Oh Bangles. How do you decide?
The Magical Kingdom? Oh- wait yeah, I'm in India. Isn't the Charminar at night beautiful?10.16.2008
A night at the bazaar
Oh Bangles. How do you decide?
The Magical Kingdom? Oh- wait yeah, I'm in India. Isn't the Charminar at night beautiful?
One Afternoon
I was sitting outside on the roof one day and saw this really beautiful cloud formation. I also looked over at this papaya tree and saw these crazy beetles eating it. Oh, India.
10.12.2008
Old City Lovin'
A day in the Old City. Behind me is the Charminar- one of the main landmarks in Hyderabad.
I got my Perrier!
I never thought I'd find any in India, but I was wrong! Q-Mart is such a God-send. Love it!
It's been a bit
I know- I've not been writing too much recently, but what can I say? Life has really been picking up here in India now that I have less than two months here. I might as well try to fill you in on what I've been up to. In most exciting news I've been shopping a couple of times and bought some fantastic items!
Last weekend I went into the old city and ended up buying another sari. This one blows the purple one out of the water. It's so gorgeous. I don't have a picture, but rest assured, that when I get it tailored and everything, I will post a photo, even if it's not until a month from now. Then this weekend I ended up going shopping again. My friend Angelina, who's from Orissa (the state neighboring Andhra Pradesh, where I am), took me shopping to help me figure out what's good and what's not in Indian fashion. I definitely got some really nice Salwaar Kameez outfits. I'm pretty excited. Also, we got a cappuccio while we were out shopping, so that made me happy.
Over the past few weeks, as you all know the Presidential debates have been going on, so there's a Democrat's Abroad group here in Hyderabad that meets often and they've screened all of the debates for us. I just went to the one from Wednesday night this afternoon. Someone recorded it, and they then hosted a showing of it at a really nice hotel near our campus. What made it even better was the fact that this hotel had Perrier!!! I've been craving it so much since I've been in India, so the fact that I finally got to have it is so exciting.
Next weekend I'm going on a trip to Mysore with my program. I'm not really sure what they have planned for us, but I'm sure that it will give me an opportunity to take a lot of pretty pictures and share them with you.
Last weekend I went into the old city and ended up buying another sari. This one blows the purple one out of the water. It's so gorgeous. I don't have a picture, but rest assured, that when I get it tailored and everything, I will post a photo, even if it's not until a month from now. Then this weekend I ended up going shopping again. My friend Angelina, who's from Orissa (the state neighboring Andhra Pradesh, where I am), took me shopping to help me figure out what's good and what's not in Indian fashion. I definitely got some really nice Salwaar Kameez outfits. I'm pretty excited. Also, we got a cappuccio while we were out shopping, so that made me happy.
Over the past few weeks, as you all know the Presidential debates have been going on, so there's a Democrat's Abroad group here in Hyderabad that meets often and they've screened all of the debates for us. I just went to the one from Wednesday night this afternoon. Someone recorded it, and they then hosted a showing of it at a really nice hotel near our campus. What made it even better was the fact that this hotel had Perrier!!! I've been craving it so much since I've been in India, so the fact that I finally got to have it is so exciting.
Next weekend I'm going on a trip to Mysore with my program. I'm not really sure what they have planned for us, but I'm sure that it will give me an opportunity to take a lot of pretty pictures and share them with you.
10.03.2008
A sweet farewell
Sadly on Wednesday we had to wish farewell to one of our dearest friends who decided to return to the US. He'd been having chronic stomach and digestive problems the whole time he was here, so understandably, he wished to seek treatment at home rather than India. On Tuesday night a large group of us gathered to have a farewell jam session and celebration of him. We all walked together to this outcropping of rocks on campus, and watched the sunset. Once the sun was down, Catie lit an enormous candle, as you can see and the music began. Two people had brought guitars and one guy had a ukulele.It was so fantastic, everyone who knew how to play anything picked up the guitar and sang a song. This went on for a good while, and I een joined in on the fun playing the one song I knew- Green Eyes by Coldplay. Then after the music died down we decided to go around the circle taking turns telling Travis what each of us appreciated and loved about him. It was so beautiful to hear what people had to say because it was so heartfelt and true. Travis really was a great person to have around the house. Despite the fact that he felt ill most of the time, he always had a smile on his face and a kind word to say. Plus, he also had great music taste. This evening made me feel so happy because everyone was so open and excited to share. It's not everyday where you can be in such a loving and uplifting environment.
We've really bonded so much over these past two and a half months and with each passing day, I like each person a little bit more. Everyone on this trip is so unique and has so much to offer. I've only been in one or two other environments where I've had the ability to be so totally myself around people. It's not rare that you can share so much about yourself and not worry about being judged or taken the wrong way. I'm really going to miss all of these great hearts when I leave here.
Free Mango Juice
Last night a bunch of my friends and I attended a "Democrat's Abroad" watch party of the Vice Presidential debate, which was being hosted at a bar/club in the city. Interestingly enough, this bar was on the top floor of a really big mall. I found that to be really odd, but not unusual in India. For some reason some really nice restaurants and clubs can be found in upscale malls around the city. Most of my friends decided to take the bus, but rather than spend the time and energy, four of us opted for an autorickshaw, which got us there faster anyway. Once we got to the mall, we spent a bit of time walking around the perfume section right by the entrance, and it was ridiculous how many sales people started following us around and asking if we needed help. They pretty much surrounded us as one point. They surprised me with how many designer perfumes they carried, but I did find one that they didn't have- Chanel. After a bit we decided to find our way up to the club, and that took a bit because the elevators in the part of the mall we were in only went up to the third floor, and the club was on the seventh. We figured it all out though.
