shopping, snakes, snacks, and shots

Here comes another long entry…I never really felt like sitting down and writing a blog entry this week, but now I have a lot of catching up to do.

In the morning, we had a preparatory workshop with all of the teachers. We went around the room introducing ourselves (introductions took place in both English and Hindi – Abhijeet translated for Avi and me) and saying what we were interested in. We then broke into small groups based on interests – one group was for people who said they liked to cook, the other for people who said they enjoy travelling. Avi and I, along with one other teacher, were the only girls not to go into the cooking group, which I noted. Interesting… For the workshop itself, Nita ma’am lectured on professionalism, Indian history/society, and Nirman in the context of the two previous categories. It was mostly fascinating, especially to listen to the Indian teachers and their conceptions on the country in which they live. I’m loving this immersion.

The highlight of Monday was shopping for saris. In the afternoon, Soniya (I just found out that’s the actual spelling of her name) and I took a rickshaw to Harshita’s home. Unfortunately, Avi wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t join us. She thought she was sick from the lassi we had Sunday night. Thankfully, she was feeling better once Soniya and I returned in the evening. Harshita’s place was at least a 20 minute rickshaw ride from Nirman, and we began to worry that we weren’t going to be able to find it. Fortunately, the rickshaw driver took us right to her corner and it ended up being really easy to find. At first we went into her father’s shop, he sells motorcycle/scootee helmets, which is adjacent to a warehouse area. You walk through the warehouse area, turn right, and go up a flight of stairs to get to where they live. She and her mom were very hospitable; they welcomed us into her parents’ bedroom where they blasted the AC. So nice. Then Harshita brought us mango shakes…yesss. She told me her mom wanted to make us iced coffees, but she knew I love mangos and hate coffee so she insisted on mango shakes. Saloni was there as well, and the five of us (Saloni, Harshita, her mom, Soniya, and I) sat for a bit and then went out and caught rickshaws to the sari place. Harshita’s mom arranged for us to go to a wholesaler, who is a good friend of Harshita’s father, to look at saris. The way it worked was that he called the weavers he knew in advance, so when we got there, there was a group of six or seven men waiting to show us their work. They took turns slowly unfolding each sari a little bit so we could see the color, and if we expressed interest, they’d open them with a flourish so we could see the detailing. All in all, we probably looked at about two hundred saris. In that time, they brought us water and soft drinks to keep us interested and content. It did begin to feel like it was dragging on. There were many that I liked, but I ended up buying two silk saris: one is a bright, shiny pink/orange with subtle floral designs and gold detailing, and the other is white with blue flowers and a black border. Harshita got a sheer, white one with gold and black roses. Soniya bought one of a deep purple, with gold detailing. Because we’d gone to the wholesaler, we paid, Harshita and Saloni told me, about half of what you’d pay retail price. Nice! The power had been on and off all afternoon, so the man’s credit card reader wasn’t working. I wanted to pay right away, so we all walked to an ATM. The ATMs were also being persnickety after the power outages, so it took four tries to take one that would accept my card. After I got the money, I paid the man. We were standing outside the ATM talking logistics (the saris needed final touches) when all of a sudden I noticed two little boys over his shoulder. They were standing there holding open baskets with cobras in them. I let out an involuntary short, harsh scream/wail and my knees buckled. I started hyperventilating, and Soniya and Harshita rushed over from the other side of the street. Soon I was sobbing, and the little boys started to run away. Soniya put my head on her shoulder and wrapped her arms around me, all the while talking to the cops sitting outside the ATM in rapid Hindi, telling them that these kids always bother us when we go on that street because they know I’m afraid of snakes. The cops followed the boys. Meanwhile, a small crowd of curious Indian creeper men had gathered to watch my breakdown. Fabulous. I’ve never been so close to fainting. Some of the men were laughing. Soniya said, “let’s go, let’s go. We’ll get out of here.” She put me in a rickshaw who took us to the end of the street where we caught an auto back to Nirman. I texted Avi about the whole thing while we were on our way back, and she was very glad not to have been there. That was Monday.

Tuesday, we had another workshop in the morning. We’ve done name exercises every day so I’ve almost got all of the teachers’ names down. Almost all of the teachers are women, and a sizeable group of them have names that start with M. Mitali, Malashri, Mumta…Also, some of them are very hard to pronounce, but I’m trying. During introductions on the first day, Sushmita told me I could call her Sush when she heard me struggling. On Tuesday I had my first Hindi lesson with Mumta ma’am. She teaches Sanskrit and Hindi in the school. Nita ma’am told me that she is very good at teaching the kids, especially Sanskrit, using songs. She was very kind to work with, but because Nita ma’am, Nandani, Nawal, and Irfana were also up in the library working, she never spoke above a whisper during our lesson. She first taught me the vowels, teaching me both the sounds and the Hindi lettering. She told me I had good handwriting, but I couldn’t help but feel like a preschooler. She then taught me how to count to ten (ekh, do, tin, cha, pach, ch, sad, adh, nou, des!). Finally, she had me look around the room, asking me to identify objects, and then she’d tell me what the word was in Hindi. That especially made me feel like a preschooler, like how there used to be signs on objects around the room saying what the objects were in order to help kids learn how to read.

Tuesday evening, per Nandani’s recommendation, Dost, Avi, Soniya and I went to a classical music concert on Tulsi ghat. It began at 7, but we didn’t want to be there for the whole thing so we left Nirman around 7:15. We had a bit of trouble finding the place; when the rickshaw drivers dropped us off for Tulsi ghat, we found ourselves in a dark alleyway type street. After asking a handful of people for directions, we found the building where the concert was taking place. It looked like a temple, and there was a small shrine in the room of the concert. The singer who performed was the 16 year old son of Nandani’s guru (she also studies classical music, she sings). He was phenomenal, especially for his age. He hit an amazing range of notes and sang rapidly. He was accompanied by people playing tabla (Indian hand drums), harmonium, and a large instrument which looked like a sitar, but I was told it was something different. Once he finished his performance, there was a short break. We decided we’d stay for the next part, which consisted of a man playing sitar and the tabla player from before. The tabla player, Soniya observed, was a master. Together, they sounded incredible. Avi was sitting in front of me, and the two of us were texting each other throughout the set talking about how amazing it was. She told me about how sitar is considered to be the instrument of the gods, and we agreed that the music we were listening to sounded truly divine. We ended up staying for their entire set, which was honestly the best small, intimate performance I’ve ever seen.

