We freed 43 people today! Read about it here:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article926029.ece
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/117323/39-bonded-labourers-rescued-quarry.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Bonded-labourers-freed-from-Bantwal-quarry/articleshow/7025185.cms
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Things I've done the past two months but was too lazy to sit down and update my blog: Part I
Wow! I have not updated this in a long time! I apologize for the long delay. I guess I've just been kinda lazy...BUT that's all going to change because I'm actually going to make a greater effort to update this with more consistency. Since it has been so long, I'll try to share some scatterbrained stories/events/thoughts.
The monsoon season has come and gone and has brought instead lovely winter here in Bangalore. All along the streets of my neighborhood I get to see all these beautiful trees in bloom with these lovely orange blossoms. It's especially nice to sit out on the office balcony alone during devotions and looking at this site:
What's even better, is that the weather has just been perfect! I mean it was good before but because of the monsoons, we would get a lot of days of continuous clouds which got kinda depressing after awhile. However, now, the nights are nice and cool and the sun warms you up when it's out. On the rare cloudy day, you'd almost swear you were back in America experiencing a milder autumn. That is you'd think that until you smelled the burning trash and cow refuse, here the endless honking and jump out of the way of some guy on a motorcycle who made a turn that was much closer to you than was necessary. Then you quickly all of a sudden remember where you are and it's definitely not America! I guess the past few weeks this has really been hitting home that I'm in India and I'm not leaving for a long time! But, hey, it only took me five months to come to this profound realization!
I guess due to the fact that I'm into a routine now, things that once seemed really cool and new and exotic just sort of seem run of the mill now. I guess that's to be expected after living so long in the same place which makes me sad that I didn't do a better job documenting my reactions to different aspects of India. Honestly for most of the month of November I just read a lot in my free time (Pillars of the Earth: Entertaining / Brideshead Revisited: Very Good / Never Let Me Go / Sad but good). This in part is due to the fact that Bangalore has absolutely no nightlife really. Before coming here, I had head that Bangalore was 'the pub capital of India'. That may have been true during the British Raj but is definitely not anymore. Not to say that I have an immense desire to go to bars like back home, but when you and your roommates have reading parties (yes reading...we sat around and read by ourselves) then you start to develop a desire to get out and be around real humans instead of imaginary ones. I began to think that maybe there just really wasn't much of a nightlife at all in India until we went to Mumbai!
Mumbai is very different in many ways from Bangalore. Whereas Bangalore is a quiet, smaller ('smaller' really is a relative word) city with a perfect climate, Mumbai is a massive, crowded, humid, busy city with so much pollution that your average 'sunny' day still seems relatively cloudy. As much as it might sound like that makes Mumbai an awful place, it's quite the opposite. It's actually a really awesome city with a ton more to do than in Bangalore! The first thing that's very noticeable about Mumbai is the wave of heat and humidity that hits you as soon as you step of the plane. Luckily we were met by mine and Henry's former DC intern turned Mumbai intern Kaisa Kinkaid.
(That's me, Kaisa and Henry)
You'll also notice that we are standing on a black stone beach next to the Arabian Sea. This is what your average beach (average? wait that's not right...this is what a nicer beach) in Mumabi looks like:
Yes. A very lovely place to hang around and, as you'll see in later pictures, the trash did not deter many people from sharing quite a few...(ahem) romantic moments at the beach. After this we went to an old Portuguese Fort located on the tip of one of the peninsulas of Mumbai. Now, for the two of you out there that have ever seen a Bollywood movie, I THOUGHT this was the place where 'the kids' hang out in Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na, but I was disappointed that it looks like it wasn't that place. But, I digress. The Portuguese Fort:was pretty great but, due to the smog, the view was very underwhelming. However, very close by to the fort was the house of the famous "Bollywood Hero" Shah Rukh Kahn!
Settle down ladies, he does not currently look like this anymore. This was about 20 years ago so...he's not looking like this anymore. However, that did not stop 40 year-old women, hoping to get a glimpse of their crush from years ago. We happened to be most fortunate to come at the exact time when Shah Rukh Kahn's guards were taking His trash out. The following is the amazing sequence that we witnessed:
This is the gate. You can see his house looks like an apartment complex. It rises up on the left side of the picture.
Guard, scoping out the streets to see if it's safe to bring out the trash.
And the trash comes out! What he learned from his trash is that he drinks Aquafina and his kids have a lot of Nerf guns. So for the first and last time in my life, I became a celebrity stalker and was completely disgusted with myself. Seriously though, it is very interesting seeing how the rich live in Mumbai. Here in the middle of a city that has somewhere around 40% of its population living in slums, it made me wonder how you could live like that when, literally, just outside your house there might be a family living underneath a tarp lean-to against a building. How could you honestly spend so much money on yourself when people are living in these poor excuses for shelter? I guess, as I thought about it more, we have the same problem in America but it's covered up so we don't have to be confronted with this day in and day out. The poor aren't right outside our houses; we've made it so that the communities are divided with wealthy towns/villages and poor ones. I guess it's hard to say which structure is better or worse because, while in America you just ignore that the poor exist, in India, eventually just get used to seeing the poor and crippled walking around begging for money and before you know it you aren't bothered by it. You start to tell yourself, 'Well they could get help if they wanted to, they just don't' or 'The money I give won't go to them, it'll just go to their 'bosses''. Sadly, this is all true. It's especially hard when you see the kids begging for food because they're being completely manipulated by older people who are using them for money. How do you care for them? What we've sometimes done is taken some candy or a toy and give it to the kids. This usually makes them happy but who knows what their bosses do to them if they don't bring back money...
Anyway, the rest of Mumbai was truly a great time. We went to the Taj Hotel and the Gateway of India which was actually really cool:
What made this trip to the Gateway especially memorable were the amount of people that came up asking, 'Sir! One snap sir with you? Please sir! One snap only.' For some reason I got roped into having my picture taken twice with 4 guys from Goa and one with a 60 year-old man. I wish I could find the photo but I must not have gotten one. Now the great thing about the picture above is that behind the camera there are maybe 5 Indians who are taking pictures of us with their cameras or phones. One fancied himself to be an especially gifted photographer who told me, "Sir! Go to the center! That way there will be two girls on both sides! It will look very nice!" As great as his advice was, we declined. After this we watched the sunset on a beach in South Mumbai:
It was a really beautiful sunset and the beach had a lot of people watching the sunset. As I mentioned before, the beach also had a lot of trash:
Literally the whole massive beach was covered with this. Mumbai is a really cool city but it would be absolutely amazing if they just cleaned up their beaches.However, once again, as I mentioned before, this did not stop a couple of romantics from sharing a moment amid the trash:
It's strange because in Bangalore you really don't see PDA at all. Sure, maybe if you're hanging around the rich people who have been influenced by western culture you may but you would never see this in Bangalore. What's really hilarious, is that on the side of a highway, there is, nightly, a row of motorcycles with couples, young and old, married and unmarried, just making out. Kaisa called it makeout road or something. We drove passed it. One of my biggest regrets of my time in India will be that I was not able to witness this. I was passed out in the back seat of the taxi. But it was a great to and Mumbai and I'd like to thank Kaisa very much for acting as our tour guide, activity planner and for putting Henry and I up for the weekend. It was great to finally see a city with more to do and a more active nightlife as well.
That's it for Part I I'm going to try to do Part II tomorrow but we're going to Pondicherry tomorrow (a French colony in India) so we'll see how much I get done.
Stay tuned...