Once we got to the club we were greeted by the other Americans hosting the watch party. They actually ended up having quite a turn out. The club itself was a funny location to host a debate watch party at, but it worked out well. It had only opened up two weeks earlier, so they were eager to draw a crowd of people. The interior decoration was very modern and sleek, definitely my style, but they had these random fake candle things at each table, which made it look really tacky. Also, they didn't have much of a menu, and none of us had eaten, so we were a bit underwhelmed by their food options. Somebody had brought "Palin Bingo" to play while we watched the debate, and if you got bingo then you won a free drink. I didn't actually think that I'd do it because the keyword that I needed to win was "heartland," but near the end of the debate, she came through and said that word. Woohoo! Bingo!
Sidenote: the bar had a fantastic view of the city.
After the debate a bunch of us went to go get dinner at this noodle place down on the ground floor of the mall since we hadn't really eaten before or during the debate. Following dinner we got to my favorite part of the night... the autorickshaw ride home.
We spent a while haggling with various drivers over the price, but we just couldn't get them down below 200Rs. (Not that I really cared because that really only equates to $5 or less, but I guess it's the principle, since they always overcharge us) Finally we just got into a rickshaw. I hoped in with my friends Rachel, Lindsay and Harrison. For some reason, someone said something about 10 minutes into the ride, and it reminded me of the song, "A whole new world," from Aladdin, so I just busted out singing, and Lindsay and Rachel soon joined me in song. The driver totall loved it. He told us that he loved music and asked us to keep on sining, so we went through a series of Disney classics on the way home. At one point, the rickshaw driver told me that I should be recorded, which made me feel so flattered. :-) Then, when we were nearly back to campus, he pulled over to buy something. When he got back into the rickshaw, he handed us a bottle of Maaza Mango Juice and thanked us for our beautiful singing. I was so touched. On top of that, he also turned out to be a small time actor in Telugu movies, and he had his headshots in the back of his rickshaw, which we all took a look at. Needless to say, it was the best autorickshaw ride yet.
Once we got to the club we were greeted by the other Americans hosting the watch party. They actually ended up having quite a turn out. The club itself was a funny location to host a debate watch party at, but it worked out well. It had only opened up two weeks earlier, so they were eager to draw a crowd of people. The interior decoration was very modern and sleek, definitely my style, but they had these random fake candle things at each table, which made it look really tacky. Also, they didn't have much of a menu, and none of us had eaten, so we were a bit underwhelmed by their food options. Somebody had brought "Palin Bingo" to play while we watched the debate, and if you got bingo then you won a free drink. I didn't actually think that I'd do it because the keyword that I needed to win was "heartland," but near the end of the debate, she came through and said that word. Woohoo! Bingo!
Sidenote: the bar had a fantastic view of the city.
After the debate a bunch of us went to go get dinner at this noodle place down on the ground floor of the mall since we hadn't really eaten before or during the debate. Following dinner we got to my favorite part of the night... the autorickshaw ride home.
We spent a while haggling with various drivers over the price, but we just couldn't get them down below 200Rs. (Not that I really cared because that really only equates to $5 or less, but I guess it's the principle, since they always overcharge us) Finally we just got into a rickshaw. I hoped in with my friends Rachel, Lindsay and Harrison. For some reason, someone said something about 10 minutes into the ride, and it reminded me of the song, "A whole new world," from Aladdin, so I just busted out singing, and Lindsay and Rachel soon joined me in song. The driver totall loved it. He told us that he loved music and asked us to keep on sining, so we went through a series of Disney classics on the way home. At one point, the rickshaw driver told me that I should be recorded, which made me feel so flattered. :-) Then, when we were nearly back to campus, he pulled over to buy something. When he got back into the rickshaw, he handed us a bottle of Maaza Mango Juice and thanked us for our beautiful singing. I was so touched. On top of that, he also turned out to be a small time actor in Telugu movies, and he had his headshots in the back of his rickshaw, which we all took a look at. Needless to say, it was the best autorickshaw ride yet.
9.08.2008
Travelling Through Tamil Nadu
Yeah, it's been a while, I know.
Anyway, at least I have a lot to share with you now.
This past weekend my program planned a journey around Tamil Nadu, which is one of the southern states in India, which also neighbors Andhra Pradesh (the state that I'm in). I might as well start from the beginning.
It took a lot for me to decided whether or not to go on the trip because I felt really sick in the days leading up to Friday. On Tuesday night I came down with something and stayed in my room for all of Wednesday and most of Thursday. On Friday I was starting to feel a little bit better and decided to talk to the program director about whether or not I should go on the trip. He had me go to the health center on campus where the woman who checked me told me that it was fine if I went on the trip. After that the only thing holding me back was my own fear of traveling around this country because I had no idea what to expect, but I knew that I'd be safe with my program, so ultimately, about two hours before we left I decided to go.
We caught an overnight train from Hyderabad Station to Chennai. We rode in the business class sleeper cars, which were fine, but not ideal, and the traveling time from from Hyderabad to Chennai was about 13-14 hours. I think I did pretty well on the train, except I didn't sleep very well and there was this old guy across the aisle from my berth who coughed through the night and made me worry that I'd contract some other disease. Anyway, we at Chennai's main station 8:30 a.m. and then went to a hotel to shower and eat breakfast before hopping on a three hour bus ride to Kanchipuram, a famous temple town in Tamil Nadu.
