a long drought or whether it wastes valuable resources!

After more adventures in Jaisalmer and a long trip back to Delhi, our next big adventure was a trip to Agra.  Yes, just like any other self-respecting traveller in India, I saw the Taj Mahal.  To be honest, I really don't know what to say about it.  It was very beautiful, but everyone already knows that.  The detailing is impeccable.  It is unquestionably the most extravagant mausoleum I have ever seen in my life, probably because it is one of the most expensive of modern history.  After the Taj, we visited the Agra Fort.  It was also very beautiful.  If we weren't "forted out" already, to quote another member of the group (this was our fourth fort in just over a week), we would have loved the detailed architecture.  We also would have appreciated the intelligence behind a two-moat system with an water moat and a jungle moat filled with lions and tigers.  As it was, our strongest memories will probably be the adorable monkeys at the entrance.  They were so funny!

The Bad: Illness
I have heard that everyone gets some sort of illness from travelling to India.  This became true for our group when people began experiencing stomach cramps and other complaints.  Some people had primarily food-induced issues, while a contagious cold also entered the group.  When the problems got to me in Agra, everything hit at once.  It was horrible!  I could not keep food in me and ended up going probably almost 72 hours without solid foods!  Worse, I had to stay at the hotel all day on Thursday, missing our last day in Delhi!

Fortunately, I am better now.  I visited a doctor on Friday, making for an experience in itself.  There was almost no wait, and the visit was only around $14 including consultation, a quick IV, and prescription medicines.  I don't know anything about how qualified the doctor was or the quality and cleanliness of the hospital, or anything like that because, well, I was a tad distracted by being sick.  On the other hand, maybe that's a good thing.  Further discussion would beg debate over public/private health care, an issue that I have not researched enough to argue.  Just know that I am better now after a miserable illness.  And now that I have Internet for the first time since Friday, my parents can stop worrying.  My poor parents had to wait four days knowing nothing but the fact that I was sick and had been to the doctor!

The Ugly: Us
No, this is not self-deprecating.  Thank goodness we have moved into semi-permanent homes in Kolkata, because the entire group had become a bit...well, if not quite ugly, let's just say worn and smelly.  In addition to the illness that hit almost everyone, we faced a rather grueling travel schedule.  One day involved a five hour bus ride from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur followed by an overnight, thirteen hour train ride from Jodhpur to Delhi.  The day after our return to Delhi brought thirteen hours round-trip of travel from Delhi (6am) to Agra and back (midnight).  It was fun to see the countryside, and the sleeping car of the train was an experience.  On the other hand, it left even the healthy exhausted.  With the packing and repacking, I twice ended up styling my hair without a hairbrush.  Fortunately, there were showers, even if occasionally cold or broken (we will be bucket shower experts by May).  In a final experience under my "ugly" category, nobody did laundry during our travels.  By Saturday, the only clean clothes worn were those purchased during Thursday's trip to Fab India!

So, hello Kolkata!  I came to you smelly and unhealthy but quite pleased by our adventures.  The past two weeks of travel were unforgettable!  Now I need to relax.  Time to unpack (check), begin classes (tomorrow), and develop a routine (soon, I hope).  The world traveller is settling down for the most subtly wonderful part of study abroad: integration into a non-American culture.  Blog posts from here may not be as flashy, but they'll reflect the true depth of my experience.  To all back in America or elsewhere: namaste (goodbye)!

Crash Course in India

I left Minnesota over a week ago, and I honestly am not sure if I have woken up from this very long dream.  In other words, life has felt unreal, to say the least.  So please bear with me as I attempt to summarize and reflect on what I have experienced up to this point.

First of all, the flight: um, wow.  The flight from Minneapolis to Paris actually went quite well.  I discovered that my cousin Laura and her fiance Seth happened to be on the same flight, travelling for a choir trip.  Talk about a coincidence!  Then, the last thing I saw of Minnesota as we rose above the clouds was the Metrodome, in all it's collapsed-roof glory.  However, things took a surprising turn in Paris.  Our 10:30am flight was rescheduled to 10:30pm and then to 8am the next day, thanks to mechanical errors.  After maneuvering the maze that is Charles de Gaulle airport towards a shuttle to the courtesy hotel, my friend Bekkah and I decided to visit the city.  After all, how many opportunities does a girl get to visit Paris without paying for a hotel?  We met up with two other young women also stranded between flights and split the cost of a taxi into the Paris.  Although only wearing thin jackets in freezing weather (we wouldn't have needed coats in India, where we were supposed to be!), the group saw the Arc de Triomphe, strolled the Champs-Elysees, ate pastries at a cafe, rode the metro, and saw the Tour Eiffel.  It was a fun but cold night!  The next morning, after a three-hour delay, we took off for the flight that finally brought us to Delhi, India after midnight on the morning of Wednesday, December 29.

Our first day in India was basically a crash course in India.  We encountered children begging for money as we entered the bus.  Then, as we rode into Delhi, we saw the extremes of the city: wealth next to poverty, modern technology next to cows (yes, cows are everywhere!), clean houses next to piles of garbage.  We first visited the India Gate, a memorial to fallen soldiers.  Then, after lunch at a coffee shop, we toured the Red Fort, built in the 1600s by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.  Both were interesting, but the real lesson came next, with a tour of Old Delhi.  We went down incredibly busy alleys with shops selling goods, people pressing all around, and motorcycles barrelling through.  I have never experienced such chaos, not even at the State Fair or on the Target Field concourse!  As to crossing streets, let's just say that I have never felt so unsafe yet safe all at once.  There are cars everywhere, meaning that crossing the street is sometimes a matter of walking between vehicles, and yet drivers always stop in time.  I have yet to see evidence of a car accident.  The day ended with Kabobs - yum!

Our next day (Thursday) brought a flight to Jodhpur, a city in the state of Rajasthan.  We visited Mehrangarh, a beautiful old fort.  The detailed carving on sandstone in the fort was unbelievable!  I found it interesting that the builders carved ornate screens in place of windows that allowed people to see out of rooms but not into rooms while allowing sunlight in.  This was especially important for the cultural expectations that women remain away from men's eyes.

Friday began with a five hour bus ride to Jaisalmer, a city farther into the desert (and closer to Pakistan, but never too close!).  There, we spent the night in an old palace, half of which still houses Jaisalmer's royal family.  We celebrated the new year at a special party in the palace.  There was music and entertainment in the form of Rajasthani dancers.  The food was good, and we danced quite a bit.  Overall, the group made sure to begin the year with a bang...literally.  At midnight, the lights went out and fireworks went off.  Everything was about as far from my usual Minnesota celebration of the New Year as I could imagine: no coats, desert rather than snow, in another country, and the ball would not drop for another 10-1/2 hours!

Now that I have thoroughly bored you with more details than you care to know, I should end this post for the time being.  Hopefully, I can fill everyone in on the rest of my time in the desert soon.  I also hope to share pictures when possible.  For now, I should sleep in preparation for tomorrow's 6am bus ride to Agra.  Taj Mahal, here I come!  And to everyone not in India, Namaste!