This was our first essay, fittingly called D.I.E (Describe Interpret Evaluate). That was pretty much all the instruction we got, so I did mine on my experience of tourist at the Taj Mahal.
Introduction
The Taj Mahal (also known as the Taj) is more than just a monument—it is an icon. There are many detailed publications regarding the Taj with much more information than I could adequately cover in the length of this essay. I am not an architecture scholar, and I observed the Taj without any prior historical information. I only spent approximately four hours at the Taj without a notebook—due to security—therefore this essay will provide the basic history and examine my initial observations of the Taj Mahal and its tourists. Tourists go to the Taj Mahal because it is perceived as an essential element in visiting India and a social marker of recognized “things to do before one dies.”
Brief History of the Taj Mahal
While specific dates are disputed, the following account is the basic agreed narrative of the Taj Mahal. Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during the birth of their fourteenth child. Construction of the symmetrical complex began soon after her death and was completed with the help of 20,000 workers approximately twenty years later. The Taj Mahal is made primarily of white marble with inlayed semi-precious stones and sits on the Yamuna River in Agra, India. Shan Jahan planned on constructing an identical monument made of black marble across the Yamuna. However, soon after the Taj Mahal’s completion, Jahan’s son Aurangzeb usurped and imprisoned him until Jahan’s death in 1666. Jahan’s cenotaph is the only element that offsets the Taj Mahal’s symmetry, situated next to his wife’s cenotaph, which is centered under the main dome . In 1983, the Taj Mahal was named a World Heritage site.
Entering the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is open from “sunrise to sunset” and two tickets are required to enter. The Agra Development Association (ADA) ticket purchased at the Taj costs Rs. 500, and provides discounts to other sights in Agra. The ticket to the Taj Mahal itself is Rs. 250, so foreigners must pay Rs. 750 altogether. However, local Indians only need to pay Rs. 20. Long-term visitors with FRRO cards will have no luck trying to get the local price here. With the entrance fee comes a free bottle of water and shoe covers, though no signs point this out and the ticket sellers do not inform visitors.
I heard that sunrise was the best time to see the Taj Mahal because there would be fewer people. I woke up at 5:30 am, checked out of my guesthouse, and arrived at the Taj’s west gate at 6:10 am to catch the 6:30 am sunrise. I was greeted by a large crowd of people—half in line at the gate and the other half in line to purchase tickets—and joined them to wait for the ticket booth to open until well after the sun had firmly established its place in the morning sky. Signs stated that no tobacco, matches, alcohol or food were allowed inside. After obtaining my tickets, I moved to another line at the red gate where men and women were separated to be searched by security. Though the men’s line was twice as long, it moved twice as fast because there were multiple male security check points whereas the women’s line only had one. Once my ticket was checked there were new signs informing visitors that in addition to the previously stated prohibited items, no books or electronic goods were allowed. As I inched closer to the Taj Mahal—hoping they might overlook my journals, iPod and various wires—I saw people turned away from the check point for chargers, books, backpacks and even a pen; it was not looking good for me. Of course I was turned away. Blue signs that said “lockers” pointed to a building with yet another line of people—on the door were handwritten signs saying “Lockers: Rs. 20. Storage: Rs. 10.” After reluctantly paying for my “free storage,” I pushed back through the crowd assuring the glaring eyes I had already been through the line. Over an hour and half after I arrived, I completed my rites of passage to view the Taj Mahal up close.
Past the red gates, the most crowded areas at the Taj Mahal were the gardens along the reflection pool in front of the tomb and inside the actual tomb. The population at the front of the Taj Mahal consisted primarily of amateur photographers and various posers. Some people stood and smiled sweetly, some made peace signs, and some tried to hold the white dome in their palm. Other people formed dams in the flow of human traffic as they posed for group photos. The sides and the back facing the Yamuna were slightly less crowded, but still consistently speckled with people.
The Taj as an Icon of India for Tourists
The relatively high admission price in comparison to other India sites discourages repeated entries and demonstrates the higher value tourists place on seeing the Taj. Higher security reflects the value to India of securing the monument as well as the high volume of people that visit everyday. Tourists view the Taj as an emblem of the country. To visit the Taj is to visit India. Tourists and people “back home” perceive visiting India as incomplete without visiting the Taj. Even at other beautiful sites such as the Agra Fort, the most crowded areas were those in which the Taj could be seen in the distance.
The Taj Mahal is understood as icon. Though I have never been formally taught anything about the Taj Mahal, I could view the detailed Taj in my mind as if I had visited it multiple times. Guidebooks market India with the Taj Mahal’s image and make statements like “who visits India without visiting the Taj?” implying that anyone who does not see the Taj while in India is an anomaly. Other quotes include “You might expect to be disappointed when coming face to face with an icon that is almost an archetype, but nothing can really prepare you for the beauty of the Taj Mahal.” enforcing its assumed majesty and debasing anyone who questions the proliferated adjectives of “ephemeral,” “beautiful,” or “magical.” The Taj Mahal’s image is firmly established in the minds of tourists due to its repeated use in advertisements, photographs, and films. The familiarity of the Taj Mahal through images makes the it an inviting place to visit for tourists dealing with culture shock in a place as unique as India.
Perhaps this assumed familiarity with the Taj Mahal is why the rites of passage to enter the complex came as a surprise. While the Taj’s image is frequently marketed, the entrance process is not. Though the ordeal of entering was not much different from any other task in India, it felt like an exhausting battle because the Taj Mahal felt like something I had a right to as a tourist. By the time I entered I was exhausted, frustrated and sweaty.
Is the Objective Taj Possible?
I believe the importance placed on the Taj Mahal by tourists is due to its global iconography—few things in this world share the Taj Mahal’s popularity with tourists. It is not difficult to understand why the Taj Mahal is seen as an emblem of architectural beauty. Given the massive amounts of precious material used, it is a standard with which anyone can understand it is valuable without understanding its complex artistry.
However, it is impossible to view solely the Taj Mahal due to all the constant tourists. The floating dots in the distance and people snapping photographs are part of the monument, for it is hopeless to expect to view the Taj Mahal without the crowds. Furthermore, due to it iconographic status, it is very difficult to see the Taj Mahal with fresh eyes and to observe its qualities without attaching the established flattering adjectives automatically. When one goes to see the Taj, one has in fact already seen it countless times.
The expectations brought by tourists to the Taj Mahal diminished my experience. Either by feeling entitled to the comfortable familiarity of the Taj Mahal or expecting to be blown away by its beauty, the experience of visiting the Taj Mahal does not always add up to the guidebooks. As a result of the Taj’s hype and popular image, there is immense bandwagon pressure to agree with the perception of the Taj as “amazing.” Though I enjoyed the visual aesthetics of the Taj immensely, a part of me felt disappointed because the experience was built up so much that nothing could fulfill my expectations. I also felt guilty to admit my discontent because of the collective social agreement of its splendor. I suspect that if I was not exposed to the prescribed expectations of the Taj I would have in fact felt all the “majesty” touted without the complex guilt.
People want to visit the Taj Mahal because it is a valuable social marker to a tourist. It is a relatable experience to the tourist’s community back home and an established symbol of visiting the “beauty” of India. The image is so common that the Taj is most likely already seen without ever visiting India. Even so, tourists gladly pay the expensive admission, wait in long lines and struggle with other tourists attempting to snap the same picture in order to physically be in the Taj’s presence.