I felt pretty nauseated after the train ride and on the bus, but once we got out at the first temple in Kanchipuram and started walking around, I started to feel better. The first temple we visited was built by the Pallava kings in about the 7th century I believe, and it was dedicated to Shiva, Parvati and their son Sikander. We had a guide with us for the weekend who had studied Indian architecture and design at Columbia, so she was able to tell us all about what we were seeing. It was so nice to have her with us so that we could fully understand and appreciate what we were looking at.
After touring that temple we hopped back on the bus and went to lunch at a vernacular house, which had a little museum in it, too. The lunch they fed us tasted delicious! The soup that they served before the meal was exactly what I needed. It was just a simple broth with herbs and it was sooooo good. I especially liked it because it didn't taste anything like the Indian food I've been consuming for the past two months, and at the moment, I'm sick of Indian food. (For those of you who know my quirks, you'll appreciate this)... they also had a really nice bathroom, so they got two thumbs up from me.
Following lunch, we went to the Sri Kanchipuram Matam for the Shankaracharya sect of Advaita Vedanta. For any of you who aren't familiar with who Shankaracharya is, he's an Indian philosopher writing in about the 5th century, and he wrote many commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and other famous Hindu scriptures. He also sent four of his disciples in the four cardinal directions to set up four Matams (kind of like ashrams) in India, and this one is the one that was founded in southern India. I found it especially fascinating because I had watched a documentary on this very Matam in my Indian Philosophies class at Georgetown last semester, so it was a bit surreal at first. I didn't realize that was where we were going, so when we stepped through the front door and I looked at my surroundings, I thought, this all seems vaguely familiar, and it was! Not only that, we got to have darshan (an audience) of one of the current philosopher acharyas, and I ended up being one of the people from my group who talked to him. He asked me what I thought about India and what I liked about it. It was a very powerful experience for me to be so close to him and in his presence because he's obviously a great spiritual figure. Also, it made me reevaluate how I'd been feeling about India recently. When he asked me what I thought of about India, the first things that came to mind were all of my complaints about India—I don't like the academic system, it's polluted, I'm troubled by how the women are treated, etc. So then the fact that he had do directly ask me what I liked about India made me take a moment to think. At first nothing was coming to mind, (for the past week or so I've really not liked India at all) so I finally came up with the fact that I liked how much more time and space to be introspective here and how I liked how open and welcoming the people here are. Later that night I contemplated this more. Currently I am still experiencing a large bout of homesickness, but I am going to try a little bit more to find things that I really appreciate about India. It's not healthy to be so down on the country all the time because it only makes me feel miserable. Anyway, I just wanted to highlight how excited I am that I got that opportunity to meet the current philosopher acharya of Kanchipuram. I don't think that that's something that a lot of people get to do, even those who may be disciples of Shankaracharaya.
Next we went to another large temple, which was dedicated to lord Vishnu. It was quite beautiful, and it was dusk, so the temperature had become more bearable while we walked around the temple complex. Another plus, and almost more exciting to me, was the fact that there were a bunch of sari weavers' shops lining the street leading up to the temple. I bought a gorgeous purple sari with peacocks embroidered on it. (I'll try and post a photo, bear with me because the internet connection here is so slow when it comes to uploading photos.) Our day wasn't over yet because we still had a 40 minute ride to Mamallapuram where we'd be spending the night. The ride was nice, even though it was dark, I enjoyed watching the scenery out the window. It was so interesting to see rural India, parts of which had no electricity, so the shops and houses had candles burning in them. Then on the other hand, I was curious to see that some of the little shacks/huts had T.V.s going on inside of them. Crazy. When we finally got to our hotel for the night, we watched a 30 min. film about the temples we'd be seeing the next morning, and then I ate dinner and went to bed.
We started early on Sunday morning. I felt pretty nauseated again, but I worked through it. I enjoyed looking at the crappy headlines that they had in their paper. Seriously, how can their national papers have such horrible headlines? They're professionals. Anyway, that's not too important. After breakfast we went to check out the various rock cut temples built by the Pallava kings in the 7th century c.e. They're amazing! I don't want to go into too much detail, but take my word for it. One of the temples was right by the ocean, so we got to see the Bay of Bengal, although we couldn't even go up to touch the water because our tour guide wouldn't let us because we were on a tight schedule. (Some people still feel pretty annoyed about that). The whole time we went from temple to temple we were pestered by a group of men and boys trying to sell us a who array of things from shoes to carvings to necklace pendents. Some of them were entertaining, and I had fun passing off some of them to my other friends in the group, saying, "See that girl over there, I think she really wants one of your pendents." Ultimately though, they got annoying.
After our whirlwind temple tour in the morning they took us to this place called Dakshina Chitra where we got to see some local folk dances, buy various crafts and see period houses from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. There was a palm reader out in front of one of the houses, so I ended up having my palm read for fun. According to her, my future's looking pretty bright. We spent way too much time there, so after a while I got really annoyed because I was so uncomfortable especially because it was so HOT outside and there was little shade to take shelter under. Finally at 3:30 p.m. we departed for our 2 hour bus ride back to Chennai where we caught the 6:10 train back to Hyderabad.
