Monday, February 28, 2011
A Bit Late, But...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
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:
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.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
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.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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!
Friday, February 4, 2011
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 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!
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