Conclusion
The Taj Mahal’s basic history reinforces the tourist’s understanding of it as being a magical element in a royal fairy tale. While its value can be easily understood in terms of material used, its value is greatly heightened by repeated use of its imagery, its emblematic status, its marketing and its status among social groups. So was the Taj worth going to? Definitely, but mostly because I wanted to say I went to see the Taj Mahal.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Taj, Mathura, trains and more traveling
Another exciting and eventful week. So last Friday was my first cooking class where I learned homestyle North Indian cooking. We learned about eight recipes of which I can't wait to cook for you! Today we will learn South Indian cooking which is also really yummy and I have never cooked before. Last Friday evening was Rachel's birthday, so we went to an American Diner to have drinks and dinner.
Saturday morning we woke up early to catch a train to Agra. We had a very nice sleeper car on the way there with open windows. While it was a nice car and we were on our way to see the emblem of beauty, we passed two hours of slums. When we arrived in Agra we checked into our very nice hotel, got some lunch and decided to make our way to Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna. We made our way to the bus station, but of course there were no signs letting us know which bus was going to Mathura. We asked at least five times which bus went to Mathura, but each time we went to the bus we were directed to, the bus driver informed us that they weren't going to Mathura. Right as we were about give up I decided to ask one more bus driver who said "yes, Mathura." We piled in the bus and anxiously asked if this in fact was the bus to Mathura. Six boys were telling us that the bus was going to Fatepur Sikri instead. After a bit of arguing, the boys got up to ask the driver and started to walk off the bus. They were on the wrong bus! We felt so proud of ourselves in figuring out how to get where we wanted despite the language barriers. This is struck me as really comforting actually. In India I have been continually reminded that the difficulties one confronts in India is not reserved for tourists alone, Indians have just as many difficulties negotiating as we do. The Indian staff at SIT constantly complain about Rickshaw drivers, and rickshaw stories seem to have replaced the drunken stories the group shares in the morning. After about an hour we passed a sign that said "Mathura" pointing away from where the bus was going. People in the group were convinced we were heading back to Delhi, but fortunately we arrived at a bus station. We were going to go to Vrindavan, but on the way we realized it was too far away and decided to stay in Mathura and go to Vishram Ghats. We made our way to a lovely temple where Krishna is said to have rested after slaying a demon. The temple is on the Yamuna river, and there are steps leading down to the river where people send candles in offerings down the river. We then took a lovely boat ride up and down the river. At the end of the boat ride we saw a ceremony from the river where some priest held a bowl of fire in the middle of a group of people chanting and clapping. The energy swelled as we all sat in awe and silence, and as soon as it was over it dropped and everyone dispersed. It was such a magical moment. On the way back, all seven of us piled into a rickshaw (which normally seats three uncomfortably), and five minutes later the rickshaw got a flat tire. We all promptly rushed out and fled the scene. Making it to the train station we bought tickets, asked many times which was our right train and car. Fifty minutes into our 60 minute train ride a conductor came to collect our tickets and informed us that we were in the wrong car. He asked us to pay 100 rupees extra each, I protested and told him we would just move to the other lower class car, and then three large men with large rifles came hovering over us. We all took out our wallets and paid the difference, made it home by 12:30 and fell asleep promptly in anticipation for our sunrise meeting with the Taj Mahal.
In the morning we woke up at 5:30 to see the Taj at sunrise, what we had heard was the best time. In short, there was a long frusterating process to get into the Taj that I will spare you, but it involved being shocked to find out that along with food, matches, tobacco alchol being prohibited, so were books and any sort of electronics (besides a camera). Since we had checked out of our hotel, this was a problem. I wrote an essay on the ordeal which I will post on my blog if interested. The Taj was indeed beautifully stunning, though it was really strange to face this icon I am so familiar with. I found myself feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and homesickness there, I am still not sure why. I have been explaining it to myself that I do not know the group well yet, and while I am enjoying them, at an icon such as the Taj I really wanted to SHARE it with you, the people I love. Anyways, after we had a yummy and really cheap lunch which we returned to for dinner, thanks to lonely planet, and squeezed NINE people in a tiny trike/rickshaw, we have gotten pretty good at doing the clown car thing to save money. We went to agra fort which was also beautiful, though the most crowded areas were the places where you could see the Taj in the distance. The train ride back was the last test. We were in a general seating car with reserved seats. However when we arrived, our (three of us who were sharing a bench/seat) seat was occupied by a woman with three children under the age of 3. The aisles were incredibly crowded, there was no room for us to stand with our bags, so we told her that these were our seats. She got up and wanderded a bit, and eventually the children were being crushed under the large masses of people. We each offered to hold a child in our lap until the whole thing got settled, so we sat in a crowded train with people hanging over us, with three babies on our laps for over an hour until who I assume was her husband found her another seat. During this time we also got "blessed" by a passing Eunch who was rather upset we didn't pay her. Exhausted once again, we got home and fell asleep, only to get up for yoga at 6 am the next day at school.
School has been surprisingly difficult, I am still working on not letting it get to me, and I am getting there. I started Bharatnatyam classes on Monday with a man named Shantanu. He is a really good teacher and I am glad I am keeping up with my practice. Yesterday we went shopping for Saris with our homestay mother, it was a lot of fun. Mama made sure that we weren't overcharged and bargined for us which took so much of the stress out of it. We were simply shown color after color to our liking and then stood back and paid. For a full new outfit including Sari, new shoes, matching tika, bangles (3 dozen!), earings, pettiecoat, hand-made tailors blouse, and bindi, I paid about $33. I chose a really nice sheer black Sari with a deep red border/ embrodered gold detail, Wes colors! I am excited to wear the full thing and I will take lots of pictures I promise. Katherine got a really nice green one. Tomorrow we start another long adventure, we go to Gwalior, Orrcha, Khajuraho, and the Tiger Sanctuary! Then we take an overnight train back to Delhi, and in the morning we need to get all hennaed up and get ready for the wedding in the evening.
I am sorry this is the bare bones of description. Internet is very spotty here and the time seems to disappear quickly with all the work. It will likely not be until I get back from next week's excursion until my next e-mail, but to hold you over till then is this long post, my essay and more pictures added to at
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/midnightdiamond/MySemesterInTheLandOfDjinns#
Much love to you all, homesickness is setting in. I love you and miss you all.