I got back to campus at 10:00 a.m. I feel pretty happy to be back. I'll admit, it was nice to be out of the heat and not constantly on the go, but I am really happy that I decided to go on the trip.
Anyway, at least I have a lot to share with you now.
This past weekend my program planned a journey around Tamil Nadu, which is one of the southern states in India, which also neighbors Andhra Pradesh (the state that I'm in). I might as well start from the beginning.
It took a lot for me to decided whether or not to go on the trip because I felt really sick in the days leading up to Friday. On Tuesday night I came down with something and stayed in my room for all of Wednesday and most of Thursday. On Friday I was starting to feel a little bit better and decided to talk to the program director about whether or not I should go on the trip. He had me go to the health center on campus where the woman who checked me told me that it was fine if I went on the trip. After that the only thing holding me back was my own fear of traveling around this country because I had no idea what to expect, but I knew that I'd be safe with my program, so ultimately, about two hours before we left I decided to go.
We caught an overnight train from Hyderabad Station to Chennai. We rode in the business class sleeper cars, which were fine, but not ideal, and the traveling time from from Hyderabad to Chennai was about 13-14 hours. I think I did pretty well on the train, except I didn't sleep very well and there was this old guy across the aisle from my berth who coughed through the night and made me worry that I'd contract some other disease. Anyway, we at Chennai's main station 8:30 a.m. and then went to a hotel to shower and eat breakfast before hopping on a three hour bus ride to Kanchipuram, a famous temple town in Tamil Nadu.
I felt pretty nauseated after the train ride and on the bus, but once we got out at the first temple in Kanchipuram and started walking around, I started to feel better. The first temple we visited was built by the Pallava kings in about the 7th century I believe, and it was dedicated to Shiva, Parvati and their son Sikander. We had a guide with us for the weekend who had studied Indian architecture and design at Columbia, so she was able to tell us all about what we were seeing. It was so nice to have her with us so that we could fully understand and appreciate what we were looking at.
After touring that temple we hopped back on the bus and went to lunch at a vernacular house, which had a little museum in it, too. The lunch they fed us tasted delicious! The soup that they served before the meal was exactly what I needed. It was just a simple broth with herbs and it was sooooo good. I especially liked it because it didn't taste anything like the Indian food I've been consuming for the past two months, and at the moment, I'm sick of Indian food. (For those of you who know my quirks, you'll appreciate this)... they also had a really nice bathroom, so they got two thumbs up from me.
Following lunch, we went to the Sri Kanchipuram Matam for the Shankaracharya sect of Advaita Vedanta. For any of you who aren't familiar with who Shankaracharya is, he's an Indian philosopher writing in about the 5th century, and he wrote many commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and other famous Hindu scriptures. He also sent four of his disciples in the four cardinal directions to set up four Matams (kind of like ashrams) in India, and this one is the one that was founded in southern India. I found it especially fascinating because I had watched a documentary on this very Matam in my Indian Philosophies class at Georgetown last semester, so it was a bit surreal at first. I didn't realize that was where we were going, so when we stepped through the front door and I looked at my surroundings, I thought, this all seems vaguely familiar, and it was! Not only that, we got to have darshan (an audience) of one of the current philosopher acharyas, and I ended up being one of the people from my group who talked to him. He asked me what I thought about India and what I liked about it. It was a very powerful experience for me to be so close to him and in his presence because he's obviously a great spiritual figure. Also, it made me reevaluate how I'd been feeling about India recently. When he asked me what I thought of about India, the first things that came to mind were all of my complaints about India—I don't like the academic system, it's polluted, I'm troubled by how the women are treated, etc. So then the fact that he had do directly ask me what I liked about India made me take a moment to think. At first nothing was coming to mind, (for the past week or so I've really not liked India at all) so I finally came up with the fact that I liked how much more time and space to be introspective here and how I liked how open and welcoming the people here are. Later that night I contemplated this more. Currently I am still experiencing a large bout of homesickness, but I am going to try a little bit more to find things that I really appreciate about India. It's not healthy to be so down on the country all the time because it only makes me feel miserable. Anyway, I just wanted to highlight how excited I am that I got that opportunity to meet the current philosopher acharya of Kanchipuram. I don't think that that's something that a lot of people get to do, even those who may be disciples of Shankaracharaya.
Next we went to another large temple, which was dedicated to lord Vishnu. It was quite beautiful, and it was dusk, so the temperature had become more bearable while we walked around the temple complex. Another plus, and almost more exciting to me, was the fact that there were a bunch of sari weavers' shops lining the street leading up to the temple. I bought a gorgeous purple sari with peacocks embroidered on it. (I'll try and post a photo, bear with me because the internet connection here is so slow when it comes to uploading photos.) Our day wasn't over yet because we still had a 40 minute ride to Mamallapuram where we'd be spending the night. The ride was nice, even though it was dark, I enjoyed watching the scenery out the window. It was so interesting to see rural India, parts of which had no electricity, so the shops and houses had candles burning in them. Then on the other hand, I was curious to see that some of the little shacks/huts had T.V.s going on inside of them. Crazy. When we finally got to our hotel for the night, we watched a 30 min. film about the temples we'd be seeing the next morning, and then I ate dinner and went to bed.
