Purulia
This weekend we went to a town called Purulia out in Western West Bengal. We took an overnight train ride to get there Saturday evening and returned on a morning train at around 11:30am.
Our purpose for going was to see Chhou dancers and to buy Chhou masks (even though only 2 of us ended up purchasing the masks...the ride through other villages and fields of rice paddies and up the mountain was well worth the trip).
Yesterday evening we were taken to a village to see the dancers perform. As soon as our jeep pulled into the community all of the children followed us until we got out. Then they just stood there and stared at us and giggled...it was really cute. One of our guides took us through the village and I kept thinking how amazing it would be if our program had us live here for AT LEAST a week. I think that I've been totally romanticizing the notion of actually living in a village...but I think I could handle it, for even a week. The performance was amazing! I'll scan pictures once I get them developed and post them up here...definitely worth seeing.
In the beginning of the show though I was more preoccupied with playing with the children hanging around where we were sitting...particularly one little girl named "Bahbi" she was fair skinned with hazel/green eyes and a shaved head (probably because she had lice). She was touching my back and she discovered my bra strap and she couldn't get over it. She called her friends over to touch haha..I wonder what she thought it was.
Anyway, good weekend overall.
Next weekend we're going to Bodgaya in the state of Bihar to see where the Buddha attained his enlightenment under the banyan tree...I'm so psyched.
Our purpose for going was to see Chhou dancers and to buy Chhou masks (even though only 2 of us ended up purchasing the masks...the ride through other villages and fields of rice paddies and up the mountain was well worth the trip).
Yesterday evening we were taken to a village to see the dancers perform. As soon as our jeep pulled into the community all of the children followed us until we got out. Then they just stood there and stared at us and giggled...it was really cute. One of our guides took us through the village and I kept thinking how amazing it would be if our program had us live here for AT LEAST a week. I think that I've been totally romanticizing the notion of actually living in a village...but I think I could handle it, for even a week. The performance was amazing! I'll scan pictures once I get them developed and post them up here...definitely worth seeing.
In the beginning of the show though I was more preoccupied with playing with the children hanging around where we were sitting...particularly one little girl named "Bahbi" she was fair skinned with hazel/green eyes and a shaved head (probably because she had lice). She was touching my back and she discovered my bra strap and she couldn't get over it. She called her friends over to touch haha..I wonder what she thought it was.
Anyway, good weekend overall.
Next weekend we're going to Bodgaya in the state of Bihar to see where the Buddha attained his enlightenment under the banyan tree...I'm so psyched.