On Wednesday, Irfana led our workshop, which consisted entirely of playing games. On a previous day, we’d played “the big wind blows” game, where someone stands in the middle and says an interest, hobby, or characteristic, and the people who the statement applies to have to run around the room and find a different seat. I thought about the different places I’d played that game as an icebreaker…from Blanchet Frosh Welcomes to my summer program at Brown to pre-WOA at CMC. Such a wide range of settings… Anyways, Wednesday we played a lot of active games, like one where you walk around the room until Irfana says stop and first we had to freeze, then we needed to find a partner, then we needed to make groups of three, then we needed to make groups of four. We played another game where you had a partner, and had to follow their hand with your nose. Amit, a new manager here who bears striking resemblance to Gus Gus from Cinderella, kept calling me his puppy. He’s a crack up. We played the game where people sit in a circle and follow a leader in making different gestures until the person outside of the circle can guess who the leader is. Finally, we played a game called Zip Zap Zop which involved a lot of concentration but was very fun. All of the games we played were meant to teach the teachers lessons on teaching strategies and incorporating fun into the classroom. It was generally enjoyable, and was a nice break from the lecture format workshops we’d been having.

After the workshop, Harshita, Saloni, Dost and I hung out in the common room (foyer area) of the guest house. We chatted for a while, and I ended up talking to them about the challenges I’ve found with the cultural aspect of my adjustment here. I’ve been having a difficult time on and off, feeling like I have to be hyper vigilant about what I’m saying and doing because I don’t want to offend anyone or alienate myself. It got a bit emotional, but as a result, I realize I’m extremely grateful to know that these are people who I consider genuine friends rather than superficial people I’m spending time with because we’ve been forced together in my being here. They are wonderful. Saloni and Harshita find me as a bit of a novelty, which was irksome at first but I realize that if they were visiting us in the US, it’d be the same situation. I humor them, and ultimately don’t really mind because they are so nice. They gave me an Indian name – Pushpa, which means flower (Hadley, I thought you’d like that one). Saloni begged me to practice my Hindi counting for her to record on video. I figured, why not? Though I did feel somewhat self conscious. After lunch, Saloni, Harshita, Soniya, Avi and I went back to the same sari man. On the way, we saw a handful of processions where people were carrying bodies down to the river. They’re placed on a gurney-type thing which four people carry on their shoulders. The body is covered with bright colored fabric and lots of festive decorations…crazy. When we got to the sari shop, I was able to pick mine up, and we ended up looking at a bunch more because Avi wanted to buy one for her mom. She did, and Soniya also bought a couple more saris I think. Soniya and I also bought some fabric from which we’ll get shirts made. After shopping, Saloni (who wasn’t feeling well, and hasn’t been back to Nirman since) and Harshita went home. Avi, Dost, Soniya and I went down to the ghats and took a boat ride up and down a bit of the river. It was dusk, so it was especially beautiful, though I still really want to get there for sunrise one of these days. The man who rowed our boat let us take extra-touristy photos of ourselves rowing the boat. He took us up to the cremation grounds, where there were fires burning. As we floated there, we also saw a group of people march a body straight down to the river. Soniya explained that some people, like babies, saints, and lepers, aren’t burned but rather are put straight into the water. Wow…so we saw that. We made our way back down to the ghat from which we started, and watched the aarti from the boat. A little girl came onto our boat and sold us diyas, the candles in leaves that you place in the water, make a wish, and then watch float away. Very peaceful. After we felt like we’d seen enough of the aarti, he rowed us in the other direction toward the other cremation grounds. There were many people gathered there; we saw one man stoking one of the fires. There were lots of bells ringing. Afterwards, he rowed us back to where we’d started from and we disembarked. We probably spent close to a couple of hours on the boat, and had a really nice time. Dost and Soniya each splashed themselves with the water 108 times, which was the amount Soniya’s father had told her to bathe. Fully bathing isn’t really an option for those of us who are preoccupied with cleanliness. Avi and I both splashed ourselves, being sure, per Soniya’s reminder, to use our right hands. We went back to Nirman where we found Abhijeet chatting online, and the five of us had our last dinner together.

Thursday morning, we had to say goodbye to Soniya at breakfast. We realized her leaving meant it was just going to be us kids in the guesthouse, fending for ourselves. I’m glad I’ll at least be able to see her again before I leave India. It will be very nice to be able to visit their home in Delhi; I feel like staying with them will make my journey home from Varanasi feel shorter since it’ll be broken up by an overnight at their house. Anyways, during Thursday’s workshop, I felt extremely tired, like I could barely keep my eyes open. At one point, I excused myself and took a fifteen minute power nap. After working, Avi, Dost, Abhijeet and I ate lunch in our customary hang out room. Irfana and Nita ma’am joined us, and we all ended up talking for a while. They invited me along to the fabric store with them after lunch, so we left a little before three. We took the car, and, as usual, I enjoyed the opportunity to sit in the air conditioning. We went to a place called Handloom House, where I bought fabric for 3 pairs of salwar pants, and two shirts. I also bought a cotton sari, for which the intent is to wear while I’m here so I get comfortable wearing saris. Wednesday night, Soniya gave Avi and me a workshop on how to wear a sari. She told me, “anyone can wear a sari, but I’m going to teach you to wear it well.” She began by showing me where to put it – “wear it here [below your belly button], otherwise it makes you look very fat.” She has a peculiar way of calling a person fat, which always makes me laugh a bit. Her sari instructions were very helpful and much appreciated. Anyways, after the Handloom House, Irfana, Nita ma’am and I went to another fabric shop across the street, where I bought fabric for a blouse piece to go with my new cotton sari as well as block printed floral cotton to get a top made to go with striped fabric I got for pants. It’s fun to go around with Nita ma’am, who at one point said enthusiastically that we should go for ice cream. We didn’t, but I’m getting past the initial strangeness of spending so much time with a professor, and enjoy talking to her, especially since she’s another thread of familiarity to my life on the other side of the world. On our way back to Nirman, they dropped me off at the tailor, where I arranged for all of my fabric to be made into clothing. The men there didn’t speak much English, and I really don’t speak much Hindi, so it was a challenge, and I’m minutely concerned that my clothes won’t turn out the way I expect them to. I’m not too worried about it, though, because they’re extremely inexpensive to have made, and I realize it’s just another part of the fun and adventure. I walked back from the tailor by myself (gasp!). It was still light out, and I knew exactly where I was so it really wasn’t too bad. I even stopped by a shop in Lanka to pick up a petticoat for wearing with my saris. I felt proud of the confidence I had to be alone here, and my ability to run these errands independently. When I got back, I watched Step Up with Avi (wow, what bad acting…) and we hung out until dinner. After dinner, we began the process of doing laundry. This consisted of putting our clothes in buckets full of soapy water. Yeah…unbelievable. I’d bought the soap (powdered tide, which smells like a semi-rotting bouquet) at a shop a few days ago. While our clothes soaked, we watched another movie, Couples Retreat, on my laptop. Afterwards, the laundry fun really began. We had to wring out the soapy water, and rinse each piece several times to get the soap out. We then had to hang everything up on the clotheslines that are in the bathroom I use. Ridiculous. It took me almost an hour to finish everything I’d washed. Keep in mind I’d left ten pieces (mostly my long skirts, dresses, and kurtas) for the woman who tidies the guesthouse to wash. She washed my items as well as nine of Avi’s today. So now everything’s clean…and I tidied my room this evening. I folded all of my clean clothes and reorganized the cabinet where I keep them. Everything western got moved to the bottom :) I have to take four kurtas to be dry cleaned (the store people said get them dry cleaned once after my first wear) and two others to the ironers. Avi said people judge you if your kurtas are wrinkly. The things I’m learning…by the time I post this Saturday morning, I will have officially been here for two weeks.