We started early on Sunday morning. I felt pretty nauseated again, but I worked through it. I enjoyed looking at the crappy headlines that they had in their paper. Seriously, how can their national papers have such horrible headlines? They're professionals. Anyway, that's not too important. After breakfast we went to check out the various rock cut temples built by the Pallava kings in the 7th century c.e. They're amazing! I don't want to go into too much detail, but take my word for it. One of the temples was right by the ocean, so we got to see the Bay of Bengal, although we couldn't even go up to touch the water because our tour guide wouldn't let us because we were on a tight schedule. (Some people still feel pretty annoyed about that). The whole time we went from temple to temple we were pestered by a group of men and boys trying to sell us a who array of things from shoes to carvings to necklace pendents. Some of them were entertaining, and I had fun passing off some of them to my other friends in the group, saying, "See that girl over there, I think she really wants one of your pendents." Ultimately though, they got annoying.
After our whirlwind temple tour in the morning they took us to this place called Dakshina Chitra where we got to see some local folk dances, buy various crafts and see period houses from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. There was a palm reader out in front of one of the houses, so I ended up having my palm read for fun. According to her, my future's looking pretty bright. We spent way too much time there, so after a while I got really annoyed because I was so uncomfortable especially because it was so HOT outside and there was little shade to take shelter under. Finally at 3:30 p.m. we departed for our 2 hour bus ride back to Chennai where we caught the 6:10 train back to Hyderabad.
I got back to campus at 10:00 a.m. I feel pretty happy to be back. I'll admit, it was nice to be out of the heat and not constantly on the go, but I am really happy that I decided to go on the trip.
8.24.2008
It's been a while
Wow- I just realized that I haven't written in a while, so it's about frickin' time, right?
Hm... What have I been up to in the past week or so? Well, last weekend I went on a quest to find a yarn store in Hyderabad with my friends Batia, Rachel and Becca. It was quite a journey. We took an autorickshaw to Lingampalli where we hopped on a train, which goes around the city like a subway, to get to where we wanted to go to in the city. The ride on the train took about an hour, and we got to view the city from a very different perspective, which was nice. Batia had google-mapped the directions to the yarn shop from the Kachiguda Train Station, and we followed them quite well to where we thought that the shop should have been. When we didn't find it we asked for directions in two different stores, and in the second store one of the guys ended up taking us to where it was. I doubt that we would've have found it otherwise. Finding anything here takes a lot of effort. It feels like such a triumph when you actually find what you're looking for. I bought two different types of yarn, and I crotched a hat for myself. (I'll post a photo of it later if I can).
I had a lot of fun this weekend as well. I went to a place called "Shilparamam," which is this "craft village" where all of these local artisans sell their wears. I bought a 100% pashmina shawl and some beautiful fabric to make another salwaar kameez out of. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Then in other exciting news, two of my friends here are major singers, so we spend hours last night and this afternoon singing madrigals together. We're planning on trying to learn a new madrigal each week and performing at the end of the semester. I love it because I haven't sung like that since high school. I didn't realize how much I missed singing in small vocal groups until last night when we were harmonizing together so beautifully. I'll let you know how it goes. I was thinking about recording us on garage band one day and posting it on the blog so you can hear what I've been up to.
Tabla lessons are going really well, so well that I prefer practicing over doing homework and such. It's funny because so far I've preferred doing everything but school work, and I'm not really freaking out about the fact that I'm not doing a ridiculous amount of school work. First of all, the academic system here is so different that it doesn't seem to expect much out of you, and much of what I've experienced so far, i.e. the lectures and assigned readings, has been really boring. They're system doesn't really seem to value active learning as much as we do back in the states. For example, I would rarely go to class/discussion group without having done the reading, but here, you either aren't even expected to do all if any of the readings, and when you do, it doesn't matter because the lectures may be structured so that they just summarize the article you should have read for the class. Needless to say, I'm not as excited about my classes as I was in the beginning. I do like my Hindi class though, but that's probably because there's only three of us and it's very interactive with homework every night.
Also- I played soccer last night. My friend Siury and I were the only girls out there (surprise, surprise), and we totally kicked butt! I stole the ball from the opposing team at least 4 or 5 times. My team won 4-0.
Hm... What have I been up to in the past week or so? Well, last weekend I went on a quest to find a yarn store in Hyderabad with my friends Batia, Rachel and Becca. It was quite a journey. We took an autorickshaw to Lingampalli where we hopped on a train, which goes around the city like a subway, to get to where we wanted to go to in the city. The ride on the train took about an hour, and we got to view the city from a very different perspective, which was nice. Batia had google-mapped the directions to the yarn shop from the Kachiguda Train Station, and we followed them quite well to where we thought that the shop should have been. When we didn't find it we asked for directions in two different stores, and in the second store one of the guys ended up taking us to where it was. I doubt that we would've have found it otherwise. Finding anything here takes a lot of effort. It feels like such a triumph when you actually find what you're looking for. I bought two different types of yarn, and I crotched a hat for myself. (I'll post a photo of it later if I can).
I had a lot of fun this weekend as well. I went to a place called "Shilparamam," which is this "craft village" where all of these local artisans sell their wears. I bought a 100% pashmina shawl and some beautiful fabric to make another salwaar kameez out of. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Then in other exciting news, two of my friends here are major singers, so we spend hours last night and this afternoon singing madrigals together. We're planning on trying to learn a new madrigal each week and performing at the end of the semester. I love it because I haven't sung like that since high school. I didn't realize how much I missed singing in small vocal groups until last night when we were harmonizing together so beautifully. I'll let you know how it goes. I was thinking about recording us on garage band one day and posting it on the blog so you can hear what I've been up to.