The monsoon season has come and gone and has brought instead lovely winter here in Bangalore. All along the streets of my neighborhood I get to see all these beautiful trees in bloom with these lovely orange blossoms. It's especially nice to sit out on the office balcony alone during devotions and looking at this site:
What's even better, is that the weather has just been perfect! I mean it was good before but because of the monsoons, we would get a lot of days of continuous clouds which got kinda depressing after awhile. However, now, the nights are nice and cool and the sun warms you up when it's out. On the rare cloudy day, you'd almost swear you were back in America experiencing a milder autumn. That is you'd think that until you smelled the burning trash and cow refuse, here the endless honking and jump out of the way of some guy on a motorcycle who made a turn that was much closer to you than was necessary. Then you quickly all of a sudden remember where you are and it's definitely not America! I guess the past few weeks this has really been hitting home that I'm in India and I'm not leaving for a long time! But, hey, it only took me five months to come to this profound realization!I guess due to the fact that I'm into a routine now, things that once seemed really cool and new and exotic just sort of seem run of the mill now. I guess that's to be expected after living so long in the same place which makes me sad that I didn't do a better job documenting my reactions to different aspects of India. Honestly for most of the month of November I just read a lot in my free time (Pillars of the Earth: Entertaining / Brideshead Revisited: Very Good / Never Let Me Go / Sad but good). This in part is due to the fact that Bangalore has absolutely no nightlife really. Before coming here, I had head that Bangalore was 'the pub capital of India'. That may have been true during the British Raj but is definitely not anymore. Not to say that I have an immense desire to go to bars like back home, but when you and your roommates have reading parties (yes reading...we sat around and read by ourselves) then you start to develop a desire to get out and be around real humans instead of imaginary ones. I began to think that maybe there just really wasn't much of a nightlife at all in India until we went to Mumbai!
Mumbai is very different in many ways from Bangalore. Whereas Bangalore is a quiet, smaller ('smaller' really is a relative word) city with a perfect climate, Mumbai is a massive, crowded, humid, busy city with so much pollution that your average 'sunny' day still seems relatively cloudy. As much as it might sound like that makes Mumbai an awful place, it's quite the opposite. It's actually a really awesome city with a ton more to do than in Bangalore! The first thing that's very noticeable about Mumbai is the wave of heat and humidity that hits you as soon as you step of the plane. Luckily we were met by mine and Henry's former DC intern turned Mumbai intern Kaisa Kinkaid.
(That's me, Kaisa and Henry)You'll also notice that we are standing on a black stone beach next to the Arabian Sea. This is what your average beach (average? wait that's not right...this is what a nicer beach) in Mumabi looks like:
Yes. A very lovely place to hang around and, as you'll see in later pictures, the trash did not deter many people from sharing quite a few...(ahem) romantic moments at the beach. After this we went to an old Portuguese Fort located on the tip of one of the peninsulas of Mumbai. Now, for the two of you out there that have ever seen a Bollywood movie, I THOUGHT this was the place where 'the kids' hang out in Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na, but I was disappointed that it looks like it wasn't that place. But, I digress. The Portuguese Fort:was pretty great but, due to the smog, the view was very underwhelming. However, very close by to the fort was the house of the famous "Bollywood Hero" Shah Rukh Kahn!
Settle down ladies, he does not currently look like this anymore. This was about 20 years ago so...he's not looking like this anymore. However, that did not stop 40 year-old women, hoping to get a glimpse of their crush from years ago. We happened to be most fortunate to come at the exact time when Shah Rukh Kahn's guards were taking His trash out. The following is the amazing sequence that we witnessed:
This is the gate. You can see his house looks like an apartment complex. It rises up on the left side of the picture.
Guard, scoping out the streets to see if it's safe to bring out the trash.
And the trash comes out! What he learned from his trash is that he drinks Aquafina and his kids have a lot of Nerf guns. So for the first and last time in my life, I became a celebrity stalker and was completely disgusted with myself. Seriously though, it is very interesting seeing how the rich live in Mumbai. Here in the middle of a city that has somewhere around 40% of its population living in slums, it made me wonder how you could live like that when, literally, just outside your house there might be a family living underneath a tarp lean-to against a building. How could you honestly spend so much money on yourself when people are living in these poor excuses for shelter? I guess, as I thought about it more, we have the same problem in America but it's covered up so we don't have to be confronted with this day in and day out. The poor aren't right outside our houses; we've made it so that the communities are divided with wealthy towns/villages and poor ones. I guess it's hard to say which structure is better or worse because, while in America you just ignore that the poor exist, in India, eventually just get used to seeing the poor and crippled walking around begging for money and before you know it you aren't bothered by it. You start to tell yourself, 'Well they could get help if they wanted to, they just don't' or 'The money I give won't go to them, it'll just go to their 'bosses''. Sadly, this is all true. It's especially hard when you see the kids begging for food because they're being completely manipulated by older people who are using them for money. How do you care for them? What we've sometimes done is taken some candy or a toy and give it to the kids. This usually makes them happy but who knows what their bosses do to them if they don't bring back money...Anyway, the rest of Mumbai was truly a great time. We went to the Taj Hotel and the Gateway of India which was actually really cool:
What made this trip to the Gateway especially memorable were the amount of people that came up asking, 'Sir! One snap sir with you? Please sir! One snap only.' For some reason I got roped into having my picture taken twice with 4 guys from Goa and one with a 60 year-old man. I wish I could find the photo but I must not have gotten one. Now the great thing about the picture above is that behind the camera there are maybe 5 Indians who are taking pictures of us with their cameras or phones. One fancied himself to be an especially gifted photographer who told me, "Sir! Go to the center! That way there will be two girls on both sides! It will look very nice!" As great as his advice was, we declined. After this we watched the sunset on a beach in South Mumbai:
It was a really beautiful sunset and the beach had a lot of people watching the sunset. As I mentioned before, the beach also had a lot of trash:
Literally the whole massive beach was covered with this. Mumbai is a really cool city but it would be absolutely amazing if they just cleaned up their beaches.However, once again, as I mentioned before, this did not stop a couple of romantics from sharing a moment amid the trash:
It's strange because in Bangalore you really don't see PDA at all. Sure, maybe if you're hanging around the rich people who have been influenced by western culture you may but you would never see this in Bangalore. What's really hilarious, is that on the side of a highway, there is, nightly, a row of motorcycles with couples, young and old, married and unmarried, just making out. Kaisa called it makeout road or something. We drove passed it. One of my biggest regrets of my time in India will be that I was not able to witness this. I was passed out in the back seat of the taxi. But it was a great to and Mumbai and I'd like to thank Kaisa very much for acting as our tour guide, activity planner and for putting Henry and I up for the weekend. It was great to finally see a city with more to do and a more active nightlife as well.That's it for Part I I'm going to try to do Part II tomorrow but we're going to Pondicherry tomorrow (a French colony in India) so we'll see how much I get done.
Stay tuned...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
A little late but what to do
It's a couple days late but I was not able to get to my computer until now so hear it is, a passage from one of my favorite books:
I shut my eyes and thought of him at my side, my hand in his trying to match his stride as I walked with him up the mountain above us, and I saw the splashings of water on his muscled whiteness as he stood in the bath, and the lamplight on his hands over the seat of his chair as he knelt in prayer at Chapel.
Air rushed from his throat and blew dust from his tongue, and I heard his voice and in that strange voice I could hear, as from far away, the Voice of the Men of the Valley singing a plain amen.
So I closed his eyes and shut his jaw, and held him tight to me, and his bristles were sharp in my cuts and I was heavy with love for him, as he had been, and with sadness to know him gone...