This morning (I’m writing this post Friday night but am planning to post it Saturday morning) we had another workshop. About an hour in, it began to rain. To everyone’s excitement, it quickly began to pour. Monsoon season has officially begin, which is so unbelievably pleasant. It’s cooled off a lot, and the weather is much more comfortable now. I had to wear jeans today because of all the laundry being done, and while they were very hot and sticky, they were manageable. During the workshop, I got really tired again, and once again had to excuse myself for a quick nap. I went back after sleeping for 15 minutes, and soon felt exhausted once more. I ended up leaving again, and sleeping for forty more minutes. When I got back up, I ran into Nita ma’am, and explained my exhaustion to her. She put her hand on my shoulder and told me that it’s important that I not fight my body. She said I’ll probably feel better in a couple of days, but that I should rest as much as I need to. She also recommended that I make the distinction between a need for physical rest and a need for mental rest. She told me I should watch a movie or something. Very nice and thoughtful. I told her that I don’t like what was scheduled for lunch today, and she let me in on a little secret…the cooks here make PB&J if you ask for it. Epic. Such good news. I had one and a half sandwiches (Avi had the fourth half) and then went back to my room to relax. Abhijeet lent me his modem so I was able to creep around the internet for about an hour. While I was sitting in my room, Tivali came and knocked. When I opened the door, he handed me the package my mom had sent me! So exciting. I am especially excited to have my camera cord…I posted a selection of 80 of my photos on facebook, and I made it so they’re available to be viewed by everyone on facebook, rather than just my friends. At 3, I had another Hindi lesson with Mumta. We reviewed what I learned last time and went over how to pluralize nouns as well as basic conversation like asking “how are you?” It got pretty confusing, because there are a couple ways to say it, but I’m enjoying learning about the language. It’s helpful to be around it so much since everyone here holds at least half of their conversations in Hindi. After Hindi lessons, Amit took me back to the hospital. We rode his motorcycle! My first time ever riding on one...I loved it! Relatives, please don’t stress and worry when you read this, and please don’t tell me not to. Same goes for my solitary walk back from the tailor…I was fine. Anyways, Amit went with me to the hospital on Monday as well. I’ve now completed 3 of my 5 shots! The men at the pharmacy recognize me now since I’ve been there a few times. When I went to the emergency room to have the injection administered, there was another white girl standing there! We began chatting immediately, and I discovered she was from Australia and that she’d spent a night in the hospital for “gastro.” How unfortunate. She and her boyfriend needed a calculator to figure out how much money they owed in their currency, so I lent them my phone. They were very nice. I sat on a chair this time for my shot, and it was a different doctor than the previous two times I’ve been. I tried to ignore the blood spatter on his shirt. I also tried to ignore the vomit on one bed, and the blood on another. The injection was more painless than the previous two, which was nice. Also, this doctor charged me less than the other one had for the administration fee. 20 rupees rather than 50. Either way, I don’t mind. I still need to stop translating monetary values into dollars, because everything seems so cheap when I convert it mentally.

When I got back from the hospital, Avi and Dost were off visiting the homes of students who are on financial aid here, which was Dost’s assignment. I sat on the swings with Nandani for a few minutes, and then went and got my ipod and headphones once she left. It was so peaceful to just sit and swing, listening to my music. Rangnath, the new cafeteria manager, who is the Jaq to Amit’s Gus Gus, came over and sat with me for about half an hour. We discussed my experience of being here, and he qualified that I not just talk about how hot it is. I talked to him about the cultural challenges, and he ended up offering me advice on learning Hindi and helped me practice a bit. After he left, I swung some more and listened to music. I went back into my room around 7, and Avi, Dost, and Abhijeet joined me when they were all back. We hung out for a while, discussing how we’d get dinner since they don’t make it for us on Fridays-Sundays. It was pouring out, so, after much deliberation, it was decided that Abhijeet would go out and pick up chow mein, roti, and chicken tikka. The food was amazing. It’s strange having to fend for ourselves now that Soniya, our Wendy, is gone. It’s been fun though, just us kids. For a while when we were hanging out in my room, we were reading magazines and listening to music, and it felt like we could have just been in the dorm at CMC. It was comforting. Now I’m watching the end of the Bucket List with Dost; Avi just went to bed. I’ve been typing throughout the movie, but have really enjoyed what I’ve paid attention to. In the morning, we have a potluck with all of the teachers instead of a workshop like the ones we’ve been having all week. I’m excited, and a little nervous, to see what kind of food they bring.

adventures

Happy Father’s Day! It’s 11pm Sunday, so it’s almost over here, but I waited all day until it would be an appropriate time in the US to call my dad. He and Hadley are going to Toy Story 3 today…I don’t think I could be more jealous.