Tabla lessons are going really well, so well that I prefer practicing over doing homework and such. It's funny because so far I've preferred doing everything but school work, and I'm not really freaking out about the fact that I'm not doing a ridiculous amount of school work. First of all, the academic system here is so different that it doesn't seem to expect much out of you, and much of what I've experienced so far, i.e. the lectures and assigned readings, has been really boring. They're system doesn't really seem to value active learning as much as we do back in the states. For example, I would rarely go to class/discussion group without having done the reading, but here, you either aren't even expected to do all if any of the readings, and when you do, it doesn't matter because the lectures may be structured so that they just summarize the article you should have read for the class. Needless to say, I'm not as excited about my classes as I was in the beginning. I do like my Hindi class though, but that's probably because there's only three of us and it's very interactive with homework every night.
Also- I played soccer last night. My friend Siury and I were the only girls out there (surprise, surprise), and we totally kicked butt! I stole the ball from the opposing team at least 4 or 5 times. My team won 4-0.
8.12.2008
Finally!
Last Friday marked the one month mark of my time here in India. Now I finally feel like I've adjusted to living in India. I don't feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster anymore, I have returned to my equilibrium of general happiness, and it feels so good. Also, I think I'm finally over my nasty head cold that lasted for two weeks.
Anyway, in other news, more exciting news, I bought my first set of tablas yesterday, and I had my first lesson today. Before you know it, I'll be a tabla star!
8.04.2008
A night of culture
Last night they treated us to a beautiful performance of Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi Dance. The former being indigenous to Tamil Nadu and the latter from Andhra Pradesh, the state that I'm currently in. The pictures I took are from the invocation they did in which they invoked the god Ganesha, who is known for being a remover of obstacles among other things.
Later on they did a dance in which they narrated parts of the Ramayana, one of the two important Indian epics, and that was my favorite part of their performance. I also was very impressed by the coordination between the dancers and the musicians because I know that it is very difficult for the two to flow so well together.
Later on they did a dance in which they narrated parts of the Ramayana, one of the two important Indian epics, and that was my favorite part of their performance. I also was very impressed by the coordination between the dancers and the musicians because I know that it is very difficult for the two to flow so well together.
Girl's Bridge Camp
On Saturday we went to a girl's bridge camp where they teach girls for six months after taking them out of "child labor" and putting them into schools at the appropriate level. I'm not really sure why they took us to this place other than the fact that it opened my eyes to the reality that child labor is still a problem in India, and this organization MVF is doing something to change that. I really enjoyed my time spent there nonetheless because we got to play with the girls and teach them some of our typical childhood games, and they shared some of their dancing and songs with us.
After eating lunch a group of us started playing volleyball in a circle, and I had the best time showing some of the girls how to properly hold your hands to hit the volleyball. Then when they had the courage to do it, it made me feel so proud when they stepped up and hit the ball. One girl even gave me a high five whenever we would hit the ball well.
Afterwards, even though we only spent a couple of hours with the girls, I felt like I forged a real connection with a couple of the girls, and it was hard for me to say goodbye because I knew I would never see them again.
After eating lunch a group of us started playing volleyball in a circle, and I had the best time showing some of the girls how to properly hold your hands to hit the volleyball. Then when they had the courage to do it, it made me feel so proud when they stepped up and hit the ball. One girl even gave me a high five whenever we would hit the ball well.
Afterwards, even though we only spent a couple of hours with the girls, I felt like I forged a real connection with a couple of the girls, and it was hard for me to say goodbye because I knew I would never see them again.
Things that I didn't expect...
We had this assignment to go around taking pictures of some things that surprised us or that we didn't expect about India, so I thought that I'd share some of my pictures with you.
No door knobs. They just have bolts and padlocks on the doors. It's kind of annoying to lock it and unlock it whenever you leave/enter the room.
The Bathroom: It's all in one. I didn't expect that the shower wouldn't be separate from the whole bathroom. Also, it took me about a week to figure out how to get the hot water to work in the shower.
Yeah, we can't flush toilet paper down the toilet ... we throw it away next to the toilet and it's cleared away every morning. Just a bit odd, but I'm used to it now. I definitely worried at first that I might forget and throw t.p. down the toilet out of habit, but I haven't made that mistake yet.
A Lizard... Inside our guest house? Yup.
Garbage out in the open. I expected trash out in the open, but I didn't expect this much.My new clothes
My tailor made salwaar- kameez. This is probably one of my favorites.The tailoring only cost 100 Rs. which is about $2.50.
My New Outfit
I know, it took a while for me to post picts. of my new clothes. More will be coming, it just takes forever to upload them. So here I am in one of my new Salwaar Kameez outfits. Pretty sweet, no?
8.01.2008
Three Weeks
Now I've been here for three weeks. Crazy, no? It feels like the first two weeks took forever, but this week just flew by. I have now settled on what classes I'll be taking, and I turned in my registration form this afternoon to the Study in India Program Office. I signed up for four classes:
1. Intermediate Hindi
2. Religion, Culture and Society in Medieval India
3. Sociology of Gender
4. Art and Architecture in Medieval India
I feel really excited about all of my classes. I'm still trying to get a handle on what's expected of us academically though, so I've asked a couple of my teachers for their input, but I'm still a bit unclear. First of all, any of the readings that they assigned aren't necessarily required; you're expected to pick a couple and do a presentation on them and write a book review. Then the books aren't that easy to find, and when you do find the readings you have to photocopy them. It's such a new concept for me; rather than buying all their assigned books at a bookstore, they find them and photocopy them. There are many photocopy centers around the campus, so that's not too bad. I just feel like it's a bit wasteful, but at least it's cheaper than buying all the books right?