Saturday morning we woke up early to catch a train to Agra. We had a very nice sleeper car on the way there with open windows. While it was a nice car and we were on our way to see the emblem of beauty, we passed two hours of slums. When we arrived in Agra we checked into our very nice hotel, got some lunch and decided to make our way to Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna. We made our way to the bus station, but of course there were no signs letting us know which bus was going to Mathura. We asked at least five times which bus went to Mathura, but each time we went to the bus we were directed to, the bus driver informed us that they weren't going to Mathura. Right as we were about give up I decided to ask one more bus driver who said "yes, Mathura." We piled in the bus and anxiously asked if this in fact was the bus to Mathura. Six boys were telling us that the bus was going to Fatepur Sikri instead. After a bit of arguing, the boys got up to ask the driver and started to walk off the bus. They were on the wrong bus! We felt so proud of ourselves in figuring out how to get where we wanted despite the language barriers. This is struck me as really comforting actually. In India I have been continually reminded that the difficulties one confronts in India is not reserved for tourists alone, Indians have just as many difficulties negotiating as we do. The Indian staff at SIT constantly complain about Rickshaw drivers, and rickshaw stories seem to have replaced the drunken stories the group shares in the morning. After about an hour we passed a sign that said "Mathura" pointing away from where the bus was going. People in the group were convinced we were heading back to Delhi, but fortunately we arrived at a bus station. We were going to go to Vrindavan, but on the way we realized it was too far away and decided to stay in Mathura and go to Vishram Ghats. We made our way to a lovely temple where Krishna is said to have rested after slaying a demon. The temple is on the Yamuna river, and there are steps leading down to the river where people send candles in offerings down the river. We then took a lovely boat ride up and down the river. At the end of the boat ride we saw a ceremony from the river where some priest held a bowl of fire in the middle of a group of people chanting and clapping. The energy swelled as we all sat in awe and silence, and as soon as it was over it dropped and everyone dispersed. It was such a magical moment. On the way back, all seven of us piled into a rickshaw (which normally seats three uncomfortably), and five minutes later the rickshaw got a flat tire. We all promptly rushed out and fled the scene. Making it to the train station we bought tickets, asked many times which was our right train and car. Fifty minutes into our 60 minute train ride a conductor came to collect our tickets and informed us that we were in the wrong car. He asked us to pay 100 rupees extra each, I protested and told him we would just move to the other lower class car, and then three large men with large rifles came hovering over us. We all took out our wallets and paid the difference, made it home by 12:30 and fell asleep promptly in anticipation for our sunrise meeting with the Taj Mahal.
In the morning we woke up at 5:30 to see the Taj at sunrise, what we had heard was the best time. In short, there was a long frusterating process to get into the Taj that I will spare you, but it involved being shocked to find out that along with food, matches, tobacco alchol being prohibited, so were books and any sort of electronics (besides a camera). Since we had checked out of our hotel, this was a problem. I wrote an essay on the ordeal which I will post on my blog if interested. The Taj was indeed beautifully stunning, though it was really strange to face this icon I am so familiar with. I found myself feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and homesickness there, I am still not sure why. I have been explaining it to myself that I do not know the group well yet, and while I am enjoying them, at an icon such as the Taj I really wanted to SHARE it with you, the people I love. Anyways, after we had a yummy and really cheap lunch which we returned to for dinner, thanks to lonely planet, and squeezed NINE people in a tiny trike/rickshaw, we have gotten pretty good at doing the clown car thing to save money. We went to agra fort which was also beautiful, though the most crowded areas were the places where you could see the Taj in the distance. The train ride back was the last test. We were in a general seating car with reserved seats. However when we arrived, our (three of us who were sharing a bench/seat) seat was occupied by a woman with three children under the age of 3. The aisles were incredibly crowded, there was no room for us to stand with our bags, so we told her that these were our seats. She got up and wanderded a bit, and eventually the children were being crushed under the large masses of people. We each offered to hold a child in our lap until the whole thing got settled, so we sat in a crowded train with people hanging over us, with three babies on our laps for over an hour until who I assume was her husband found her another seat. During this time we also got "blessed" by a passing Eunch who was rather upset we didn't pay her. Exhausted once again, we got home and fell asleep, only to get up for yoga at 6 am the next day at school.
School has been surprisingly difficult, I am still working on not letting it get to me, and I am getting there. I started Bharatnatyam classes on Monday with a man named Shantanu. He is a really good teacher and I am glad I am keeping up with my practice. Yesterday we went shopping for Saris with our homestay mother, it was a lot of fun. Mama made sure that we weren't overcharged and bargined for us which took so much of the stress out of it. We were simply shown color after color to our liking and then stood back and paid. For a full new outfit including Sari, new shoes, matching tika, bangles (3 dozen!), earings, pettiecoat, hand-made tailors blouse, and bindi, I paid about $33. I chose a really nice sheer black Sari with a deep red border/ embrodered gold detail, Wes colors! I am excited to wear the full thing and I will take lots of pictures I promise. Katherine got a really nice green one. Tomorrow we start another long adventure, we go to Gwalior, Orrcha, Khajuraho, and the Tiger Sanctuary! Then we take an overnight train back to Delhi, and in the morning we need to get all hennaed up and get ready for the wedding in the evening.
I am sorry this is the bare bones of description. Internet is very spotty here and the time seems to disappear quickly with all the work. It will likely not be until I get back from next week's excursion until my next e-mail, but to hold you over till then is this long post, my essay and more pictures added to at
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/midnightdiamond/MySemesterInTheLandOfDjinns#
Much love to you all, homesickness is setting in. I love you and miss you all.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Reflections
Our academic director (Storm-Ji) keeps telling us that the highs are higher and the lows are lower in India. I have to to admit that I have pretty much just been enjoying the highs of stimulation as a result of India herself. I think a lot of this is due to the very privileged upper-class experience I am getting. Everyday I take taxis (rickshaws) and not public transportation. We are staying with upper/ middle class families and rather sheltered from the difficult logistics. I feel at times I am not seeing the "real India," like I am not really making any Indian friends or doing anything other than what a privileged upper-class Indian would do. I suppose this is the program I signed up for, and I am enjoying it immensely. I suppose I am just trying to be aware of the conditions of which I am enjoying myself and how that might be coloring my perception of India. The moments which have been challenging have been familiar difficulties, such as being over charged, trying to make friends and being concerned with academics.
Being overcharged comes with being a tourist and becomes easier as I learn what correct prices are (though money always makes me nervous). I am making friends and feeling more included in the group. I made a last second decision to not go to Jaipur and instead go with everyone else to Agra to see the grand Taj Mahal. I decided that I would feel like an idiot if I didn't see the Taj after coming all the way to India, it is close to the full moon, it seemed fitting to go to the monument of love on Valentines Day, it is a friend's birthday today and I wanted to make sure I was there to celebrate, Agra is a much shorter journey than Jaipur from Delhi, there wasn't much in Jaipur itself besides an exorcism temple that really excited me, just a lot of shopping...and well in short it just felt intuitively much better to go to Agra than Jaipur. We will be leaving Saturday morning and then coming back Sunday evening.
So classes have started, and as usual I am insecure about them. I feel like I finally got to the place of feeling comfortable with Wesleyan Academics, I know how it works there and what to expect and how to manage myself. However this is a whole new set of standards (rather high actually), and criteria. I am trying to remind myself of all my friend's advice, to enjoy the place and not be concerned about work. However I find myself spending from 5-11:30 every night doing homework and still feeling rather dumb in class. Perhaps this will change, I hope so. If not, I realized that this will be the shortest academic semester ever. We JUST started classes on Tuesday, and we are done with finals on April 4th. Then we have 1 month to write 1 20 page paper. We have about 2 full weeks of excursions and one week of exams which leaves only about four weeks of classes left as of today...whoa...
I have my ISP ideas narrowed down to two: Tara and Gangotri pilgrimage. Tara would be an interesting self exploration since I could compare the compassionate Buddhist Tara and the Hindu Tara which is closer to Kali. However as of this very moment (and it changes about every 10 seconds), I am leaning towards Gangotri. I am thinking about researching the myths that take place along this pilgrimage and how they manifest in the location themselves. For example Ganesha was born in Doti Tal, the Pandavas with Draupadi followed this same route at the end of the Mahabharata for salvation, Hanuman came to a certain spot looking for the herbs to revive Rama, and in another town Ganga drowned her first seven children until her 8th she let live and he grew up to be Bhishma of the Mahabharata. I want to see how these sites acknowledge their mythic location. Is there a sign saying "this is where this happened"? Are there temples? Pieces of art that tell the story? Does the story rest only in the villagers or pilgrims minds? We'll see if this fascination stays. While many other ideas are still very interesting to me, I have to admit the idea of getting nice and fit by hiking a trek is rather appealing after eating all this amazing food all the time.