Thursday evening, Abhijeet took us to Kashi Vishwanath temple near the river. There was a lot of security; we weren’t allowed to go through the gate Abhijeet usually uses because I was with them. Foreigner…sorry guys. At one point, there were two uniformed military men inspecting my driver’s license (I wasn’t carrying my passport). They made me sign something with my name, nationality, license number (I was asking myself, what is the point of getting my Washington state driver’s license information?), and place of residence in Varanasi. Very thorough. The temple itself was amazing. Ornate, carved gold and silver decorations tipped some of the architecture. Much of the stone was carved in great detail as well. Seeing all of these carvings, literally thousands of years old, I’m awestruck thinking about how men slaved over these buildings, carving by hand. I’ve also grown an awareness of how many people have worshipped in this same place. That’s how I feel being at the Ganga, and it's how I felt at Sarnath today, too. While the temple itself was incredible, 90% of the pundits there are only there to take your money. It really takes away from the spiritual experience, and I felt bad because it bothered Avi. We were all talking about it, and I just think it’s a shame…exploiting people’s faith to make money. Professor Kumar told us to think about religion in Benares as an industry, which makes sense, but is still unfortunate.

Yesterday at 11am we (the interns and teachers) met with Irfana to discuss plans to prepare the school for classes to begin 1 July. A lot of things have been packed up for the summer, so we’re all helping clean, unpack, and organize. Harshita and I were assigned to the teachers’ resource room, which is upstairs from the guesthouse. Per Irfana’s directions, we worked on organizing shelves and materials. At one point, we were moving one of these metal shelves and I dropped it on my foot, causing a nice bloody slice across my toes. Cool. I’ve been accident prone here, which is both unusual for me and slightly embarrassing. Oh well. Avi came up and hung out with us for a bit. The three of us chatted. I’d brought my speakers up so we listened to the XX while we worked. I had a moment where I made a mental note of what I was doing. Barefoot, cleaning a dusty room in a school in India, listening to a band I saw at Coachella…such a strange moment, but I enjoyed the realization/awareness. Very much like when we ate lunch at the army mess on Thursday…not an experience I ever thought I’d have. At one point when we were sitting there listening to the uniformed men gruffly interrogating everyone, Avi and I made eye contact and laughed. Crazy experience. Once we were done working, Harshita left, and our family ate lunch together. We spent the afternoon hanging out in the guesthouse, as has become our custom, and then at 4, Professor Kumar came to give us an academic lecture on the city of Benares. It was a classic Nita Kumar lecture, much like the ones we got for FHS.

Afterwards, Nita Ma’am, Irfana, Nandani, Dost, Sonia, Avi, and I went to the mall to do a bit of shopping (I bought my first Indian clothes!), get dinner at the food court, and go to a Hindi movie. When we got to the mall, I was immediately overwhelmed. It just felt weird. I was pretty hungry, which contributed to my disposition, but being somewhere that resembled an American mall (to a certain extent) but smelled like India and was filled with women in saris and men staring at me was almost too much for me to handle. The culture shock there felt worse than the culture shock I've experienced riding down the street and seeing cows. I ate a pizza which was actually really tasty, and then we stopped by a boutique kind of shop, where I bought a red and orange dressy kurti with matching beige legging pants. It was strange to be shopping with a professor, but we had fun. We went to another store, which was like H&M except playing Indian remixes of songs like My Humps (it was ridiculous) and full of Indian clothes. I bought two more kurtis and then we went to the movie. The movie was RIDICULOUS. Even though it was in Hindi, I was able to follow along pretty well, though it felt like the longest movie I’d ever seen. It was about politics, and basically everyone dies. Family members killing each other, corruption, bribery…it was exhausting to watch. When we got back, our family stayed up talking and hanging out until past midnight. Staying up hanging out with each other has also become habitual, especially now that I’ve completely adjusted to the time change.

This morning, the five of us left the campus at 9:30. We visited a temple at BHU and then had breakfast at a hole in the wall type restaurant near that. Four of us had potato paratha (mine was delicious…dipping it into a spicy, garlic-filled sauce) and Dost had chow mein. After that, Abhijeet, Sonia, and I had tea from another stand nearby. When Abhijeet brought me mine, I paused, and asked if it was safe for me to drink, since the food they were cooking was swarming with flies. He said yes, and it turned out to be the most delicious cup of tea I’ve had since being here. It was especially strong, and Sonia mentioned cardamom. Tasty.

From there, we headed to Sarnath. The car ride was about an hour, but we looked out the windows and chatted the whole time, so it went by quickly. When we arrived, we were immediately swarmed by men asking to be hired as guides. We paid one of them 20 rupees to show us around. First we went to the Chinese temple, then the Japanese temple. Then he took us to a silk shop where he would have gotten commission, but we didn’t buy anything. Sonia, who knows a lot about pricing, is a great shopper. Kind of unscrupulous, but in the best way, especially since we want to avoid getting cheated. Then he took us to another shop, where we ended up spending an hour and a half, and 2,250 rupees collectively. Mom, don’t ask me about what I bought, because we’re bad at keeping secrets and I want it to be a surprise. K? K. Because we took so long, the guide wanted more money. Screw that. We told him to go away. After that, we went to the archeological museum. I hid while Dost bought tickets so we only got charged the Indian price. 5 rupees versus 100. Price discrimination, thanks CMC. The museum was, most notably, air conditioned. Most of the exhibited items were carvings, such as lintels and sculptures. We also saw some iron tools from the 3rd century BC or something like that. Abhijeet, who is now an avid blog follower (he encouraged me to write this post right now), commented “See! These are more things that are older than your religion!” The sculptures were very cool…more awareness of how many thousands of people had looked at what I was looking at, and the different contexts in which people had seen these items. I’m thinking about picking up history as a dual major…I love this stuff. After the museum, we went to the Tibetan monastery. The temple was gorgeous. When we got there, I didn’t know it was the Tibetan temple, but I could tell just by the decorations. After that, we went to another temple near the stupa, took a couple of photos, and left. Then we went to the stupa area. Once again, I hid, so we could pay the Indian price for tickets. When we went inside, we walked straight for the stupa. We passed the sites of an old stupa (now gone, except for the foundation) and the ruins of an old temple. By this time, we were pretty tired and the others were hungry, but I kind of insisted that we go. We walked around the stupa and sat at its base for several minutes. Indian kids tried to sell us their mini Buddha sculptures, and one kid was particularly friendly. His friends told us he couldn’t talk (despite what you think, it really was true, he couldn’t) and ended up hanging out with us for a bit. He took a picture with us (adorable!) so I bought his sculpture. I paid too much for it (but only about 25 cents American) but I thought it made for a good story. After that, we sat for a few moments longer and then left. One our way back, we got lost, which was cool. We also got stopped for a train. We passed by the mall and went in because I wanted to exchange one of the kurtis I bought yesterday. I ended up buying a bunch more clothing, and am now the proud owner of 6 tops and 2 pairs of pants. Shopping with Avi and Sonia, but Sonia especially, is very fun. Sonia has a nice way of saying something is pretty: “that’s very pri-tee” …she says it like that. I’ve also noticed that several of the Indian women I’ve met have a habit of saying “that’s nice” and “that’s good” in a particular way. I like the sound of it. Once we were done shopping, we came back to Nirman. It was a solid 9 hour day of adventuring, and since getting back we’ve just been hanging out. Dost and Abhijeet went to the market and got us Lassi and mangos. The mangos have been chilling in the freezer for about an hour, so they’ll be a nice treat in the next few minutes. Work starts again tomorrow, but today was a really nice adventure. We took a lot of touristy photos, and I wore Indian clothes, which are SO comfortable. Even though it’s blazingly hot and we’re sweating a ton, they don’t get heavy, which is really nice. I feel less self conscious, too.