But you are gone now, all of you that, were so beautiful when you were quick with life. Yet not gone, for you are still a living truth inside my mind. So how are you dead... when you live with my as surely as I live with myself?...
Did my father die under the coal? But, God in heaven, he is down there now, dancing in the street with Davy's red jersey over his coat, and coming in a moment, to smoke his pipe in the front room and pat my mother's hand, and look, and O, the heat of pride at the picture of the Queen, given by the hand of the Queen, in the Palace of a Queen, to his eldest son, whose baton lifted voices in music fit for a Queen to hear.
Is he dead? For if he is, then I am dead, and we are dead, and all of a sense of mockery.
How green was my Valley then and the Valley of them that have gone.
I shut my eyes and thought of him at my side, my hand in his trying to match his stride as I walked with him up the mountain above us, and I saw the splashings of water on his muscled whiteness as he stood in the bath, and the lamplight on his hands over the seat of his chair as he knelt in prayer at Chapel.
Air rushed from his throat and blew dust from his tongue, and I heard his voice and in that strange voice I could hear, as from far away, the Voice of the Men of the Valley singing a plain amen.
So I closed his eyes and shut his jaw, and held him tight to me, and his bristles were sharp in my cuts and I was heavy with love for him, as he had been, and with sadness to know him gone...
But you are gone now, all of you that, were so beautiful when you were quick with life. Yet not gone, for you are still a living truth inside my mind. So how are you dead... when you live with my as surely as I live with myself?...
Did my father die under the coal? But, God in heaven, he is down there now, dancing in the street with Davy's red jersey over his coat, and coming in a moment, to smoke his pipe in the front room and pat my mother's hand, and look, and O, the heat of pride at the picture of the Queen, given by the hand of the Queen, in the Palace of a Queen, to his eldest son, whose baton lifted voices in music fit for a Queen to hear.
Is he dead? For if he is, then I am dead, and we are dead, and all of a sense of mockery.
How green was my Valley then and the Valley of them that have gone.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
A Trip to 'God's Own Country', Pani Puri, and an Insane Frenchman
A couple weeks ago I went on my first 'real' trip outside of Bangalore (by 'real' I mean an overnight trip). We had been talking for some time about visiting the southwestern state of India which is called Kerala and since our very own Neenu Thomas was a native Keralite and fluent in Malayalam, we decided to enact on our planning. Kerala has a reputation for being very beautiful. From the beautiful, sunny beaches to the breathtaking hill stations, many people have been so taken with this state that Keralites say with pride that Kerala is 'God's Own Country.' We left right after work on a Friday afternoon and took a loooong 12-14 hour bus ride. Luckily, we were in a sleeper bus so most of us got beds to sleep on!
Rob and Ashley here showcasing the double bed!
Me, getting ready to sleep in my small single bunk! Oh and that fan did not work the whole time...
The one problem with the three of our beds was that it was located in the back of the bus so we had a VERY bumby ride! This may have just been to be expected from trying to sleep in a bus but I think it also may have had something to do with the fact that our bus driver had no regard for slowing down for potholes or speed bumps. Normally, this would have proved a hellish experience for me as I have a terrible time sleeping in a bed, let alone in a bus in India, but one of our fellow interns was very kind enough to give me some of her...sleeping aides. So what seemed to be tortuous night turned into a solid 5 hours of sleep. I was not complaining.
I woke up around 5 AM which was just in time to watch the sunrise. As I was sleeping on the east side of the bus, I was able to get a lovely view of the sun rising over the coconut trees and plains of Tamil Nadu. Probably one of the coolest things about taking this bus ride, and being awake this early, was being able to see where Tamil Nadu ends and Kerala begins. It's as if where the state ends, the geography and climate change immediately.
One moment you're in the flat plains of Tamil Nadu with clear sky and the sun ready to do its worst against you, the next minute you're in the middle of these lush, green, mountains with rain clouds hanging over you. It's really quite the site to see. Shortly after entering the mountains, we got off the bus at this small village and took autos to a house where we could take showers, rest, and leave our bags for the day. Once everyone was showered (and by everyone I mean the girls and Rob), we had breakfast and went to a tiger reserve! Despite the name, we saw no tigers. In fact it's very rare if you do see tigers there. Apparently tigers do live there but are not often seen. Instead we saw a ton of monkeys.
In the middle of the reserve was a lake that was created by some huge dam. However, they would not let us on the boat ride with cameras unless we payed a camera fee. I chose not to do this and am thank for the decision as the only exotic animal we saw was a kingfisher which would have been to small to catch on camera. It was cool to see a kingfisher though as it is the mascot of the most popular beer/airline/water/wine company in India; aptly named Kingfisher. Anyway, after we left the reserve we walked through the cool rain to a place where we could ride elephants. Now I know I already talked about riding elephants before but I no longer consider riding the elephant in Mysore as a legitimate elephant ride experience since there he crammed six of us into a saddle box. That just doesn't seem to do elephant riding justice. What I was really looking for was a bareback elephant ride. The kind of ride where your legs are so sore from riding that you never want to do that again. I got that. But I got more. A whole lot more...
Meet Lakshmi. Our elephant. Rob, Ashley and I piled onto this girl and set off through a fabricated jungle maze to make you think you're doing something exotic and to make your friends remark at how cultured you are when you show them a picture of you riding an elephant through the 'jungle.'
As you can see, my legs are spread pretty far apart and as you probably cannot see, my...rear end is resting comfortably on a a metal rod. Needless to say halfway through the ride I was ready for it to be over. To I regret it? Not at all! Would I have liked to have been a little more comfortable? Yes, very much so but what to do? Anyway after the ride the owners invited us to take pictures with another elephant. This time a male elephant.
Meet Krishnan. Even Tom Cruise couldn't resist getting close with Krishnan!
Though from the looks of it, it doesn't look like he was having that much fun with Krishnan. Anyway after this exotic experience we loaded up on a private bus that was taking us to the hill station of Munnar. We were told that the bus ride would only take one hour (no problem). It took four. Luckily someone brought a bollywood movie, 'My Name is Kahn,' so we were distracted for three of those four hours. This was a very good thing as the bus ride was one of the most exhilarating yet frightening experiences I've had. In order to get to Munnar we had to go through the windy mountain roads which normally would probably be very scenic and beautiful. However, since we were there at the end of the monsoon, the fog was thick that you could barley see 50 ft in front of you. This was of no concern to the driver as he seemed to be driving as fast as possible shooting around the sharp mountain turns. As I said it was exhilarating but definitely made one ponder their own mortality. At one point we stopped next to a large tea plantation and the sweet smelling fragrance of tea poured through the windows into the vehicle. The smell was intoxicating to say the least and was a welcome scent in comparison to some of the other interesting things I had smelled since arriving here. We got to the hotel and then promptly fell asleep as our first day in Kerala came to a close.
The next day I was woken up early to the loud sound of drums and some body yelling into a megaphone. Tom Cruise, my bunk mate, told me that it was a Hindu festival where the women go up to the temple with bowls of rice and ask the gods to grant long life to their husbands. They then cook their rice in a small bowl to see if the gods responded favorly to their request. If the rice boils over the bowl, then the gods have granted them their request. The line of women dressed in red saris seemed endless but we finally were able to cross the street, get breakfast and then pile all 11 of us into a small jeep.
