INDIA`
So for various reasons, which I'll leave you some time to imagine, I haven't been able to update recently. Now I am.
Yaay everything is wonderful! I'm sitting in the program house in Madurai, Tamil Nadu - India.
When we first got here everyone was pretty jet lagged. The flight time itself was somewhere around 14 or 17 hours, and I spent a lot of time in airports. More than most, I dare say. The travel all went smoothly except that no one could really figure out which day it was since we kinda skipped Friday what with the ten hour jump forward... therefore malaria pills were a little confusing and most of us just ended up taking one in the airport in Chennai. I think we're all fine.
Anyway, Saturday morning we somehow managed to get three breakfasts before 10:00 and I discovered that my cell phone still works here! I can send and receive text messages to the United States for just 25 cents apiece. I don't think I'll do that often. I seem to have lost my rechargeable batteries and charger, though I don't know how or when, so I might still find them.
Vidya met us at the airport in Madurai and we brought our luggage to our hotel where we dropped it off and proceeded into the city to eat lunch and buy clothes that would be suitable for Indian standards. I don't really know how we got through that day but we all stayed up until 7:00 or beyond before crashing. We were up bright and early the next day which we finally realized was Sunday, and on that day, or the one after, we headed to the hills in a van. The drive was three hours long and the roads were crazy. They drive on the left in India, and the highways look like small country roads but they have the most diverse combination of traffic. Everything ranging from livestock to buses navigates these two lane highways, and the rules of the road are more survival-based than anything else. At times there was on-coming traffic in both lanes, and we saw entire families stacked onto a single motorcycle. They also never stop honking their horns. It's the only way to drive, they honk every time they come up behind a vehicle, person, or animal, and every time they want to pass and someone else is trying to cross the street or perhaps come towards them in their own lane. Everyone else was terrified, but I just thought it meant everybody has to be more alert, and they are, and traffic moves slower so accidents are less serious (apparently two accidents were sighted, one man got bumped in the leg and walked away, another was a car that got jostled, I didn't see either).
I thought the people here work harder than anyone I've seen in the states... considering the heat. They pedal cart-loads of bananas attached to bicycles through mid-day traffic and in the mountains the labor was even more intensive, often involving loads of rocks.
The hill station, Kodaikanal, was absolutely gorgeous. On the way up the views were amazing and we saw monkeys!!! They were just chillin' by the roadside. We walked in the jungle too, and it was actually cold enough to wear sweat shirts, there was dew on the ground in the morning, there was squishy green grass, it was amazing! AND I got to go riding!!! I got a little chestnut horse and as soon as I got on the guide saw that I knew what I was doing so he followed me on a bike instead of leading me, and then when we got back he asked me if I wanted to go all the way around the lake - 6km. I couldn't resist and he shortened my stirrups and I started off again. This time he gave me more space and I got the horse round and it turned out to be pretty fun. Every time the guide got out of the horse's sight he started to act up, and it didn't help that people really enjoyed testing my skills. A few minutes in one of my stirrups broke so the guy tied it on for me, but soon the knot started sliding out so I just ditched the stirrups. I was not in shape for the ride I got.
People kept driving up behind me reeally quietly and then swinging their arms, revving their engines, honking their horns, and yelling - obviously on purpose. One car almost backed into me and sent me too close to a bunch of people stopped talking by their bikes. I felt bad for them but I was really angry at the driver of the car, who then revved his engine and drove obnoxiously until he turned up a road on my right. Some people were really nice and friendly and complimented me for being able to ride, and that felt great. Every time I tried to canter the horse would drop his head like he was about to buck and I'd have to deal with that, and without stirrups or a helmet I decided that I better stick to a smooth trot. By the time I got around the lake I was absolutely exhausted from fighting and reassuring the horse that all sorts of people were trying to annoy... and I could barely walk, but it felt great.
Then I got a cold and we walked in the jungle and I saw crazy-cool things.
We got back to Madurai and bought more clothes, I have one sari and one salwar kameese and I'm going to have three more made by a tailor. I still need to get more clothes though because basically nothing western is acceptable, and really I don't want to leave any other reasons for people to stare at me.
When we were on our way back from Kodaikanal we stopped to look at a waterfall and some monkeys, and random people stood next to us while their friends took pictures - because we're white. It was really funny... at first, but Catie told me that some guy was just taking pictures of me while I watched the monkeys, and some other dude came up and put his arm around Laura while his friend took their picture, so it stopped being fun.
The beggars are also not very fun. Some woman came up to me and started putting flowers in my hair. I was a little confused and didn't really know what to do, and then she started putting them in Laura and Catie's hair too, but of course she wanted us to pay for them. Others will follow us around and touch their lips, it's really sad. I don't like to give them money because it just reinforces the situation - there's a whole begging network here, there is a master beggar who will give them places to beg but he takes part of their "earnings", so it's best if you can buy them food. On the last day in the hills an old woman followed me asking for money and I walked away, but I felt awful so I turned around and asked her if she wanted food and she said yes, so I asked her what food, and she said rice. Geoff was with me and he wanted to contribute so we bought her a bag of rice for 20 rupees.
The little kids are adorable. Today when I was walking in the street a little boy grabbed my arm, and when I looked to see why, he was waving! We also ran into a bunch of school girls when we were in the mountains and they would all giggle and whisper as they walked toward us, and then a couple of them said "hi!" and then ran away. Later I walked by them again and said "varnakam" and they said it back and then laughed and talked about it. It's really a novelty for them to see white folks.