I found a Bharatnatyam teacher who is a Nationally renowned dancer. I start classes with him on Monday and I'm really excited. Yesterday Kathrine and I met Mama's nephew, and he invited us to a wedding!!! Many of our classmates are going to weddings (it is wedding season right now), and so we got sooooo excited! Next week when we get back from Agra we will be buying Saris with matching bangles, shoes and jewelry, as well as getting henna tattoos on our hands in preparation. I will be quite a hectic end of Feb. Next week we have classes again, but the week after we go to Gwalior and Orrcha to see the magnificent forts, then Khajuraho to see the temples with all the kama-sutra carvings on them and learn about tantraism. Then we go to Bandhvgarh to see the tigers! We come back on an overnight train and arrive on Feb 27th and then spend the day getting ready for the wedding!
I guess things are becoming even more normalized so there is less to report. Here are some little tidbits though. Soha (the servant in our homestay) is a really beautiful girl from Darjeeling. She is also a fantastic cook, her food is light and bursting with flavor, I keep saying I want to learn but I keep doing homework instead...this should change. She also always has the most amazing smile on her face. I realized that i really like that it is just gals living in this apartment. We spent so much time in orientation learning about cultural norms and formalities, and I feel a lot isn't applicable when there are no men present, It makes a much more comfortable and relaxing home environment. Outside however there is a man that yells periodically all afternoon. From the best Katherine and I can figure out is he goes around the neighborhood selling something, however we have never seen this guy nor been able to decipher what he is yelling, we just seem to chuckle whenever we hear him now. One strange observation...everyone's snot here is black, this is how much pollution we are constantly breathing, another reason I want to escape to the mountains for the ISP. I have just been so busy these days that I find myself just wanting to sit and do nothing, but there is just so much to do.
Thank you all for replying to me. I really do miss you, that has been far been the lowest low, not being able to regularly communicate with you. While this is an amazing experience thus far, nothing replaces spending time with you. I love hearing what you are all up to, from eating a yummy snack to watching a good movie or anything!
Much love always
Being overcharged comes with being a tourist and becomes easier as I learn what correct prices are (though money always makes me nervous). I am making friends and feeling more included in the group. I made a last second decision to not go to Jaipur and instead go with everyone else to Agra to see the grand Taj Mahal. I decided that I would feel like an idiot if I didn't see the Taj after coming all the way to India, it is close to the full moon, it seemed fitting to go to the monument of love on Valentines Day, it is a friend's birthday today and I wanted to make sure I was there to celebrate, Agra is a much shorter journey than Jaipur from Delhi, there wasn't much in Jaipur itself besides an exorcism temple that really excited me, just a lot of shopping...and well in short it just felt intuitively much better to go to Agra than Jaipur. We will be leaving Saturday morning and then coming back Sunday evening.
So classes have started, and as usual I am insecure about them. I feel like I finally got to the place of feeling comfortable with Wesleyan Academics, I know how it works there and what to expect and how to manage myself. However this is a whole new set of standards (rather high actually), and criteria. I am trying to remind myself of all my friend's advice, to enjoy the place and not be concerned about work. However I find myself spending from 5-11:30 every night doing homework and still feeling rather dumb in class. Perhaps this will change, I hope so. If not, I realized that this will be the shortest academic semester ever. We JUST started classes on Tuesday, and we are done with finals on April 4th. Then we have 1 month to write 1 20 page paper. We have about 2 full weeks of excursions and one week of exams which leaves only about four weeks of classes left as of today...whoa...
I have my ISP ideas narrowed down to two: Tara and Gangotri pilgrimage. Tara would be an interesting self exploration since I could compare the compassionate Buddhist Tara and the Hindu Tara which is closer to Kali. However as of this very moment (and it changes about every 10 seconds), I am leaning towards Gangotri. I am thinking about researching the myths that take place along this pilgrimage and how they manifest in the location themselves. For example Ganesha was born in Doti Tal, the Pandavas with Draupadi followed this same route at the end of the Mahabharata for salvation, Hanuman came to a certain spot looking for the herbs to revive Rama, and in another town Ganga drowned her first seven children until her 8th she let live and he grew up to be Bhishma of the Mahabharata. I want to see how these sites acknowledge their mythic location. Is there a sign saying "this is where this happened"? Are there temples? Pieces of art that tell the story? Does the story rest only in the villagers or pilgrims minds? We'll see if this fascination stays. While many other ideas are still very interesting to me, I have to admit the idea of getting nice and fit by hiking a trek is rather appealing after eating all this amazing food all the time.
I found a Bharatnatyam teacher who is a Nationally renowned dancer. I start classes with him on Monday and I'm really excited. Yesterday Kathrine and I met Mama's nephew, and he invited us to a wedding!!! Many of our classmates are going to weddings (it is wedding season right now), and so we got sooooo excited! Next week when we get back from Agra we will be buying Saris with matching bangles, shoes and jewelry, as well as getting henna tattoos on our hands in preparation. I will be quite a hectic end of Feb. Next week we have classes again, but the week after we go to Gwalior and Orrcha to see the magnificent forts, then Khajuraho to see the temples with all the kama-sutra carvings on them and learn about tantraism. Then we go to Bandhvgarh to see the tigers! We come back on an overnight train and arrive on Feb 27th and then spend the day getting ready for the wedding!
I guess things are becoming even more normalized so there is less to report. Here are some little tidbits though. Soha (the servant in our homestay) is a really beautiful girl from Darjeeling. She is also a fantastic cook, her food is light and bursting with flavor, I keep saying I want to learn but I keep doing homework instead...this should change. She also always has the most amazing smile on her face. I realized that i really like that it is just gals living in this apartment. We spent so much time in orientation learning about cultural norms and formalities, and I feel a lot isn't applicable when there are no men present, It makes a much more comfortable and relaxing home environment. Outside however there is a man that yells periodically all afternoon. From the best Katherine and I can figure out is he goes around the neighborhood selling something, however we have never seen this guy nor been able to decipher what he is yelling, we just seem to chuckle whenever we hear him now. One strange observation...everyone's snot here is black, this is how much pollution we are constantly breathing, another reason I want to escape to the mountains for the ISP. I have just been so busy these days that I find myself just wanting to sit and do nothing, but there is just so much to do.
Thank you all for replying to me. I really do miss you, that has been far been the lowest low, not being able to regularly communicate with you. While this is an amazing experience thus far, nothing replaces spending time with you. I love hearing what you are all up to, from eating a yummy snack to watching a good movie or anything!
Much love always
Monday, February 9, 2009
Homestay, Rickshaws, Amritsar, missing you and more
So warning, as of Saturday at 2 am I will have spent a week here, and it feels like I have been here forever, so this will be a really really long e-mail of all kinds of updates.
I was going to start with the most recent a move backwards, but I have been composing this e-mail over many days, so forgive me, there will be a significant amount of jumping around.