Tom Cruise and I were shoved up front with the driver with Tom Cruise in the middle. Unfortunately for Tom Cruise, the stick (stick shift) was located right between his legs. Luckily the jeep ride to our next destination was not very long. We went to this amazing national park at the highest point in Kerala. It was amazing to say the least. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Tea
Notice the waterfall that flows all the way down the mountain.
It was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We had another adrenaline pumping ride back to Munnar. unfortunately this time it was my turn to sit next to the diver which as you can imagine was not the most comfortable experience. The remainder of the day was spent walking around Munnar which included the guys stopping into a fabric store to get mundus for the next day (I'll explain later what this is). We went to bed relatively early the next day and then woke up very early to catch a bus to go to Neenu's house! The bus ride was nice and empty at first but about an hour into the ride I was pressed up against the side of the bus with tons of women's bags in my arms. I wish I could say that I volunteered to carry the bags but that's just not how it happened. When we got off the bus we had autos waiting to take us to Neenu's jungle spice farm. As soon as we got there we had fresh uppum and sambar waiting for us and coffee made completely from their farm. The coffee was from their farm, with masala from their garden and milk from their cows. Talk about organic. After this we showcased our mundus for Neenu's father and he agreed to take a picture with us in our mundus.
As you can see, we're all very colorful.
We stayed there for two days and Neenu gave us a tour of her farm and showed us everything they grow including, coconut, cocoa, cinnamon, pepper, rubber, guavas, tapioca, coffee, plantains, and some more that I can't remember. The following is a video that you might find interesting about the one of the various resources her Father farms.
Rubber:
One of the oddest things I saw there was this:
Although it looks like an alien or some weird creature, it's actually a cocoa bean, or rather, a lot of cocoa beans! The strange thing, is that if you suck on the individual beans, they taste fruity. It's only when you take the slimy white coating off that you see the dark bitter bean that is used to make chocolate. Neenu's farm truly was one of the most relaxing spots. We didn't do any sightseeing (besides the farm tour) but I think everyone one of us enjoyed just relaxing in paradise for a couple of days. We spent the last day at the farm then got back on a bus for a long trip back to Bangalore. Once again I got the bouncy bed in the back.
There was simply no time to rest once we got back as a we had found out that we had just had a successful operation in Andhra Pradesh and had freed a number of laborers. We were even written up in a local newspaper which you can read here: IJM saves the day! This was a great welcome to our as we had been struggling with the local governments for the entire summer to free bonded labor victims. Finally this case fell in our lap and the rest is history. That Friday I also had one of the biggest challenges in my personal life as I had to defend my title of "Bangalore Champion" along with my 'Certificate of Specialness.' As most of you don't know what this is, let me explain.
The Bangalore Challenge is an activity that has been here since I got here. Basically one person has the 'certificate of specialness' and another person can challenge the champion to whatever activity he or she wishes such as, chubby bunny, eating rice with chopsticks, or chugging a liter of water. I had won the challenge by challenging Jeff the legal intern to a push-up contest. This wasn't really a legitimate win, however, as he was leaving for the US and couldn't take the certificate with him. So it was this Friday when my true challenge would come. Deepa, one of the national interns, challenged me to a Pani Puri eating contest. I felt that this was a bit unfair as Pani Puri is street food and street food has a reputation for punishing westerners with very awful sickness. Additionally, Pani Puri is a fried ball with masala potato and spiced (non-filtered) water inside. Unfiltered water is yet another thing that is known to make westerners sick so I was very nervous as I contemplated my inevitable food poisoning illness that was to come.
Deepa was extremely confident for her win (Jeff and I, I think, would agree that she was little TOO confident) and was walking on air the whole day. I was the direct opposite. I decided if I'm going to go down then I might as well do it in a blaze of glory.
It came down to the last pani puri but I managed to choke it down just before Deepa. To be honest I think she should have one as she had the bigger pani puri's. The best part was, I didn't get sick!
That weekend was one of the last weekends that my roommates Rob and Ashley were to spend in Bangalore. This past weekend they left to go back to Arizona so we thought since we had a to have another Barbecue before they left, we should have it on labor day! Of course, this ended up turning into a dance party as every party and movie night does here. Our cook, Joitha, came over with her daughter, husband and their VERY little pug puppy Lassie.
Ashley and Christine being creepy while Lassie sleeps with one eye open...
Amidst the Shakira, Beyonce and Electric Six that were playing all night, Neenu was kind enough to grace us with a classical Indian dance. It is very interesting seeing this style of dance as the whole story is cateloged through the facial expressions of the dancer. I recorded it on camera so you can see just what it looks like. Unfortunatley, since the lighting wasn't that great you can't see the facial expressions that well.
(Video coming soon)
It's been a really great time here and I am so greatful for this opportunity. Amidst these fun times though, when someone leaves it is very sad and hard as you do not know when you will see that person again. This time was especially hard as two people left and both of them happened to be my roommates. Rob and Ashley (Mom and Dad), I miss you guys already.
While we were dropping them off at the airport though, we saw a very strange site. This young, white, man was walking up and down the outside of the airport with his computer playing his music as loud as he could (which, as you can imagine, was not loud at all). We kept observing the guy and watched him slam his computer against the window where the receptionists for the various airline companies sat and then took his computer cord and started flinging it around in large circles. The girls left and I was with two friends who wanted to see what was going on with this guy. Turns out he had his ticket on his computer and did not print it out so he was trying to get his revenge on the receptionist who had denied him entry to the airport, by acting like a buffoon. He was French and was in India, as he put it, because he was "helping Indians say 'no' to westerners." I really don't get what that means, but my understanding was that he was trying to teach Indian buisnessmen how to communicate with westerners. While my two friends, Ollie and Arvind, were busy talking to the lady behind the window to see if they could get his ticket, the Frenchman started to talk to me and ask about what I was doing here. I told him that I was here with an NGO that works to end bonded labor and sex trafficing, among other things, around the world. This Frenchman then went on to ask if I believed it was wrong to prosecute a foreinger in say India if he had engaged in the sex trade here. Not really believeing what I was hearing I began to give a brief synopsis of the soverignty of the nations, which he just wasn't understanding. He then asked 'Oh so it's like Kant's Categorical Imperitive!'
It wasn't. But I was sick of discussing this so I just said, "Yeah. That's exactly what it is."
He asked what I would be doing after India and I told him I had no idea, maybe go back to school. He then invited me to the plethora of universities in Paris! I said that it sounded great but I don't speak French.
When I said that he seemed to change gears without even thinking,
"That's the problem with you Americans' He said. 'You don't learn our language. You Americans think that we are snobs but that's not true at all. All we want is for you to learn our language." Before I had time to explain to say a number of things that raced to my mind Arvind and Ollie came back with the man's ticket. Turns out talking to the receptionist, is much more effective in communicating with people than swinging your cord around. Ironic that he was chosen to teach Indians how to communicate with westerners. When Arvind and Ollie gave him his ticket he proceeded to crumble it up and said 'I crumble this because this is how they treated me!' At that point we had done what we could. We left in hurry not wanting to witness how this guy would shot himself in the foot again.
Rob and Ashley here showcasing the double bed!
Me, getting ready to sleep in my small single bunk! Oh and that fan did not work the whole time...The one problem with the three of our beds was that it was located in the back of the bus so we had a VERY bumby ride! This may have just been to be expected from trying to sleep in a bus but I think it also may have had something to do with the fact that our bus driver had no regard for slowing down for potholes or speed bumps. Normally, this would have proved a hellish experience for me as I have a terrible time sleeping in a bed, let alone in a bus in India, but one of our fellow interns was very kind enough to give me some of her...sleeping aides. So what seemed to be tortuous night turned into a solid 5 hours of sleep. I was not complaining.