I have decided where to live and will move in tomorrow. More another time.
Yaay everything is wonderful! I'm sitting in the program house in Madurai, Tamil Nadu - India.
When we first got here everyone was pretty jet lagged. The flight time itself was somewhere around 14 or 17 hours, and I spent a lot of time in airports. More than most, I dare say. The travel all went smoothly except that no one could really figure out which day it was since we kinda skipped Friday what with the ten hour jump forward... therefore malaria pills were a little confusing and most of us just ended up taking one in the airport in Chennai. I think we're all fine.
Anyway, Saturday morning we somehow managed to get three breakfasts before 10:00 and I discovered that my cell phone still works here! I can send and receive text messages to the United States for just 25 cents apiece. I don't think I'll do that often. I seem to have lost my rechargeable batteries and charger, though I don't know how or when, so I might still find them.
Vidya met us at the airport in Madurai and we brought our luggage to our hotel where we dropped it off and proceeded into the city to eat lunch and buy clothes that would be suitable for Indian standards. I don't really know how we got through that day but we all stayed up until 7:00 or beyond before crashing. We were up bright and early the next day which we finally realized was Sunday, and on that day, or the one after, we headed to the hills in a van. The drive was three hours long and the roads were crazy. They drive on the left in India, and the highways look like small country roads but they have the most diverse combination of traffic. Everything ranging from livestock to buses navigates these two lane highways, and the rules of the road are more survival-based than anything else. At times there was on-coming traffic in both lanes, and we saw entire families stacked onto a single motorcycle. They also never stop honking their horns. It's the only way to drive, they honk every time they come up behind a vehicle, person, or animal, and every time they want to pass and someone else is trying to cross the street or perhaps come towards them in their own lane. Everyone else was terrified, but I just thought it meant everybody has to be more alert, and they are, and traffic moves slower so accidents are less serious (apparently two accidents were sighted, one man got bumped in the leg and walked away, another was a car that got jostled, I didn't see either).
I thought the people here work harder than anyone I've seen in the states... considering the heat. They pedal cart-loads of bananas attached to bicycles through mid-day traffic and in the mountains the labor was even more intensive, often involving loads of rocks.
The hill station, Kodaikanal, was absolutely gorgeous. On the way up the views were amazing and we saw monkeys!!! They were just chillin' by the roadside. We walked in the jungle too, and it was actually cold enough to wear sweat shirts, there was dew on the ground in the morning, there was squishy green grass, it was amazing! AND I got to go riding!!! I got a little chestnut horse and as soon as I got on the guide saw that I knew what I was doing so he followed me on a bike instead of leading me, and then when we got back he asked me if I wanted to go all the way around the lake - 6km. I couldn't resist and he shortened my stirrups and I started off again. This time he gave me more space and I got the horse round and it turned out to be pretty fun. Every time the guide got out of the horse's sight he started to act up, and it didn't help that people really enjoyed testing my skills. A few minutes in one of my stirrups broke so the guy tied it on for me, but soon the knot started sliding out so I just ditched the stirrups. I was not in shape for the ride I got.
People kept driving up behind me reeally quietly and then swinging their arms, revving their engines, honking their horns, and yelling - obviously on purpose. One car almost backed into me and sent me too close to a bunch of people stopped talking by their bikes. I felt bad for them but I was really angry at the driver of the car, who then revved his engine and drove obnoxiously until he turned up a road on my right. Some people were really nice and friendly and complimented me for being able to ride, and that felt great. Every time I tried to canter the horse would drop his head like he was about to buck and I'd have to deal with that, and without stirrups or a helmet I decided that I better stick to a smooth trot. By the time I got around the lake I was absolutely exhausted from fighting and reassuring the horse that all sorts of people were trying to annoy... and I could barely walk, but it felt great.
Then I got a cold and we walked in the jungle and I saw crazy-cool things.
We got back to Madurai and bought more clothes, I have one sari and one salwar kameese and I'm going to have three more made by a tailor. I still need to get more clothes though because basically nothing western is acceptable, and really I don't want to leave any other reasons for people to stare at me.
When we were on our way back from Kodaikanal we stopped to look at a waterfall and some monkeys, and random people stood next to us while their friends took pictures - because we're white. It was really funny... at first, but Catie told me that some guy was just taking pictures of me while I watched the monkeys, and some other dude came up and put his arm around Laura while his friend took their picture, so it stopped being fun.
The beggars are also not very fun. Some woman came up to me and started putting flowers in my hair. I was a little confused and didn't really know what to do, and then she started putting them in Laura and Catie's hair too, but of course she wanted us to pay for them. Others will follow us around and touch their lips, it's really sad. I don't like to give them money because it just reinforces the situation - there's a whole begging network here, there is a master beggar who will give them places to beg but he takes part of their "earnings", so it's best if you can buy them food. On the last day in the hills an old woman followed me asking for money and I walked away, but I felt awful so I turned around and asked her if she wanted food and she said yes, so I asked her what food, and she said rice. Geoff was with me and he wanted to contribute so we bought her a bag of rice for 20 rupees.
The little kids are adorable. Today when I was walking in the street a little boy grabbed my arm, and when I looked to see why, he was waving! We also ran into a bunch of school girls when we were in the mountains and they would all giggle and whisper as they walked toward us, and then a couple of them said "hi!" and then ran away. Later I walked by them again and said "varnakam" and they said it back and then laughed and talked about it. It's really a novelty for them to see white folks.
I have decided where to live and will move in tomorrow. More another time.