I don't have many big plans for this weekend because I have a cold, so I'm planning on sleeping as much as I can this weekend, which is difficult because so many people are inviting me to go out with them, and I have to turn them down. I keep telling myself that I'll be here for five months, so it's better that I get well rather than go out and allow my cold to continue bugging me.
1. Intermediate Hindi
2. Religion, Culture and Society in Medieval India
3. Sociology of Gender
4. Art and Architecture in Medieval India
I feel really excited about all of my classes. I'm still trying to get a handle on what's expected of us academically though, so I've asked a couple of my teachers for their input, but I'm still a bit unclear. First of all, any of the readings that they assigned aren't necessarily required; you're expected to pick a couple and do a presentation on them and write a book review. Then the books aren't that easy to find, and when you do find the readings you have to photocopy them. It's such a new concept for me; rather than buying all their assigned books at a bookstore, they find them and photocopy them. There are many photocopy centers around the campus, so that's not too bad. I just feel like it's a bit wasteful, but at least it's cheaper than buying all the books right?
I don't have many big plans for this weekend because I have a cold, so I'm planning on sleeping as much as I can this weekend, which is difficult because so many people are inviting me to go out with them, and I have to turn them down. I keep telling myself that I'll be here for five months, so it's better that I get well rather than go out and allow my cold to continue bugging me.
7.27.2008
Where would I be withouth my coffee?
Yes, I even get coffee in India. A couple of my friends and I spent the day in Banjara Hills where we went to a bookstore, and... got some coffee. Yeah, the cappuccino wasn't too special, but as you well know, I love cappuccinos, so I wanted to share with you that I finally had one in India. It only took me 16 days to get to a place that made them.New Clothes, New Bed Spread
A Close up of the pattern on the quilt and sheets that I bought for my bed yesterday.
Checkout my new bedspread and clothes.All together, for five outfits and a bedspread, quilt and towel, it cost a little over $200. Craziness. I love it here in India. It's a shopper's paradise. :-)
7.23.2008
Fusion Music
Here are some of the musicians from that concert I talked about in my previous post. Note how the violinist plays his violin- resting on his foot. He also has a different tuning depending upon the raga of the song. Also, not included in the group photo are two other people- a synthesizer and an electric drum kit. Personally, I think that the synth took away from the ensemble rather than added anything to it, and I also liked the hawaiian guitarist better than the sitar player, but whatev.
7.21.2008
Finally Settling In
Today we moved into our respective dorms. I am very excited because I got a single! Before coming here I got a bit worried because I didn't want to go through having a crap roommate like I did freshman year, so I prayed that I would get a single, and I did. Not only that, I got one of the best singles in the residence! Its the biggest one I've seen, and it's almost the size of a double. Also, I get a double bed instead of a twin. Crazy. I spent all morning decorating my room, but there's still a lot more to do. I'm thinking about going shopping with this weekend for some pieces to spice up my room.
Classes start this week, so we have the whole week to attend as many as we can, it's called "shopping period," and then by the end of the week we have to make our decision. So far I'm thinking about taking a sociology class on women issues in South Asia, and two history classes: one on ancient art and architecture in Medieval India and the other on Religion, Culture and Society of Medieval India. Of course, I'll also be taking Hindi, but I still have to take a test to see whether I belong in the Basic or Intermediate class. Also, we can take noncredit courses in music and dance, so I'm going to try and take lessons in Tabla and Hindustani voice. I cannot wait. We met the teachers for that and when they gave us a little sample of each, I felt my heart leap and a huge smile spread across my face and wouldn't go away for a good five minutes afterwards. Tonight they also set up a musical performance for us to attend. It was a fusion group that included a Synthesizer, Hawaiian Guitar, Indian Violin, Tabla, Sitar and a drum set. I really enjoyed it. They played four pieces. I only remember two of them: they opened with one in the Yaman Raga and then later played on in the Bihag raga. The guitarist and violinist were fantastic! The Indian way of playing the violin is so unique; he rested one end under his chin and the other on the bridge of his foot (he was sitting cross legged; I took a picture which I'll upload later). Also, the tabla player blew me away. He's apparently been playing for twenty years or so. I can't wait to begin my lessons!
That's all for now.
Much love,
Miykaelah
Classes start this week, so we have the whole week to attend as many as we can, it's called "shopping period," and then by the end of the week we have to make our decision. So far I'm thinking about taking a sociology class on women issues in South Asia, and two history classes: one on ancient art and architecture in Medieval India and the other on Religion, Culture and Society of Medieval India. Of course, I'll also be taking Hindi, but I still have to take a test to see whether I belong in the Basic or Intermediate class. Also, we can take noncredit courses in music and dance, so I'm going to try and take lessons in Tabla and Hindustani voice. I cannot wait. We met the teachers for that and when they gave us a little sample of each, I felt my heart leap and a huge smile spread across my face and wouldn't go away for a good five minutes afterwards. Tonight they also set up a musical performance for us to attend. It was a fusion group that included a Synthesizer, Hawaiian Guitar, Indian Violin, Tabla, Sitar and a drum set. I really enjoyed it. They played four pieces. I only remember two of them: they opened with one in the Yaman Raga and then later played on in the Bihag raga. The guitarist and violinist were fantastic! The Indian way of playing the violin is so unique; he rested one end under his chin and the other on the bridge of his foot (he was sitting cross legged; I took a picture which I'll upload later). Also, the tabla player blew me away. He's apparently been playing for twenty years or so. I can't wait to begin my lessons!