I woke up around 5 AM which was just in time to watch the sunrise. As I was sleeping on the east side of the bus, I was able to get a lovely view of the sun rising over the coconut trees and plains of Tamil Nadu. Probably one of the coolest things about taking this bus ride, and being awake this early, was being able to see where Tamil Nadu ends and Kerala begins. It's as if where the state ends, the geography and climate change immediately.
One moment you're in the flat plains of Tamil Nadu with clear sky and the sun ready to do its worst against you, the next minute you're in the middle of these lush, green, mountains with rain clouds hanging over you. It's really quite the site to see. Shortly after entering the mountains, we got off the bus at this small village and took autos to a house where we could take showers, rest, and leave our bags for the day. Once everyone was showered (and by everyone I mean the girls and Rob), we had breakfast and went to a tiger reserve! Despite the name, we saw no tigers. In fact it's very rare if you do see tigers there. Apparently tigers do live there but are not often seen. Instead we saw a ton of monkeys.
In the middle of the reserve was a lake that was created by some huge dam. However, they would not let us on the boat ride with cameras unless we payed a camera fee. I chose not to do this and am thank for the decision as the only exotic animal we saw was a kingfisher which would have been to small to catch on camera. It was cool to see a kingfisher though as it is the mascot of the most popular beer/airline/water/wine company in India; aptly named Kingfisher. Anyway, after we left the reserve we walked through the cool rain to a place where we could ride elephants. Now I know I already talked about riding elephants before but I no longer consider riding the elephant in Mysore as a legitimate elephant ride experience since there he crammed six of us into a saddle box. That just doesn't seem to do elephant riding justice. What I was really looking for was a bareback elephant ride. The kind of ride where your legs are so sore from riding that you never want to do that again. I got that. But I got more. A whole lot more...
Meet Lakshmi. Our elephant. Rob, Ashley and I piled onto this girl and set off through a fabricated jungle maze to make you think you're doing something exotic and to make your friends remark at how cultured you are when you show them a picture of you riding an elephant through the 'jungle.'
As you can see, my legs are spread pretty far apart and as you probably cannot see, my...rear end is resting comfortably on a a metal rod. Needless to say halfway through the ride I was ready for it to be over. To I regret it? Not at all! Would I have liked to have been a little more comfortable? Yes, very much so but what to do? Anyway after the ride the owners invited us to take pictures with another elephant. This time a male elephant.
Meet Krishnan. Even Tom Cruise couldn't resist getting close with Krishnan!
Though from the looks of it, it doesn't look like he was having that much fun with Krishnan. Anyway after this exotic experience we loaded up on a private bus that was taking us to the hill station of Munnar. We were told that the bus ride would only take one hour (no problem). It took four. Luckily someone brought a bollywood movie, 'My Name is Kahn,' so we were distracted for three of those four hours. This was a very good thing as the bus ride was one of the most exhilarating yet frightening experiences I've had. In order to get to Munnar we had to go through the windy mountain roads which normally would probably be very scenic and beautiful. However, since we were there at the end of the monsoon, the fog was thick that you could barley see 50 ft in front of you. This was of no concern to the driver as he seemed to be driving as fast as possible shooting around the sharp mountain turns. As I said it was exhilarating but definitely made one ponder their own mortality. At one point we stopped next to a large tea plantation and the sweet smelling fragrance of tea poured through the windows into the vehicle. The smell was intoxicating to say the least and was a welcome scent in comparison to some of the other interesting things I had smelled since arriving here. We got to the hotel and then promptly fell asleep as our first day in Kerala came to a close.The next day I was woken up early to the loud sound of drums and some body yelling into a megaphone. Tom Cruise, my bunk mate, told me that it was a Hindu festival where the women go up to the temple with bowls of rice and ask the gods to grant long life to their husbands. They then cook their rice in a small bowl to see if the gods responded favorly to their request. If the rice boils over the bowl, then the gods have granted them their request. The line of women dressed in red saris seemed endless but we finally were able to cross the street, get breakfast and then pile all 11 of us into a small jeep.
Tom Cruise and I were shoved up front with the driver with Tom Cruise in the middle. Unfortunately for Tom Cruise, the stick (stick shift) was located right between his legs. Luckily the jeep ride to our next destination was not very long. We went to this amazing national park at the highest point in Kerala. It was amazing to say the least. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Tea
Notice the waterfall that flows all the way down the mountain.It was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We had another adrenaline pumping ride back to Munnar. unfortunately this time it was my turn to sit next to the diver which as you can imagine was not the most comfortable experience. The remainder of the day was spent walking around Munnar which included the guys stopping into a fabric store to get mundus for the next day (I'll explain later what this is). We went to bed relatively early the next day and then woke up very early to catch a bus to go to Neenu's house! The bus ride was nice and empty at first but about an hour into the ride I was pressed up against the side of the bus with tons of women's bags in my arms. I wish I could say that I volunteered to carry the bags but that's just not how it happened. When we got off the bus we had autos waiting to take us to Neenu's jungle spice farm. As soon as we got there we had fresh uppum and sambar waiting for us and coffee made completely from their farm. The coffee was from their farm, with masala from their garden and milk from their cows. Talk about organic. After this we showcased our mundus for Neenu's father and he agreed to take a picture with us in our mundus.
As you can see, we're all very colorful.We stayed there for two days and Neenu gave us a tour of her farm and showed us everything they grow including, coconut, cocoa, cinnamon, pepper, rubber, guavas, tapioca, coffee, plantains, and some more that I can't remember. The following is a video that you might find interesting about the one of the various resources her Father farms.
Rubber:
One of the oddest things I saw there was this:
Although it looks like an alien or some weird creature, it's actually a cocoa bean, or rather, a lot of cocoa beans! The strange thing, is that if you suck on the individual beans, they taste fruity. It's only when you take the slimy white coating off that you see the dark bitter bean that is used to make chocolate. Neenu's farm truly was one of the most relaxing spots. We didn't do any sightseeing (besides the farm tour) but I think everyone one of us enjoyed just relaxing in paradise for a couple of days. We spent the last day at the farm then got back on a bus for a long trip back to Bangalore. Once again I got the bouncy bed in the back.There was simply no time to rest once we got back as a we had found out that we had just had a successful operation in Andhra Pradesh and had freed a number of laborers. We were even written up in a local newspaper which you can read here: IJM saves the day! This was a great welcome to our as we had been struggling with the local governments for the entire summer to free bonded labor victims. Finally this case fell in our lap and the rest is history. That Friday I also had one of the biggest challenges in my personal life as I had to defend my title of "Bangalore Champion" along with my 'Certificate of Specialness.' As most of you don't know what this is, let me explain.
The Bangalore Challenge is an activity that has been here since I got here. Basically one person has the 'certificate of specialness' and another person can challenge the champion to whatever activity he or she wishes such as, chubby bunny, eating rice with chopsticks, or chugging a liter of water. I had won the challenge by challenging Jeff the legal intern to a push-up contest. This wasn't really a legitimate win, however, as he was leaving for the US and couldn't take the certificate with him. So it was this Friday when my true challenge would come. Deepa, one of the national interns, challenged me to a Pani Puri eating contest. I felt that this was a bit unfair as Pani Puri is street food and street food has a reputation for punishing westerners with very awful sickness. Additionally, Pani Puri is a fried ball with masala potato and spiced (non-filtered) water inside. Unfiltered water is yet another thing that is known to make westerners sick so I was very nervous as I contemplated my inevitable food poisoning illness that was to come.