Thursday, a girl named Katharine from Kenyon (who happened to also be my roommate in the Ashram) and I met our home stay mother. I cannot remember her name right now because she instructed us to call her "mama." She lives alone with her domestic help (Soha), and is quite a spritely, energetic and loving old lady. She is from Kashmir and speaks English very well, though I suspect that Katherine and I will have lots of opportunities to practice our Hindi. She lives in a fantastic part of town, right next to a big market called Laj Pat Nagar, where there is everything from open air markets, to upscale boutiques, internet cafes (don't know where exactly yet), cinemas (so excited to see a bollywood film!), Coffee houses (way better than starbucks), and more. It is about a 20min rickshaw ride from our school, and I'll tell you more about the rickshaws in a bit. Mama is a very religious woman (Hindu), with a sweet little domestic temple in the corner of the house with Rama, Sita and Laksmana statues with additions of Hanuman and Ganehsa. We are required to pray to the temple before we leave every day so that the gods will protect us. I am excited to hear more stories of the gods as our stay continues. Mama is very supportive of our ambitions to learn to cook. Friday morning we had Indian french toast, I can't wait to learn how to make everything! She is also excited to teach us kashmiry cooking. Her house is quite nice, middleclass and grandma-ish. Katherine and i have a room we share with a bathroom. When we first arrived, we desperately needed to do a laundry since we hadn't had an opportunity since we arrived. We were told that our homestays will either have the servants do the laundry or have a dobi that will come and do it for us. When we told mama we needed to do a laundry, she provided us with some buckets, some soap and a little footstool to sit on. We got our arms elbow deep into the "culture" and washed all our clothes, then brought them upstairs on the roof to dry. I bet Katherine and I will be expert hand-washers by the time we leave. I have to say that I have become really fond of bucket baths since hot water doesn't seem to come out of the shower head. Yet on the flip side, it makes washing my long thick hair rather difficult.
Thursday we had to choose our "practica," our extra circulars. I was planning on taking dance but they didn't offer it this year, I am still trying to find a good teacher that perhaps I can take independent lessons with. They offered to us, Tabla (drums), Sitar, heritage walks around Delhi, yoga, manubanhi painting, pottery, Indian magic, and cooking. Though the all were intriguing, I settled on cooking.
Wednesday we had half of the day off, so in the afternoon I went with some people from SIT to Kahn market. It was an interesting place. Lots of typical small shops and street vendors, but then there was sprinkled in the alleyways these posh galleries with modern art on the walls and air conditioning. The doors to these places had to be knocked on, and then a security guard inside with unlock the door and let us in, and then again out when we were ready. From there we went to Lodi gardens, a beautiful open gardens with tombs and temples. I have a few pictures from here I will try to get up, internet has been limited. Here there was also a labyrinth of roses, and other nooks and crannies we explored. Lodi gardens has lots of courting couples around, lounging on the grass, sitting on benches, etc. It was very cute. Later we all met up at a nice restaurant in cannought place (another market area). On the way back, we took auto rickshaws back to the ashram. Let me preface this with the fact that I have had quite a few good experiences with rickshaws and that they will continue to be the main mode of transportation to and from class as well as around Delhi, these are just two stories of a less than good experience. So on the way back, we found a driver who accepted our price (we have to negotiate a price before we get in since the meters almost never work), and soon after getting in, we realized that this driver was pretty drunk. Rickshaw rides are kinda like a carnival ride, weaving in and out of traffic, but this one was a but a bit more than usual. Fortunately we were all fine, the most amusing and culturally strange moment was when he decided to pull over on the side of a busy road, and take a piss, and then stumble back in to take us to our ashram. At least we there were three of us together (including a boy which made us feel a lot more comfortable), that could laugh about it. My next rickshaw story was a bit overwhelming.
On Friday, almost everyone had to register with the government as stipulated by their visas, but for whatever reason I didn't need to. So on Friday I met Agni (Abe), and got to see the main bazaar and Old Delhi, both of which are far dirtier and more crowded than South New Delhi. It was really nice to see Agni, though far too short. Thinking I should get home before dark I got into a rickshaw and told him to take me to Laj Pat Nagar near the Mujen Hospital. At a stoplight a beggar child came up begging for money. We had been taught during orientation that the child beggars are almost always linked to what is like the begging mafia here, they get the children addicted to drugs and use them to beg because they get more money and require basically pimp them out. If anyone has seen Slumdog Millionaire (which they are very proud of here, the soundtrack is played all the time on the radio), they depict the begging scene explicitly. So in short, it is better to give them food and not money or things they can sell. So I have been carrying around candy to give to the children or pregnant women I see. I offered this child some candy, and of course he kept begging for money. Soon three more children came, two of which got into the rickshaw with me. Placing their heads on my knees and tugging on my Dupati (my long scarf). I was really overwhelmed at them invading my space like this, it would be like a beggar in New york jumping into the taxi with you. I tried to ignore them at first clutching my purse, and then I tried to push them out. Then a swarm of about 12 children came and surrounded the rickshaw, ranging from I would guess three to ten, one was also holding an infant, all with their hands in my face. I went to hand out the remainder of my candy, but they snatched the entire candy bag away from me, and the rest of the children continued to beg. At this point the rickshaw driver started to hit the children which wasn't making them leave and just stressing me out more. Thank goodness the light finally changed and we left the children behind. I learned from that experience to only give things out as you are driving away, or only if I am in a car I can lock to doors in. Soon after the driver needed to get gas, so I had to wait at the gas station for about 10 min, and by this time it was dark. Finally we drove and "arrived," but when he stopped I didn't recognize where I was. Granted, at this time I had only been to my homestay's house for a night, but I was at the emergency room at the hospital, and I had no idea where I was. I told the driver this wasn't where I asked to be dropped off, he gestured for me to walk across this dark area to get to where I want, I yelled, "NO YOU take me where I told you to drop me off!" His English was poor, and I got to the point of arguing (even not paying the agreed price) that I was worried even if I go back in the rickshaw he would take me somewhere even worse. So i got out and asked the security guard how to get to Laj Pat Nagar, he pointed in the same direction, through a dark alley/construction site. I couldn't really call Mama, she is a grandmother and wouldn't probably know where to find me or give me directions, and Kathrine didn't know the area herself. So I just put up all my shields, got through it and found myself in a familiar area, though still not sure where I was. Long story short, I wandered around for about 30 min until I finally found the house, tired and a little shook up from my first culture shock experience in India.
Saturday morning at 5:45 am (right as my body is finally starting to adjust), we caught a six hour train to Amritsar, a city on the boarder of Pakistan with the holiest Sikh temple, the Golden Temple. The first, I would guess three hours, of the train ride, there was a teenager with his laptop that played the same three backstreet boys songs, over and over and over and over again. Every time there was a pause I would think, "thank god..." and just then it would start again. Finally the program director (Storm-ji) asked him to stop. Amritsar was interesting. We went to the college campus where we had a lovely performance of singing and Banga dancing (a folk dance of which many Bollywood moves are derived from). We had our first experience of being "foreign celebrities" where the student asked to take pictures with us and of us. In the president's office he went around asking where everyone was from, I said that i go to school in Connecticut, and he asked if my parents were Indian and I was from India. I thought he was joking, so I laughed and said politely that my mother is Chinese and my Father Jewish. I found out later that he thought I was from the North East. I have sort of noticed that people don't stare at me as much as the others. It was pretty funny that at the Golden Temple, there were many snuk photographs of Indians inching as close as they could get to the people in my group and a friend nearby to quickly snap the photo. Either I am bad at noticing when this happens to me or it simply doesn't happen to me. I am taking it as a compliment though, that people just think I belong here! The temple was really stunning though, a gold plated building in the middle of a huge tank (of holy water), with the surrounding structures, walls and floors made of beautiful cool marble inlayed with intricate tessellations and designs. When entering most temples in India, you must remove your shoes. I was really impressed with how clean it was considering people were all walking around barefoot. People bathe in the tank, and it is seen similarly to the holy powers of the Ganges, it is thought to wash away all sins and help cure people. We saw their holy book get put to sleep in an ornate palanquin, as the gold temple shimmered in the night light, and then in the day (on Sunday) we saw it glisten in the sunlight. We got to see the massive kitchens. Part of Sikhism temples is that everyone who comes can be fed, we were told 60,000 people were fed each day. The temple was really just stunning, I wish I could have stayed longer to do some interesting people watching, though I felt a little intrusive just because I know so little about Sikhism and this was obviously such a powerful place for the Sikh (pronounced "sick") people.