new friends

This is going to be an extremely long post, as much has happened in the past few days while I haven’t had internet access. The wifi has been out since Wednesday morning. Yesterday, Nandani told me that she thinks it has something to do with the digging going on outside on the street. There is a lot of digging and uprooting going on throughout the city. This morning, Abhijeet was kind enough to lend me his modem, because I am still waiting to get the settings on my cell phone for it to act as a modem.

Wednesday evening, Dost, Abhijeet, Sonia (Dost’s mom) and I went to the temples. While we were walking there, Abhijeet asked me if I had heard of “Hanuman ji”. At first I didn’t understand, but remembering that “ji” is added as a suffix demonstrating respect, I realized “Ohh Hanuman? The monkey? Yes, I know who that is.” Abhijeet laughed and said “yes, the monkey.” As we neared the temple, Abhijeet told us that we needed to give him our cell phones, because they aren’t allowed into the temple. He explained that the temple is a target, and has been bombed twice in the past. When we got in, I saw that there were hundreds of monkeys creeping around the temple area. They were so cute! I saw a baby clinging to its mom, and I also saw one slide down a pole, fireman style. Adorable. We took off our shoes, and Abhijeet, Dost, and Sonia proceeded to the Hanuman temple. Unsure of what to do, I waited near the back for them while they offered their respects. Once finished, the four of us proceeded to another temple, thirty feet away, where they told me I was welcome to join them. I did, and Sonia explained that this second temple was dedicated to Ram, Sita, and Lakshmi. We’d stopped to purchase sweets on our way there, and Abhijeet offered me one of his. They basically looked like donut holes (I don’t know how else to explain it…) and were very sugary. I was sad to leave the monkeys, but we left the temple and continued our trek to visit at least four other temples. At the next one we went to, I went up to the shrine with them and got blessed, and followed them to a priest who splashed basil water in our hands, which we were then supposed to drink. I asked Abhijeet, “Will this make me sick?” He smiled and said, “No, it will make you pure.” The next temple we went to, , Sonia told me, had the entire Ramayana written on the walls. The next one we went to, Abhijeet told me, was 2000 years old. My first realization was, “wow, this temple is older than my religion.” While we were walking around, it began to rain. Thank. God. It was so refreshing. After our temple trek, Abhijeet took us back to Nirman on a route, Sonia and I agreed, none of us would have taken if he hadn’t been there. Abhijeet got his Master’s and his Law Degree at BHU (Benares Hindu University) here in Varanasi, so he is very familiar with the city. At one point, we were walking through an area where most of the “houses” were shacks constructed out of crumbling bricks and/or mud, with tapestries for roofs. Abhijeet told me, “this is a lower caste area.” He elaborated, “before 1950, when our constitution was put in place, these people were called untouchables. Now they are called Harijans, because of Gandhi, which means God’s people.” Fascinating. These are the kinds of things I’ve studied, but to hear about it and see it firsthand is remarkable.

We got back to Nirman around 9pm. The four of us had dinner together, as has become custom. Sonia and I were commenting yesterday about how we’ve become a little family, waiting for each other so we can eat our meals together. Similarly, we spend the afternoons together in the coolest room in the guesthouse, the foyer, sitting, chatting, and enjoying one another’s company. Sonia says she’ll be sad when she leaves on Tuesday. She only came for a week to help Dost get settled. After dinner, Sonia continued a conversation we’d been having earlier about the caste system. She told me she is a Brahmin, the highest caste, while her husband is of a lower caste. I didn’t know people still kept track/talked about that. The conversation shifted to marriage, and they told me about how most marriages here are arranged. Sonia told me that she refused to take a dowry when she was married (I didn’t know that still existed!) which made her mother-in-law angry. She explained that, in India, men are often stuck between their mothers and their wives, because their mothers have the capability to make their wives’ lives hell. They told me that, in general, men don’t want their wives to work, because, Sonia said “women who work are considered of bad character.” She told me that fathers view their daughters as liabilities, and that they are a burden until they are able to marry them off. Abhijeet was nodding in agreement throughout the conversation. Sonia explained that men don’t want wives who are independent women, because “they have their own opinions.” This conversation blew my mind.

Thursday morning, I continued working. I’m working with Rupali, whose first language is Bengali, then Hindi, then English (hello language barrier). She is a teacher here. We’ve also been working with two other interns, Harshita and Saloni. The four of us are going through the third grade textbook right now, compiling lesson plans for each chapter. I’ve never been partial to group projects, and the language barrier as well as cultural differences add another layer to the challenge of working collaboratively. So far, it’s been very positive, because when we are successful in working together, it’s extra rewarding. For example, I taught Rupali how to use the Montessori checkerboard for multiplication before Harshita got there. At first, it was very difficult to explain, and I was beginning to worry about whether I’d be able to handle this aspect of being here in India. However, she began to understand, and when Harshita arrived, Rupali demonstrated how to use the checkerboard. It was so exciting for me to watch that, and I began to relax and feel less worried about the communication challenges. Harshita and Saloni speak English almost perfectly, so that has been very nice. On Wednesday, after we finished working and Rupali had left, Saloni, Harshita, and I stayed and chatted for several minutes. We exchanged phone numbers, and I couldn’t help but feel happy about making new friends.