That's all for now.
Much love,
Miykaelah
7.16.2008
Getting to Know India
I'm now wrapping up the sixth day of being in India. I haven't written for a couple days because I felt like I wanted something to happen, but what I didn't realize is that everything I have experienced so far is fair game to share and that plenty of things are happening.
Today I went into the town of Lingampalli with some of my friends. While half of our study abroad group spent their morning at the police station registering with them, the rest of us decided to go exploring. Yesterday our peer tutors took us on a bus tour of the neighborhoods (towns?) near the university, so we decided to go back to Lingampalli to do some further exploration. We took the local bus, which we had learned how to use three days earlier (it's a bit overwhelming to use since it's so crowded and seemingly unorderly, but I felt better riding it this time around). While in Lingampalli I bought some fabric and took it to a tailor to have a Salwaar Kamiz (a traditional Indian tunic outfit) made for me. It cost me in total 890 rupees, which is about $20. I think that's quite a steal. I also bought some cheap bangles, which are quite pretty.
After that excursion I felt quite tired, so I rested during the afternoon while we had free time before dinner. Tonight I had a delightful conversation with one of the girls in my program about what classes we are interested in taking. We may end up in an Indian philosophy class together. I would like that very much if I had another study abroad student in at least one or two of the classes I'm taking. I'm still getting to know many of the people in my program, and thus far I really enjoy their company. We're quite an interesting and compatible group of people. Unlike the first week of college, I don't feel lonely and I don't have trouble striking up a conversation with people and connecting with them from the get go. I think that being here in India together gives us an initial bond that helps us build quick and worthwhile relationships with one another.
I very much look forward to classes starting and meeting my fellow Indian university students. We'll be picking our classes in 4 or 5 days, so I'll let you know how that goes.
Love,
M
Today I went into the town of Lingampalli with some of my friends. While half of our study abroad group spent their morning at the police station registering with them, the rest of us decided to go exploring. Yesterday our peer tutors took us on a bus tour of the neighborhoods (towns?) near the university, so we decided to go back to Lingampalli to do some further exploration. We took the local bus, which we had learned how to use three days earlier (it's a bit overwhelming to use since it's so crowded and seemingly unorderly, but I felt better riding it this time around). While in Lingampalli I bought some fabric and took it to a tailor to have a Salwaar Kamiz (a traditional Indian tunic outfit) made for me. It cost me in total 890 rupees, which is about $20. I think that's quite a steal. I also bought some cheap bangles, which are quite pretty.
After that excursion I felt quite tired, so I rested during the afternoon while we had free time before dinner. Tonight I had a delightful conversation with one of the girls in my program about what classes we are interested in taking. We may end up in an Indian philosophy class together. I would like that very much if I had another study abroad student in at least one or two of the classes I'm taking. I'm still getting to know many of the people in my program, and thus far I really enjoy their company. We're quite an interesting and compatible group of people. Unlike the first week of college, I don't feel lonely and I don't have trouble striking up a conversation with people and connecting with them from the get go. I think that being here in India together gives us an initial bond that helps us build quick and worthwhile relationships with one another.
I very much look forward to classes starting and meeting my fellow Indian university students. We'll be picking our classes in 4 or 5 days, so I'll let you know how that goes.
Love,
M
7.11.2008
The Journey
I still don't really think that I fully realize that I'm in India.
My journey here went pretty smoothly. The only bad parts of my trip included: being stuck in the Frankfurt airport for nearly 8 hours and then sitting next to a woman with a baby on the flight to Hyderabad. Her baby cried nonstop for the last hour or so of the flight. That gave me a headache.
We got in around 1 or 2 in the morning and made it to the hotel that we're staying at by about 3:45 in the morning. Today's been quite a long day. It's really been a task to stay awake. Who knows how long this jet lag will last. We begin orientation tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. This afternoon they took us on a bus to a place that they called a "craft fair" where there was a bunch of people selling various wares. I didn't buy anything, but I did get some mendhi (henna). I think I got ripped off though, but whatever, it was only the first afternoon. I'll figure out what the proper prices for things are eventually. I've eaten three meals here so far, and I haven't felt sick, so I think that's a good sign.
7.09.2008
In the Airport...
Chillin' in Chicago O'Hare couldn't be more fun. Love it. That's why I'm putting up my first blog post. So far I've bought a bottle of water, this month's Vanity Fair and the book Eat, Pray, Love. Think that's cliché? Well, too bad because I'm going to read it. Maybe not now, but eventually. I do have about an 18 hour flight to India. I do have a book that I bought with Jessie on 39th St. and I promised her I'd read that on the flight, so I'll do that first.
I've got to say, as I wait in the airport I don't feel very anxious nor do I feel like I'm freaking out. I feel pretty calm, which is a good thing. No need to waste my energy. I can't wait to tell you about the characters on my plane and in India. Stay tuned for my adventures abroad.
Love,
Miykaelah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