The rest of Amritsar was less interesting and our tour guide was rather un-organized. This was an interesting weekend for me. I felt a little sad on Saturday, for it was Sara's birthday, but I didn't have access to the internet so I couldn't contact anyone who knew her and because it was such a rigorous schedule that day, I wasn't able to seek out my tradition of having something special and sweet to celebrate the sweetness she brought into my life. I guess I was just feeling pretty lonely. I am still getting to know people, and I didn't feel like I knew anyone well enough to share that with them. Furthermore cliques are forming and I frequently find myself on the outside of circles. While I am very open to making friends, I really don't want to spend a lot of energy trying to impress or work my way into groups here, I am here to experience India, I have lots of friends I love and miss, and this is only for a semester, however this is also a bit of a lonely path and is requiring me to pull on my internal resources for comfort. I think on the train I started to feel homesick and thinking that my honeymoon with India was over. However sometime in the evening (after having a pretty bad meal in a really stingy place that a lot of people got sick from), I was able to open up to a girl named Miriam, who insisted that for breakfast we find something sweet to celebrate Sara. Our search didn't manifest until the afternoon when we had a fantastic equivalent of a mocha frappacino (but way better), that made both of our days. I am really grateful for Miriam, and as soon as I felt like I had her as a friend my honeymoon with India was back and I loved the group again. I was yet another gentle lesson that all things pass. However this little episode got me reflecting that I think it is really hard to make friends and adjust to this whole new culture and country. Like I know the support is there, but it also feels like it has to be created and molded before it can be used.
I think I will be traveling to Jaipur next weekend and save Agra for the next time. I have been trying to narrow down ideas for my ISP, but there is just so much I am interested in. I trying to find something up north so I don't have to be in 120 degree heat the whole time, I would like to have a practica component, and I am interested in goddesses, feminine sexuality, cooking, film, tantric art, mandalas, sacred geometry, and myth in general...I know I can't have it all. A lead I am currently looking into is the sacred pilgrimage to the source of the Ganges to look that the symbolism of the ancient goddess that embodies the symbolism of India herself (there is also a nice hot spring once you reach the top). And I also read an interesting article about "Hindie" films (Hindi+Indie) and the rise of the Indie industry here which might make a fascinating study. I am still interested in cooking, but I think i have decided not to make a film since I still have to write a 20-40 page paper, and I don't think I can feasibly make a quality film and write a quality paper in that amount of time with travel and research.
Ok...after a long few days I am glad to be back in Delhi, back at my homestay. I look forward to eating salads and fresh fruit on the breezy roof of the program center, and petting Cushie (the Great Dane dog who is very cuddly). I still have so much more to say, about how I realize what a privileged upper-class experience I am getting, about all the new clothes I got, about my crazy dreams I have been having, but I think this is more than enough for now. I am sorting through my photos and will get them up soon, and I am sure I will have more to write in no time.
Much love always,
I was going to start with the most recent a move backwards, but I have been composing this e-mail over many days, so forgive me, there will be a significant amount of jumping around.
Thursday, a girl named Katharine from Kenyon (who happened to also be my roommate in the Ashram) and I met our home stay mother. I cannot remember her name right now because she instructed us to call her "mama." She lives alone with her domestic help (Soha), and is quite a spritely, energetic and loving old lady. She is from Kashmir and speaks English very well, though I suspect that Katherine and I will have lots of opportunities to practice our Hindi. She lives in a fantastic part of town, right next to a big market called Laj Pat Nagar, where there is everything from open air markets, to upscale boutiques, internet cafes (don't know where exactly yet), cinemas (so excited to see a bollywood film!), Coffee houses (way better than starbucks), and more. It is about a 20min rickshaw ride from our school, and I'll tell you more about the rickshaws in a bit. Mama is a very religious woman (Hindu), with a sweet little domestic temple in the corner of the house with Rama, Sita and Laksmana statues with additions of Hanuman and Ganehsa. We are required to pray to the temple before we leave every day so that the gods will protect us. I am excited to hear more stories of the gods as our stay continues. Mama is very supportive of our ambitions to learn to cook. Friday morning we had Indian french toast, I can't wait to learn how to make everything! She is also excited to teach us kashmiry cooking. Her house is quite nice, middleclass and grandma-ish. Katherine and i have a room we share with a bathroom. When we first arrived, we desperately needed to do a laundry since we hadn't had an opportunity since we arrived. We were told that our homestays will either have the servants do the laundry or have a dobi that will come and do it for us. When we told mama we needed to do a laundry, she provided us with some buckets, some soap and a little footstool to sit on. We got our arms elbow deep into the "culture" and washed all our clothes, then brought them upstairs on the roof to dry. I bet Katherine and I will be expert hand-washers by the time we leave. I have to say that I have become really fond of bucket baths since hot water doesn't seem to come out of the shower head. Yet on the flip side, it makes washing my long thick hair rather difficult.
Thursday we had to choose our "practica," our extra circulars. I was planning on taking dance but they didn't offer it this year, I am still trying to find a good teacher that perhaps I can take independent lessons with. They offered to us, Tabla (drums), Sitar, heritage walks around Delhi, yoga, manubanhi painting, pottery, Indian magic, and cooking. Though the all were intriguing, I settled on cooking.
Wednesday we had half of the day off, so in the afternoon I went with some people from SIT to Kahn market. It was an interesting place. Lots of typical small shops and street vendors, but then there was sprinkled in the alleyways these posh galleries with modern art on the walls and air conditioning. The doors to these places had to be knocked on, and then a security guard inside with unlock the door and let us in, and then again out when we were ready. From there we went to Lodi gardens, a beautiful open gardens with tombs and temples. I have a few pictures from here I will try to get up, internet has been limited. Here there was also a labyrinth of roses, and other nooks and crannies we explored. Lodi gardens has lots of courting couples around, lounging on the grass, sitting on benches, etc. It was very cute. Later we all met up at a nice restaurant in cannought place (another market area). On the way back, we took auto rickshaws back to the ashram. Let me preface this with the fact that I have had quite a few good experiences with rickshaws and that they will continue to be the main mode of transportation to and from class as well as around Delhi, these are just two stories of a less than good experience. So on the way back, we found a driver who accepted our price (we have to negotiate a price before we get in since the meters almost never work), and soon after getting in, we realized that this driver was pretty drunk. Rickshaw rides are kinda like a carnival ride, weaving in and out of traffic, but this one was a but a bit more than usual. Fortunately we were all fine, the most amusing and culturally strange moment was when he decided to pull over on the side of a busy road, and take a piss, and then stumble back in to take us to our ashram. At least we there were three of us together (including a boy which made us feel a lot more comfortable), that could laugh about it. My next rickshaw story was a bit overwhelming.