Thursday afternoon, around 2, Avi arrived. I was so excited to see her. I introduced her to my friends here and showed her around Nirman. I’d told my new friends that I had a friend from school coming, and at one point yesterday Abhijeet looked at her and asked, “If you know Pyper, why do you look Indian?” It was funny. Avi explained that she lives here but goes to school in America. It was Dost’s birthday, so at 5, Saloni, Harshita, and Isabel brought a cake. Isabel knew Harshita through a friend of a friend, and only stayed in Varanasi two nights. She has been interning in India for nine months. She is from Germany, and instead of completing her compulsory military service, she opted to do social work instead. The program is relatively new, and they’ve only been accepting women for it for a couple of years. She worked on a peace project working on establishing mutual understanding between people of different religious backgrounds. She told me it involved a lot of diplomatic conversations. Anyway, they brought the cake, and Nawal, Nandani, Irfana, a former student, and Nita ma’am (what they call Prof. Kumar here) joined us. They left, and the rest of us hung out for a while. In the midst of all this, I went outside, and the school’s two dogs were especially playful. However, with these two, the line between playful and aggressive is very thin, and they began pulling on my dress. One even ripped a hole in my dress. They were barking and nipping at me playfully, but one ended up biting the back of my leg. It didn’t bleed, but the skin was broken. Sonia’s husband is a doctor, so she called him, and he recommended that I get vaccinated rather than risk anything, despite the fact that Irfana told us that the dogs had been vaccinated. F’n wonderful. We were all planning on going out to Ganga Aarti on the ghats again, so it was decided that I’d go to the hospital in the morning to get my shot. We rode in rickshaws down to Dasaswamedh ghat, where the aarti took place. It was Dost, Sonia, Abhijeet (he rode his scooter), Avi, Isabel, Saloni, Harshita, and I. When we got to the area, we walked through the marketplace with lots of stands with things to buy and eventually made it down to the ghat. After the aarti ended, we got blessed, and then Harshita, Isabel, and Saloni all left. As we made our way through the crowd, people were trying to get me to buy their goods, and Sonia said “I have to take care of you, everyone wants your attention, you can’t get lost!” Love her. Sonia, Dost, Avi, Abhijeet and I walked toward where Abhijeet left his scooter, but stopped at a small, cramped restaurant to have some water and snacks. The snacks were very good, I’ll have to ask what they were called. The first thing was made of fried bread covered in a sweet, reddish brown sauce, a very spicy green sauce, yogurt, and cilantro. Then we had these fried, rounded out, crispy bread things with potatoes, onions, and cilantro inside. You’re supposed to eat them by pouring a sweet water into them, but I couldn’t chance it with the water so I ate mine plain. Avi, Sonia, Dost and I took rickshaws back.

When we got back to Nirman, we sat and talked for a little bit, and then ate dinner. I wasn’t very hungry, so I only ate two buns, but enjoyed them with the peanut butter Avi brought me J It’s the simple things… Afterwards, I took a shower and then went to Avi’s room, where we sat and gossiped about CMC things for two hours. It was so nice to have some familiarity amidst all of this overwhelming newness. At 12:30, I went back to my room to call my mom and go to sleep. It was the first night that I slept all the way through the night without waking up, personal victory! Because the rain has started a little bit, it has cooled off noticeably, though it is still very hot.

This morning, the five of us (Avi has joined our family) had breakfast. After breakfast, I worked with Harshita for a little bit on the curriculum, but then we went to go see the students performance. They conducted a little play, some yoga, and a dance, as the culmination of their summer term. It was adorable. I took a video of their dance, and it might be one of the best things I have. After the performance, Avi and I went with Tivali (the guard at Nirman, also the man who fetched me from the airport) to the hospital. Wow. Indian hospital. Wow. At one point, I was the only white person in a room full of about 150 people, and about a third of those people were staring at me. Medical attention, especially getting shots, has always made me nervous. Needing shots in a foreign country…stress, stress, stress. The wait for the doctor I was supposed to see was supposed to take an hour, but Avi rocked it and pushed our way to the front. She told them that I was a foreigner and that I’d been bit by a dog and that it was very serious. So not true, but we only waited about ten minutes before the doctor saw me. He was very cordial and friendly, and the consultation only took about 5 minutes. He explained that I’d need five injections (fabulous.) and that the sixth was optional. It cost 650 rupees for the consultation, which was 150 more than was written on the wall. When Avi confronted them about it, they explained that it’s the foreign patient price. Haha. Part of the reason why Avi and Tivali came with me was to avoid getting overcharged. After the consultation, we took the prescription he’d given us downstairs to the pharmacy, where I bought the injection for 370 rupees (under 8 dollars). We then took it to the emergency room, where my shot was administered. Eeeeek. I explained that I’m afraid of needles and can’t see the shot before it’s given to me. The Indian doctors laughed at me, but it went alright. I paid 50 rupees (around a dollar) for the administration fee, and we also had to pay for the gloves the doctor used. Originally, the pharmacists said it was 89 rupees for the gloves, which was absurd. Avi came back and told the doctors that, and they said no, it should be 6 rupees. That’s what we paid. I have to go back there on Monday, next Friday, the Friday after that, July 2nd, and July 18th to get the rest of the injections. At least now I know how much everything costs so they can’t cheat me when I go back.