Deepa was extremely confident for her win (Jeff and I, I think, would agree that she was little TOO confident) and was walking on air the whole day. I was the direct opposite. I decided if I'm going to go down then I might as well do it in a blaze of glory.
It came down to the last pani puri but I managed to choke it down just before Deepa. To be honest I think she should have one as she had the bigger pani puri's. The best part was, I didn't get sick!
That weekend was one of the last weekends that my roommates Rob and Ashley were to spend in Bangalore. This past weekend they left to go back to Arizona so we thought since we had a to have another Barbecue before they left, we should have it on labor day! Of course, this ended up turning into a dance party as every party and movie night does here. Our cook, Joitha, came over with her daughter, husband and their VERY little pug puppy Lassie.
Ashley and Christine being creepy while Lassie sleeps with one eye open...Amidst the Shakira, Beyonce and Electric Six that were playing all night, Neenu was kind enough to grace us with a classical Indian dance. It is very interesting seeing this style of dance as the whole story is cateloged through the facial expressions of the dancer. I recorded it on camera so you can see just what it looks like. Unfortunatley, since the lighting wasn't that great you can't see the facial expressions that well.
(Video coming soon)
It's been a really great time here and I am so greatful for this opportunity. Amidst these fun times though, when someone leaves it is very sad and hard as you do not know when you will see that person again. This time was especially hard as two people left and both of them happened to be my roommates. Rob and Ashley (Mom and Dad), I miss you guys already.
While we were dropping them off at the airport though, we saw a very strange site. This young, white, man was walking up and down the outside of the airport with his computer playing his music as loud as he could (which, as you can imagine, was not loud at all). We kept observing the guy and watched him slam his computer against the window where the receptionists for the various airline companies sat and then took his computer cord and started flinging it around in large circles. The girls left and I was with two friends who wanted to see what was going on with this guy. Turns out he had his ticket on his computer and did not print it out so he was trying to get his revenge on the receptionist who had denied him entry to the airport, by acting like a buffoon. He was French and was in India, as he put it, because he was "helping Indians say 'no' to westerners." I really don't get what that means, but my understanding was that he was trying to teach Indian buisnessmen how to communicate with westerners. While my two friends, Ollie and Arvind, were busy talking to the lady behind the window to see if they could get his ticket, the Frenchman started to talk to me and ask about what I was doing here. I told him that I was here with an NGO that works to end bonded labor and sex trafficing, among other things, around the world. This Frenchman then went on to ask if I believed it was wrong to prosecute a foreinger in say India if he had engaged in the sex trade here. Not really believeing what I was hearing I began to give a brief synopsis of the soverignty of the nations, which he just wasn't understanding. He then asked 'Oh so it's like Kant's Categorical Imperitive!'
It wasn't. But I was sick of discussing this so I just said, "Yeah. That's exactly what it is."
He asked what I would be doing after India and I told him I had no idea, maybe go back to school. He then invited me to the plethora of universities in Paris! I said that it sounded great but I don't speak French.
When I said that he seemed to change gears without even thinking,
"That's the problem with you Americans' He said. 'You don't learn our language. You Americans think that we are snobs but that's not true at all. All we want is for you to learn our language." Before I had time to explain to say a number of things that raced to my mind Arvind and Ollie came back with the man's ticket. Turns out talking to the receptionist, is much more effective in communicating with people than swinging your cord around. Ironic that he was chosen to teach Indians how to communicate with westerners. When Arvind and Ollie gave him his ticket he proceeded to crumble it up and said 'I crumble this because this is how they treated me!' At that point we had done what we could. We left in hurry not wanting to witness how this guy would shot himself in the foot again.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Bollywood dance, Mysore and what it means to be a man...at least by Indian Standards
It's been quite some time since I updated this (about a month). I acknowledge this and am sorry for the delay. It's been really hard to make time to keep this up since I'm usually so exhausted from work and my 'after work activities,' that all I really want to do when I get home is lay down and read. As you can see from the desertion of my blog, that's what I have been doing mostly on my down time and it's been great! I feel like it's been a long time since I was able to just sit down and read. So, in short, thank you for your understanding.
I've told a few of you of my after work activities but for those who don't know, now's the time for your enlightenment! When I first came to India there was one thing that I knew I wanted to learn. I figured since you only live once and who knows when I'll be here next, now's the time to learn how to dance...bollywood dance that is! I mentioned at the start of my internship to the rest of the interns that it was my goal to learn how to bollywood dance while I was here in India. To my surprise, the other interns had said they had wanted to learn but nothing had ever come to fruition. So after doing some research (not very in depth research mind you) we found that there was a dance studio right under the gym that I go to, about 3 blocks away from the office and one from my new apartment (I moved recently). The dance studio is run by a man named Xavier who is really an amzing dancer! He knows a ton of different dances and takes his job very seriously! We, however, are not the greatest dancers (imagine that!). One of the lines we freuently hear is, "You know the moves very well. Your knowledge is dead on. What you lack is style." I'm having trouble wondering if I'll ever clear that hurdle but in the meantime it's a lot of fun and a good stress releaver. Due to all of our ridiculousness (uncoordination, lack of rythem, etc.) we usually laugh at ourselves. Xavier, however, assured us that "It is my job, as your instructor, to teach you how to dance. Rest assured I will never laugh at you!" Recently, however, he has definetly warmed up to us and turns out actually knows one of the people we work with (more to come on him later). As of right now, since we have no rythem, we are being taught basic hip-hop so it'll be easier for us to learn bollywood style dance when we get the chance. I say 'bollywood style dance' because I'll never actually be able to learn true bollywood dance. In order to do true bollywood dancing, one most sing as well as use the dance as a method of the telling the story. In otherwords, the dance has to match up with what the words are. So since I lack any knowledge of Hindi, I will only be learning bollywood style dances. After watching the highest grossing bollywood movie (3 Idiots. Go see it!) last Friday, we all decided we wanted to learn how to dance to the hit song from the movie 'Zoobie Doobi.' We tried it and needless to say it was very hard. Well at least for me it was. I asked Xavier if I would be able to do that by the time I leave in May. He said by that time I will be doing more than that. I'm skeptical to say the least.
In light of our Bollywood dance high, some of us, the night before we went on a trip to Mysore, went to Bollywood Night at a cool modern bar by the name of Couch. The bar/restaurant is aptly named because instead of sitting on chairs, the guests sit on couches. We were really looking forward to having dinner and dancing, or at least listening to some good bollyood music. For some reason though, not only was there no dancing going on, the DJ apparently didn't realize it was Bollywood night and instead played Lady Gaga and 50 Cent remixes. That didn't stop us. Since there wasn't a dance floor for us to show are moves on, we decieded the best option would be to make our own dances up sans legs. We made some classic upper body dances up such as "milking the cow," 'making the bed,' and even 'washing the clothes.' Most of the Indians looked at us and laughed. When it was time to order food, we were all excited to get some continental food. I was especially excited for my Chicken Milanese. The key word in that title is chicken mind you. When I got the food, I saw that it was three strips of what appeared to be chicken on a bed of rice covered with this white looking gravy. I at the first piece of chicken was very satisfied with my selection. However, my thoughts changed after I tried the next piece. The second piece tore very easily and all but fell apart in mouth. I was impressed with this second tender chicken. Except for one thing: it didn't taste like chicken. I began to wonder if maybe they had used the same cutting board as they used the fish (which didn't ease my thoughts) but after another bite I was certain that this was fish I was eating. The others at the table tried it and concluded the same. Luckily, the staff decided to leave my dish off the bill so I left a happy man hoping that I would not be sick the next day.