On Friday, almost everyone had to register with the government as stipulated by their visas, but for whatever reason I didn't need to. So on Friday I met Agni (Abe), and got to see the main bazaar and Old Delhi, both of which are far dirtier and more crowded than South New Delhi. It was really nice to see Agni, though far too short. Thinking I should get home before dark I got into a rickshaw and told him to take me to Laj Pat Nagar near the Mujen Hospital. At a stoplight a beggar child came up begging for money. We had been taught during orientation that the child beggars are almost always linked to what is like the begging mafia here, they get the children addicted to drugs and use them to beg because they get more money and require basically pimp them out. If anyone has seen Slumdog Millionaire (which they are very proud of here, the soundtrack is played all the time on the radio), they depict the begging scene explicitly. So in short, it is better to give them food and not money or things they can sell. So I have been carrying around candy to give to the children or pregnant women I see. I offered this child some candy, and of course he kept begging for money. Soon three more children came, two of which got into the rickshaw with me. Placing their heads on my knees and tugging on my Dupati (my long scarf). I was really overwhelmed at them invading my space like this, it would be like a beggar in New york jumping into the taxi with you. I tried to ignore them at first clutching my purse, and then I tried to push them out. Then a swarm of about 12 children came and surrounded the rickshaw, ranging from I would guess three to ten, one was also holding an infant, all with their hands in my face. I went to hand out the remainder of my candy, but they snatched the entire candy bag away from me, and the rest of the children continued to beg. At this point the rickshaw driver started to hit the children which wasn't making them leave and just stressing me out more. Thank goodness the light finally changed and we left the children behind. I learned from that experience to only give things out as you are driving away, or only if I am in a car I can lock to doors in. Soon after the driver needed to get gas, so I had to wait at the gas station for about 10 min, and by this time it was dark. Finally we drove and "arrived," but when he stopped I didn't recognize where I was. Granted, at this time I had only been to my homestay's house for a night, but I was at the emergency room at the hospital, and I had no idea where I was. I told the driver this wasn't where I asked to be dropped off, he gestured for me to walk across this dark area to get to where I want, I yelled, "NO YOU take me where I told you to drop me off!" His English was poor, and I got to the point of arguing (even not paying the agreed price) that I was worried even if I go back in the rickshaw he would take me somewhere even worse. So i got out and asked the security guard how to get to Laj Pat Nagar, he pointed in the same direction, through a dark alley/construction site. I couldn't really call Mama, she is a grandmother and wouldn't probably know where to find me or give me directions, and Kathrine didn't know the area herself. So I just put up all my shields, got through it and found myself in a familiar area, though still not sure where I was. Long story short, I wandered around for about 30 min until I finally found the house, tired and a little shook up from my first culture shock experience in India.
Saturday morning at 5:45 am (right as my body is finally starting to adjust), we caught a six hour train to Amritsar, a city on the boarder of Pakistan with the holiest Sikh temple, the Golden Temple. The first, I would guess three hours, of the train ride, there was a teenager with his laptop that played the same three backstreet boys songs, over and over and over and over again. Every time there was a pause I would think, "thank god..." and just then it would start again. Finally the program director (Storm-ji) asked him to stop. Amritsar was interesting. We went to the college campus where we had a lovely performance of singing and Banga dancing (a folk dance of which many Bollywood moves are derived from). We had our first experience of being "foreign celebrities" where the student asked to take pictures with us and of us. In the president's office he went around asking where everyone was from, I said that i go to school in Connecticut, and he asked if my parents were Indian and I was from India. I thought he was joking, so I laughed and said politely that my mother is Chinese and my Father Jewish. I found out later that he thought I was from the North East. I have sort of noticed that people don't stare at me as much as the others. It was pretty funny that at the Golden Temple, there were many snuk photographs of Indians inching as close as they could get to the people in my group and a friend nearby to quickly snap the photo. Either I am bad at noticing when this happens to me or it simply doesn't happen to me. I am taking it as a compliment though, that people just think I belong here! The temple was really stunning though, a gold plated building in the middle of a huge tank (of holy water), with the surrounding structures, walls and floors made of beautiful cool marble inlayed with intricate tessellations and designs. When entering most temples in India, you must remove your shoes. I was really impressed with how clean it was considering people were all walking around barefoot. People bathe in the tank, and it is seen similarly to the holy powers of the Ganges, it is thought to wash away all sins and help cure people. We saw their holy book get put to sleep in an ornate palanquin, as the gold temple shimmered in the night light, and then in the day (on Sunday) we saw it glisten in the sunlight. We got to see the massive kitchens. Part of Sikhism temples is that everyone who comes can be fed, we were told 60,000 people were fed each day. The temple was really just stunning, I wish I could have stayed longer to do some interesting people watching, though I felt a little intrusive just because I know so little about Sikhism and this was obviously such a powerful place for the Sikh (pronounced "sick") people.
The rest of Amritsar was less interesting and our tour guide was rather un-organized. This was an interesting weekend for me. I felt a little sad on Saturday, for it was Sara's birthday, but I didn't have access to the internet so I couldn't contact anyone who knew her and because it was such a rigorous schedule that day, I wasn't able to seek out my tradition of having something special and sweet to celebrate the sweetness she brought into my life. I guess I was just feeling pretty lonely. I am still getting to know people, and I didn't feel like I knew anyone well enough to share that with them. Furthermore cliques are forming and I frequently find myself on the outside of circles. While I am very open to making friends, I really don't want to spend a lot of energy trying to impress or work my way into groups here, I am here to experience India, I have lots of friends I love and miss, and this is only for a semester, however this is also a bit of a lonely path and is requiring me to pull on my internal resources for comfort. I think on the train I started to feel homesick and thinking that my honeymoon with India was over. However sometime in the evening (after having a pretty bad meal in a really stingy place that a lot of people got sick from), I was able to open up to a girl named Miriam, who insisted that for breakfast we find something sweet to celebrate Sara. Our search didn't manifest until the afternoon when we had a fantastic equivalent of a mocha frappacino (but way better), that made both of our days. I am really grateful for Miriam, and as soon as I felt like I had her as a friend my honeymoon with India was back and I loved the group again. I was yet another gentle lesson that all things pass. However this little episode got me reflecting that I think it is really hard to make friends and adjust to this whole new culture and country. Like I know the support is there, but it also feels like it has to be created and molded before it can be used.
I think I will be traveling to Jaipur next weekend and save Agra for the next time. I have been trying to narrow down ideas for my ISP, but there is just so much I am interested in. I trying to find something up north so I don't have to be in 120 degree heat the whole time, I would like to have a practica component, and I am interested in goddesses, feminine sexuality, cooking, film, tantric art, mandalas, sacred geometry, and myth in general...I know I can't have it all. A lead I am currently looking into is the sacred pilgrimage to the source of the Ganges to look that the symbolism of the ancient goddess that embodies the symbolism of India herself (there is also a nice hot spring once you reach the top). And I also read an interesting article about "Hindie" films (Hindi+Indie) and the rise of the Indie industry here which might make a fascinating study. I am still interested in cooking, but I think i have decided not to make a film since I still have to write a 20-40 page paper, and I don't think I can feasibly make a quality film and write a quality paper in that amount of time with travel and research.