When we returned to Nirman, I told Dost, Harshita, Saloni, Isabel and Pratishtha (another intern) about my experience at the hospital. I then called Hadley and we chatted for over 20 minutes. Love. At 1, Dost, Avi, Pratishtha, Saloni, Isabel, Sonia, Abhijeet and I got into cars that had been sent for us to go to the army mess at BHU for lunch. Pratishtha had invited us because her father is, my impression is, high ranking in the military. Sonia, Avi, Isabel, and I got to ride in an airconditioned car – such a wonderful treat! (wow…this is what my life is here) When we got to the mess, we sat in a reception room, where we were brought soft drinks and snacks. We sat and chatted for a while – Isabel and I talked about Germany and also, very interestingly, about seeing the swastika as such a common symbol here in India. I really enjoyed talking with her. After a while, Pratishtha’s father and two of his comrades joined us. Something I’ve noticed about the culture here is that when superiors or elders enter the room, everyone stands up. It happened when they walked in, and then I noticed that they only shook hands with and asked the names of Abhijeet and Dost (the only men). They acknowledged the rest of us (“namaste”) and then we all sat down. One of the men went around the room asking all of us to give a brief summary of who we are, what we’re doing, and something we like about Benares. After a bit, we went to eat. Pratishtha said she’d remembered to ask the cooks to make the food more bland since I was with them. I still thought it was a little spicy, but manageable. It was really delicious, and I have to agree with something I’ve heard Indians say before, food really does taste better when you eat it with your hands. It was delicious. We had chole bhature (I’m sitting with Sonia and Abhijeet right now, they told me how to spell it) with raita, which had cilantro and onions…I loved it.

After lunch we came back to Nirman and have just been hanging out in the common room (foyer) since we got back. I’ve been working on this entry in word, and Abhijeet just let me borrow his modem to post this. Afternoon tea just arrived :) Sonia always mixes it for us, but gives me extra sugar because she knows I like sweets. I’ve compared her to Wendy from Peter Pan, mothering us all, while Avi, Dost, Abhijeet and I are the lost boys. I’ll be sad when she leaves.

do you like music?

"Do you like music?" Nawal asked me. First, let me say that I smiled, because it was hard to come up with words to accurately describe how important music is to me. As a source of happiness and sanity, music is an indespensible part of my life. All I could tell him, though, was "yes, I love music."

Nawal is a music teacher here at Nirman, and he is working on his Ph.D at the university here in Varanasi. He plays the tabla drums. He is also coming to study in the US this fall, and will be performing at the Ath in October :) When he asked me this question, the two of us were sharing a rickshaw destined for the River Ganga. When we got there, we waited for a few minutes until one of his friends from school arrived, and then the three of us got into a boat to head downriver. The sun was setting, so it was especially beautiful, and, mercifully, a little cool. As we made our way toward the ghat upon which the ceremony was to take place, Nawal and his friend asked me questions about how I was feeling and what I thought of India. I kept telling them that I was good, and that I was enjoying the new experiences. Nawal told me that in his case, as in many others, once you come to study in Varanasi, you don't want to leave. The two pointed out a yellow building on one of the ghats where the said they lived while they were getting their Masters degree. Very cool. We came around a bend and I saw the fires. I mentioned that I'd read about them, and knew what we were going to see. It wasn't as bad as I'd expected, because we weren't very close, but Nawal pointed out a yellow blanket under which a body was lying.

As we got closer, I noticed a ghat upon which hundreds of people were sitting. I wondered if that was where we were headed. Sure enough, the man rowing the boat slowed down as we neared it, and for a few minutes we sat in the water, watching the ceremony. Because I'm still sorting out the camera cord issue, here's a link to another blog showing what I saw. http://travel.paintedstork.com/blog/2006/09/photo-essay-ganga-aarti-at-dasaswamedh.html

After a few minutes, Nawal asked if I wanted to get closer. I said yes, so he instructed the man rowing the boat to take us to the shore. After some deft maneuvering (there were numerous boats sitting off the ghat to watch the ceremony) we got on land, and walked toward the stairs, where we would sit down. Nawal had told me that they were friends with the person who was singing, and the three of us ended up sitting on the musicians platform. It was unreal. I can't really even begin to describe what it was like, except the incense smelled amazing, and the ceremony iself overwhelmed my senses in the most exhilerating but peaceful way. Phenomenal.

When it was close to over, we went back to the boat and returned to where we'd come from. Assi ghat. Nawal and his friend were going to put me on a rickshaw to send me back to Nirman, but I requested that they accompany me, which they did. That was Sunday night. It is now Tuesday morning.

Yesterday I spent the morning dividing my attention between outlining math curriculum for the 3rd grade and trying to get the internet to work, to no avail. Irfana is having me outline the math curriculum from preschool through 5th grade. Right now I'm going through the textbooks and outlining the topics and relevant materials, but once I'm done with that, I have to go back through and write detailed instructions on how to use said materials for each chapter. We'll then work on replicating the materials with supplies that can be found here, and Irfana has assigned my new friend Dost to help me with that.

Dost is a music intern who is here for a month. He and his mom arrived yesterday. They're from Delhi. They are both extremely nice, and Dost has been really considerate of me in that he translates for me when the conversation shifts to Hindi. I was telling Avi the other day that, despite my frustration at the language barrier, I do enjoy listening to people speak Hindi because the cadence of the language is so beautiful. Last night, Dost, his mom, a man who also arrived yesterday (they say he's the manager here, I've been told his name several times but don't remember it - need to see it written down), and I walked back down to the river. We sat there, talked, and observed while the sun was setting. On our way there, when we were walking through Lanka (where the market is), the man took us to a stand, which he said has a following on facebook. He bought us all these sugary, milky yogurt drink things. Mine was tasty, but it was of a consistency that I had trouble drinking quickly. As I was enjoying it, I was telling myself "this is what will make me sick." So far, so good.

On our walk back from the river, Dost and I walked ahead and chatted. We'd spent the afternoon sharing music with each other. He liked some of what I showed him, including the XX and Rocky Votolato. So cool. He showed me some Hindi music, because I'd told him that I enjoy it, and tried to translate some of the lyrics for me.

When we got back to Nirman, the four of us ate dinner together. The food here is spicier than I'm used to eating, but it hasn't been abhorrantly hot. I'm managing just fine, getting used to the whole "eat what's put in front of you or go hungry" concept. Thanks for babying me my whole life, Mom :) It really hasn't been too bad, though I could really go for some chicken or meat of some kind.

I should have started doing my work an hour ago, or at least showered, but I wanted to update the blog since so much has happened in the past couple of days. I'm enjoying myself and the new opportunities I'm having. It's so cool to have watched the sunset from the Ganges two evenings in a row...

getting settled

A lot has happened since I left London. My flight leaving Heathrow was late, and when I arrived in Delhi, my bags took about 45 minutes. Clearing customs took about 3 minutes, and then I got on a bus to go to the domestic terminal. The bus looked like it was probably from the 70s or 80s, and the whole situation really sketched me out. It took about 20 minutes to get less than a mile, and I ended up chatting with a couple of women sitting near me, and a captain who sat behind us. The captain gave me his wife's phone number, in case I need anything. Something I had realized on the plane to Delhi was how far out of my comfort zone I am, but also how much that contributes to the magic of the kindness of strangers. This man reinforced that realization.