I woke up the next morning content that I did not have any stomach problems from the night before. I dragged myself out of the bed at 6 AM and got into a car with a few other interns to go to the old capital of south India: Mysore! On the way there, we stopped at some really really old Hindu temple.
The other interns went in to have a look around while I guarded their shoes and enjoyed a tender coconut. While enjoying myself and telling off bold vendors, an Indian man in about his late 20s/early 30s. Came up to me and took my picture. This was not abnormal to me as many Indian people will take pictures of white people for some reason. I smiled and waved at him. He then saw that as an invitation to tell his kids to take a picture with the white person (me). So first the son took a picture with me and then the daughter joined for the third picture. So apparently some guy in India will be showing his kids one day a picture he took of them with me; a random white kid.
After the temple, we left for Mysore and went straight to the castle.
This castle was built at the end of the 19th century and housed the royal family of Mysore. Needless to say the palace was amazing and I would have taken pictures if they were allowed but the guards were not having it. After the palace tour, we went to the back of the palace where they were offering elephant and camel rides for the tourists. This was something I was not going to miss so to some of the other interns' dismay, most of us went on an elephant ride. (Unfortunately my camera died by this point so this photo is courtesy of Hanne)
This was about as amazing as it looks except for one thing; we nearly capsizing the whole time. Since we all wanted to be on the same elephant we decided to say no to the guards advice of not putting 5 adults on the saddle. But of course that was not going to fly so we persuaded the guards to let us do it! Bad idea. The saddle rocked to the right and to the left the whole time we rode the elephant. Despite the near death experience I still think it was worth it. After this we went to the Mysore Zoo which was actually really cool. There was a great variety of animals but what made the trip amazing were the signs posted around the zoo (courtesy of Christine). Please, take some time to view these and read what they say if you can (the ones that are in English I mean):
Birds will bite off your fingers
Sign says: Beware of the CHIMPANZEE. One of our chips has learnt to occasionally throw things toward zoo visitors. This is due to the excited reaction he gets from public.
This picture of a bear mauling a human is by far the best:
Sign says: Please be safe! Do not stand, sit or lean on zoo barriers. If you fall, animals could eat you and that might make them sick.
All in all it was a fun time at Mysore!
The past two weekends I have been getting to know one of the investigators from our office here. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the staff here and he is quickly becoming one of my good friends here. Last Sunday, he took me to commerical street (the busiest street ever! with a ton of shops) to get a Sherwani. 'What is a Sherwani?' most of you are probably asking yourselves. A Sherwani is, as my friend the investigator calls them, 'the formal suit of India.' The really expensive ones are what bridegrooms would wear on their wedding day while really cheap ones can be worn day to day. We decided to get moderatly cheap ones that were nice enough for special occations but not too expensive. The result? Well have a look (Note: For security reasons, I cannot post his picture nor can I type his name. As a result I asked what name he'd prefer. I don't know if he suggested it or someone else did but the name that's been agreed upon is Tom Cruise and he will henceforth be known as such):
Tom Cruise, Rob and myself.
We had a prayer retreat on Friday so we showed up wearing these amazing Sherwanis! It was a great time and we got a chance to show off some more Bollywood dance movies in real Indian attire!
I've learned a lot of life lessons these past few days but one sticks out as the most important lesson of all: what it means to be a man. Over the past few years I've asked myself what it really means to be a man. Is it courage? Having a sense of integrity? Going wherever God leads you? These are the questions I struggled with all my life but I finally found out what it means this past Monday.
One of the staff members, Sunder, has an amzing mustache but we all are really encouraging him to grow a gotee (or as it is called here in India, the French) which he had when I first came here but shaved off everything but the mustache. His excuse was, 'No only Americans like the french. My neighbors make fun of the french.' As soon as he said that two of the Indian girls put their vote in for the french. Seeing that he was fighting a losing battle, he turned the tide on me. "What about you," he said, "Where's your mustache?" Hanging my head in shame I responded, "Sunder I can't grow a mustache." Sunder stared a me blankly and then just said, "Why?"
"Because I just can't grow hair there." I said
Staring in disbelief he took the back of his forefinger and felt the smooth skin above my upper lip and gasped in shock. Next to him, Dorothy, the amazing women I work next to in the office (and one of the best cooks on the planet!), bowled over with her head in her hands.
A side note about Dorothy, she and her mom made a bunch of us her homemade Biryani (India's version of fried rice). It had 10 pounds of rice and 4 whole ckickens in it! As I have not yet gotten permission from Dorothy to show her picture on here, I will show you the aftermath of the Biryani as is showcased by Rob's food baby.
She also thinks I look like this Tamil actor. Please let me know your thoughts. I'm not convinced. I pointed out that I have blond hair and that I'm white but she said I have the same features. I don't know about that but I said I would post it and see what you guys think.
Anyway! Back to the main topic. Everytime I'd tell people that I couldn't grow a mustache Dorothy would put her head in her hands and give out a long "OOOOOOHHHH NOOOO!!!" Finally I said, 'It's OK Dorothy I've come to terms with the fact that I cannot grow a mustache.'
She in turn responded, "No but Mark you can't grow a mustache and you tell people that and now they're going to think that you're not a man!" So I was put in my place and found out that a mustache is what makes one a man.
I hope you guys are enjoying this, as I said before this is more about the lighter side of my time in India. As I can't get into any of the work details I hope this gives you some entertainment and maybe even gives you a desire to visit this fascinating place. I really do love all the people that are here and could not ask to be in a better group of ex-pats and interns. Please keep praying for the work that we're doing down here and especially pray for our Director here. Things are hard but there are always opportunities to look at the brighter side of life no matter where one is.
-Mark
I've told a few of you of my after work activities but for those who don't know, now's the time for your enlightenment! When I first came to India there was one thing that I knew I wanted to learn. I figured since you only live once and who knows when I'll be here next, now's the time to learn how to dance...bollywood dance that is! I mentioned at the start of my internship to the rest of the interns that it was my goal to learn how to bollywood dance while I was here in India. To my surprise, the other interns had said they had wanted to learn but nothing had ever come to fruition. So after doing some research (not very in depth research mind you) we found that there was a dance studio right under the gym that I go to, about 3 blocks away from the office and one from my new apartment (I moved recently). The dance studio is run by a man named Xavier who is really an amzing dancer! He knows a ton of different dances and takes his job very seriously! We, however, are not the greatest dancers (imagine that!). One of the lines we freuently hear is, "You know the moves very well. Your knowledge is dead on. What you lack is style." I'm having trouble wondering if I'll ever clear that hurdle but in the meantime it's a lot of fun and a good stress releaver. Due to all of our ridiculousness (uncoordination, lack of rythem, etc.) we usually laugh at ourselves. Xavier, however, assured us that "It is my job, as your instructor, to teach you how to dance. Rest assured I will never laugh at you!" Recently, however, he has definetly warmed up to us and turns out actually knows one of the people we work with (more to come on him later). As of right now, since we have no rythem, we are being taught basic hip-hop so it'll be easier for us to learn bollywood style dance when we get the chance. I say 'bollywood style dance' because I'll never actually be able to learn true bollywood dance. In order to do true bollywood dancing, one most sing as well as use the dance as a method of the telling the story. In otherwords, the dance has to match up with what the words are. So since I lack any knowledge of Hindi, I will only be learning bollywood style dances. After watching the highest grossing bollywood movie (3 Idiots. Go see it!) last Friday, we all decided we wanted to learn how to dance to the hit song from the movie 'Zoobie Doobi.' We tried it and needless to say it was very hard. Well at least for me it was. I asked Xavier if I would be able to do that by the time I leave in May. He said by that time I will be doing more than that. I'm skeptical to say the least.