Ok...after a long few days I am glad to be back in Delhi, back at my homestay. I look forward to eating salads and fresh fruit on the breezy roof of the program center, and petting Cushie (the Great Dane dog who is very cuddly). I still have so much more to say, about how I realize what a privileged upper-class experience I am getting, about all the new clothes I got, about my crazy dreams I have been having, but I think this is more than enough for now. I am sorting through my photos and will get them up soon, and I am sure I will have more to write in no time.
Much love always,
Food and more orientation
So this might be turning into more of a food journal than a travel journal, but food has been such a a wonderful sensory overload. Simultaneously though, I need to stop eating for taste and resume eating to be satiated. Yesterday evening we went to a South India restaurant. It is kinda funny to realize how much I know about India already. I didn't think of myself as knowing a lot, but I find myself explaining to my classmates what Odissi dance is (a kind of classical dance), or explaining what a idili, masala dosa and sambar is (south Indian steamed rice cake, Indian crepe with potatoes and a tomato based dipping sauce). The meal ended with a wonderful "pan,"-- a green leaf stuffed with coconut and spices clasped with a clove and looked like a quickfire challenge from Top Chef. Wow was an explosion in my mouth. The coconut with infused with a light sugary syrup, whole cloves, cardamom, coriander, and I am sure a myriad of other spices. We were instructed to just place the whole thing in our mouths, chew and then swallow. It was quite intense, first of all because it was so much for our mouths to handle at one, and then secondly because with every few bites we would clamp down on a clove and release a wave of intense flavor. Hours after the meal I was still getting "flashes" of the taste tingling my tongue.
Yesterday, the day itself was pretty relaxed. We went over some guidelines and Indian manners. I think not showing my feet to anyone will be a challenge for me. Sitting down in positions in which my feet don't show get uncomfortable and tiresome quickly. We did start to learn Hindi though which was surprisingly exciting. It is neat to see something you learn immediately applicable. I can already sound out newspaper headlines, signs and billboards. Though I have to admit that many of the letters still sound exactly the same to me. I know I am going backwards in time, but yesterday morning we decided to get up early and go to yoga at the Ashram, probably because most of us had already been awake for awhile by the time 6:30am rolled around due to jet lag. However there was no yoga class to be had so we took a nice stroll around the ashram gardens instead. The Ashram really reminds me of kibbutz in Israel. People come, they volunteer their time to do chores, food and housing is given, classes are provided, and the area is just surrounded with beautiful gardens and playgrounds.
I know it sounds so cliche, but there is something so delicious about the smell of India, the spices seem to just linger in the air. I know Delhi is full of pollution and is dirty, and I half expected it to smell like New York does, but I guess the spices mask it so well. We have been warned multiple times now NOT to try the street food. This has been a very difficult concept for me and other fellow foodies to accept, since street food is often my favorite food. We decided to try and be good for a month and see how our stomaches adjust, then to re-evaluate whether to break the rules or not. While I am really appreciating SIT securing us for orientation, I feel strange that I have seen so little of India and spent so much time in a room sitting down. I know this will change soon and they really encourage us to get our and explore, I suppose I just feel anxious to do so. I kinda wish there were more guys in our group as well, just because there seems to be so much limited to females without the accompaniment of male friends, like going out anywhere. We only have 5 guys in our group, and I am sure they will be in high demand throughout this journey.
I have found a fellow New Mexican who has also been learning Sign language! Also the assistant academic director expressed interest in me teaching him sign language and how to edit films! Two things I am just so excited to pass on. I am now considering making a documentary film on Indian food practices for my independent study....though my ideas for my ISP seem to change momentarily, there are simply too many things I am deeply fascinated by.
This morning me and my roommate went for a nice walk around the Ashram, I'll post photos soon. We found some nice shrines where women were bathing and adorning the center stones. We also found what looked like the children section or the school where I found a labyrinth to walk, some cool sculptures, and some pet geese and bunnies! I have to say that the bathroom situation will continue to be a difficulty for me...the idea of cleaning myself with my hands is just really difficult, I suppose I'll figure it out, maybe I'll figure out a way around it (so far I have succeeded). Today we are going shopping this afternoon for some clothes. I have to say I am really excited to get some new clothes since I have been wearing the same shirt for three days now. I decided to get a cell phone, just for emergencies, since the bombings did just happen I thought it would be good to have it available. Also being a Female, there is a lot of issues of traveling safely that I feel a cellphone will help facilitate.
I suppose that is all for now, so many observations I want to share them all. Updates will probably slow down when I start to get settled into a rhythm, but as of now things are still new and exciting. Much love always
~Tara
Yesterday, the day itself was pretty relaxed. We went over some guidelines and Indian manners. I think not showing my feet to anyone will be a challenge for me. Sitting down in positions in which my feet don't show get uncomfortable and tiresome quickly. We did start to learn Hindi though which was surprisingly exciting. It is neat to see something you learn immediately applicable. I can already sound out newspaper headlines, signs and billboards. Though I have to admit that many of the letters still sound exactly the same to me. I know I am going backwards in time, but yesterday morning we decided to get up early and go to yoga at the Ashram, probably because most of us had already been awake for awhile by the time 6:30am rolled around due to jet lag. However there was no yoga class to be had so we took a nice stroll around the ashram gardens instead. The Ashram really reminds me of kibbutz in Israel. People come, they volunteer their time to do chores, food and housing is given, classes are provided, and the area is just surrounded with beautiful gardens and playgrounds.
I know it sounds so cliche, but there is something so delicious about the smell of India, the spices seem to just linger in the air. I know Delhi is full of pollution and is dirty, and I half expected it to smell like New York does, but I guess the spices mask it so well. We have been warned multiple times now NOT to try the street food. This has been a very difficult concept for me and other fellow foodies to accept, since street food is often my favorite food. We decided to try and be good for a month and see how our stomaches adjust, then to re-evaluate whether to break the rules or not. While I am really appreciating SIT securing us for orientation, I feel strange that I have seen so little of India and spent so much time in a room sitting down. I know this will change soon and they really encourage us to get our and explore, I suppose I just feel anxious to do so. I kinda wish there were more guys in our group as well, just because there seems to be so much limited to females without the accompaniment of male friends, like going out anywhere. We only have 5 guys in our group, and I am sure they will be in high demand throughout this journey.
I have found a fellow New Mexican who has also been learning Sign language! Also the assistant academic director expressed interest in me teaching him sign language and how to edit films! Two things I am just so excited to pass on. I am now considering making a documentary film on Indian food practices for my independent study....though my ideas for my ISP seem to change momentarily, there are simply too many things I am deeply fascinated by.
This morning me and my roommate went for a nice walk around the Ashram, I'll post photos soon. We found some nice shrines where women were bathing and adorning the center stones. We also found what looked like the children section or the school where I found a labyrinth to walk, some cool sculptures, and some pet geese and bunnies! I have to say that the bathroom situation will continue to be a difficulty for me...the idea of cleaning myself with my hands is just really difficult, I suppose I'll figure it out, maybe I'll figure out a way around it (so far I have succeeded). Today we are going shopping this afternoon for some clothes. I have to say I am really excited to get some new clothes since I have been wearing the same shirt for three days now. I decided to get a cell phone, just for emergencies, since the bombings did just happen I thought it would be good to have it available. Also being a Female, there is a lot of issues of traveling safely that I feel a cellphone will help facilitate.
I suppose that is all for now, so many observations I want to share them all. Updates will probably slow down when I start to get settled into a rhythm, but as of now things are still new and exciting. Much love always
~Tara
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