When I got to the domestic terminal, I went inside and got in line to get my boarding pass with Kingfisher Airlines. Because my flight had been late, I was cutting it close on time and was pretty stressed about making my flight. Unfortunately, when I got to the front of the line, the agents told me that I wasn't booked for my flight (even though it was on my itenerary!) and the plane left without me. STRESS! So there I was, the awkward white girl crying her eyes out in the Delhi airport, and then the nice captain man from earlier came up to me and asked me what was wrong. He ended up introducing me to his friend who worked at the information desk (she was so nice!!) and buying me an apple juice box. I ended up buying a ticket with Jet Airways that left an hour later, and made it to Varanasi. It was EXTREMELY stressful for about 20 minutes, but overall, drama averted.

When I got to Varanasi, a man from Nirman was waiting for me at the airport. There were tons of men waiting outside the airport, and when I walked out they all stared and whispered. It was overwhelming. The guy from Nirman (who's name I have been told, but need it to be written down in order for me to understand what it actually is) put me in a cab by myself, because he'd motorcycled there. I was stressed and nervous to be cabbing by myself, especially because everyone was looking at me as we drove to Nirman. Eventually my nervousness gave way to an overwhelming sense of astonishment at what I was seeing. Cows chillin by the road, thatched mud huts, burning piles of trash. Everything I'd heard about but had a hard time believing until I was actually here.

Once I arrived at Nirman, I was shown to my room. It's probably 10x12 feet (might be an overestimate) and the concrete walls are painted in festive colors. I was too tired to really be upset about the situation. They then showed me the bathroom. Western style toilet, thank God. Though I am showering out of a bucket, which I didn't think to expect. It's not bad at all, and I actually appreciate how little water gets used. So I dropped my stuff off in my room and went into the office, where I found Professor Kumar and Irfana Majumdar, the person who runs Nirman. I was honestly so excited to find people who spoke English. We chatted for a bit, then I napped. I woke up to a short, harsh-looking but extremely nice Indian lady knocking on my door, she'd brought me tea and a sandwich. Both were difficult to stomach, so I ended up getting rid of most of it. I napped a bit more, and woke up to the same lady bringing me dinner. The heat has pretty much robbed me of my appetite, so I nibbled on some of the naan, but hardly ate anything. I napped a little bit more after that, and then walked to the village with the man who'd picked me up from the airport to get a SIM card. It's nice to have a phone. It's helping mitigate some of the isolation I'd been feeling. However, walking through the village was quite the culture shock. EVERYONE stared at me. Avi made me feel better though, saying it's better to think about it as them being curious rather than creepy. I realize it's just another part of the adventure that I'll get used to, but I did tell Nita that finding Indian clothes for me is a priority in order to detract from my conspicuousness.

I talked to Avi for 20 minutes on the phone before I went to sleep, which was nice. She gets here day after tomorrow. Thank God. I fell asleep around 10pm and woke up at 3am. Having a really hard time getting back to sleep, I listened to some Passion Pit and eventually woke back up at 7:30. I called Hadley and my mom, talked to Sanskriti for about 20 minutes, and unpacked everything. With my room organized, I wrote in my journal for a few minutes and then took a shower. Using a bucket really isn't as bad as it sounds. I'd take wifi over a normal shower any day of the week. I was supposed to go see about lunch 20 minutes ago, and that's about all the news I have for now. Nirman itself is an intriguing compound, the guesthouse also doubles as part of the school. I forgot my cord to connect my camera to my laptop, but am planning on buying one asap so I can share pictures.

getting started

I'm sitting at Heathrow. My flight from Seattle to London was actually really pleasant, minus the fact that I couldn't sleep. I sat next to an Indian couple (fabulous coincidence) who gave me lots of advice about being in India in general as well as how to get a SIM card for my phone once I get there. I was pretty shocked to find out how cheap that will be. They recommended that I wait to buy it until I get to Varanasi, but that I'll want to pay 100 rupees for free roaming (really inexpensive). They also said that, with the best plan, it's only about ten cents a minute to call back to the United States. Finally, they told me which companies to look at and which to avoid. As they were getting off the plane, they asked if I had cash, which I do, but only American. These kind strangers gave me one of each rupee note denomenation, adding up to 670 rupees. They wanted me to have some Indian cash to get started with once I'm there, in case I need a water bottle or something. Super helpful and thoughtful.



I guess since this is my first post, I should mention/ recap what I'm doing. I have a nine week teaching internship with the nonprofit NIRMAN in Varanasi, India. I'm teaching elementary level math in a school which was founded and is run by the organization. It should be meaningful, fun, and rewarding, but I'm starting to get nervous about the task of teaching itself. I'm worried about the discipline and respect issue, because I feel like on the first day of school, I'll be as afraid and aprehensive of my students as they will be of me.



Anyway, it's currently 1:15pm here in foggy London (it's charming...) and I don't leave for Delhi until 5:30pm. Pulling two red eye flights in a row is going to mess with my head. On long flights like these, where I'm going overnight but basically miss part of a day, I feel like time gets suspended and distorted. Like the nine hours I spent on the flight never happened, but then it's suddenly morning. Oh well. That's making me feel like my head is spinning. Also, I'm feeling both exhilerated and overwhelmed by all of the accents and languages I'm hearing around me. It's distracting because it's so different from what I'm used to. Some initial culture shock...and I'm not even in India yet! eek. They gave us two (rather bomb) meals on my last flight, and since the hours are basically the same on my next one, I bet it'll happen again. Cheers to you, British Airways. To keep myself entertained, I watched Invictus (wow, great movie), BBC News, Nowhere Boy, and part of Valentine's Day, and I listened to an amazing genius mix with a lot of Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Death Cab, and the Shins. Most enjoyable...thanks again, Sam, for rescuing my silly ipod.

I'm running out of internet time, so that's basically it. Will suggested that I have people write me letters, so here's the mailing address for NIRMAN:

Pyper Scharer
care of NIRMAN
N-1/70 Nagwa
Varanasi - 221005, U.P.
India

Please write to me! I'll write back. I just heard MGMT playing in a store behind me. Yay for familiarity...but I'm definitely looking forward to new things too!