In light of our Bollywood dance high, some of us, the night before we went on a trip to Mysore, went to Bollywood Night at a cool modern bar by the name of Couch. The bar/restaurant is aptly named because instead of sitting on chairs, the guests sit on couches. We were really looking forward to having dinner and dancing, or at least listening to some good bollyood music. For some reason though, not only was there no dancing going on, the DJ apparently didn't realize it was Bollywood night and instead played Lady Gaga and 50 Cent remixes. That didn't stop us. Since there wasn't a dance floor for us to show are moves on, we decieded the best option would be to make our own dances up sans legs. We made some classic upper body dances up such as "milking the cow," 'making the bed,' and even 'washing the clothes.' Most of the Indians looked at us and laughed. When it was time to order food, we were all excited to get some continental food. I was especially excited for my Chicken Milanese. The key word in that title is chicken mind you. When I got the food, I saw that it was three strips of what appeared to be chicken on a bed of rice covered with this white looking gravy. I at the first piece of chicken was very satisfied with my selection. However, my thoughts changed after I tried the next piece. The second piece tore very easily and all but fell apart in mouth. I was impressed with this second tender chicken. Except for one thing: it didn't taste like chicken. I began to wonder if maybe they had used the same cutting board as they used the fish (which didn't ease my thoughts) but after another bite I was certain that this was fish I was eating. The others at the table tried it and concluded the same. Luckily, the staff decided to leave my dish off the bill so I left a happy man hoping that I would not be sick the next day.
I woke up the next morning content that I did not have any stomach problems from the night before. I dragged myself out of the bed at 6 AM and got into a car with a few other interns to go to the old capital of south India: Mysore! On the way there, we stopped at some really really old Hindu temple.
The other interns went in to have a look around while I guarded their shoes and enjoyed a tender coconut. While enjoying myself and telling off bold vendors, an Indian man in about his late 20s/early 30s. Came up to me and took my picture. This was not abnormal to me as many Indian people will take pictures of white people for some reason. I smiled and waved at him. He then saw that as an invitation to tell his kids to take a picture with the white person (me). So first the son took a picture with me and then the daughter joined for the third picture. So apparently some guy in India will be showing his kids one day a picture he took of them with me; a random white kid.After the temple, we left for Mysore and went straight to the castle.
This castle was built at the end of the 19th century and housed the royal family of Mysore. Needless to say the palace was amazing and I would have taken pictures if they were allowed but the guards were not having it. After the palace tour, we went to the back of the palace where they were offering elephant and camel rides for the tourists. This was something I was not going to miss so to some of the other interns' dismay, most of us went on an elephant ride. (Unfortunately my camera died by this point so this photo is courtesy of Hanne)
This was about as amazing as it looks except for one thing; we nearly capsizing the whole time. Since we all wanted to be on the same elephant we decided to say no to the guards advice of not putting 5 adults on the saddle. But of course that was not going to fly so we persuaded the guards to let us do it! Bad idea. The saddle rocked to the right and to the left the whole time we rode the elephant. Despite the near death experience I still think it was worth it. After this we went to the Mysore Zoo which was actually really cool. There was a great variety of animals but what made the trip amazing were the signs posted around the zoo (courtesy of Christine). Please, take some time to view these and read what they say if you can (the ones that are in English I mean):
Birds will bite off your fingers
Sign says: Beware of the CHIMPANZEE. One of our chips has learnt to occasionally throw things toward zoo visitors. This is due to the excited reaction he gets from public.
This picture of a bear mauling a human is by far the best:Sign says: Please be safe! Do not stand, sit or lean on zoo barriers. If you fall, animals could eat you and that might make them sick.
All in all it was a fun time at Mysore!
The past two weekends I have been getting to know one of the investigators from our office here. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the staff here and he is quickly becoming one of my good friends here. Last Sunday, he took me to commerical street (the busiest street ever! with a ton of shops) to get a Sherwani. 'What is a Sherwani?' most of you are probably asking yourselves. A Sherwani is, as my friend the investigator calls them, 'the formal suit of India.' The really expensive ones are what bridegrooms would wear on their wedding day while really cheap ones can be worn day to day. We decided to get moderatly cheap ones that were nice enough for special occations but not too expensive. The result? Well have a look (Note: For security reasons, I cannot post his picture nor can I type his name. As a result I asked what name he'd prefer. I don't know if he suggested it or someone else did but the name that's been agreed upon is Tom Cruise and he will henceforth be known as such):
Tom Cruise, Rob and myself.We had a prayer retreat on Friday so we showed up wearing these amazing Sherwanis! It was a great time and we got a chance to show off some more Bollywood dance movies in real Indian attire!
I've learned a lot of life lessons these past few days but one sticks out as the most important lesson of all: what it means to be a man. Over the past few years I've asked myself what it really means to be a man. Is it courage? Having a sense of integrity? Going wherever God leads you? These are the questions I struggled with all my life but I finally found out what it means this past Monday.
One of the staff members, Sunder, has an amzing mustache but we all are really encouraging him to grow a gotee (or as it is called here in India, the French) which he had when I first came here but shaved off everything but the mustache. His excuse was, 'No only Americans like the french. My neighbors make fun of the french.' As soon as he said that two of the Indian girls put their vote in for the french. Seeing that he was fighting a losing battle, he turned the tide on me. "What about you," he said, "Where's your mustache?" Hanging my head in shame I responded, "Sunder I can't grow a mustache." Sunder stared a me blankly and then just said, "Why?"
"Because I just can't grow hair there." I said
Staring in disbelief he took the back of his forefinger and felt the smooth skin above my upper lip and gasped in shock. Next to him, Dorothy, the amazing women I work next to in the office (and one of the best cooks on the planet!), bowled over with her head in her hands.
A side note about Dorothy, she and her mom made a bunch of us her homemade Biryani (India's version of fried rice). It had 10 pounds of rice and 4 whole ckickens in it! As I have not yet gotten permission from Dorothy to show her picture on here, I will show you the aftermath of the Biryani as is showcased by Rob's food baby.
She also thinks I look like this Tamil actor. Please let me know your thoughts. I'm not convinced. I pointed out that I have blond hair and that I'm white but she said I have the same features. I don't know about that but I said I would post it and see what you guys think.
Anyway! Back to the main topic. Everytime I'd tell people that I couldn't grow a mustache Dorothy would put her head in her hands and give out a long "OOOOOOHHHH NOOOO!!!" Finally I said, 'It's OK Dorothy I've come to terms with the fact that I cannot grow a mustache.'
She in turn responded, "No but Mark you can't grow a mustache and you tell people that and now they're going to think that you're not a man!" So I was put in my place and found out that a mustache is what makes one a man.
I hope you guys are enjoying this, as I said before this is more about the lighter side of my time in India. As I can't get into any of the work details I hope this gives you some entertainment and maybe even gives you a desire to visit this fascinating place. I really do love all the people that are here and could not ask to be in a better group of ex-pats and interns. Please keep praying for the work that we're doing down here and especially pray for our Director here. Things are hard but there are always opportunities to look at the brighter side of life no matter where one is.
-Mark
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monthly Meeting, World Cup and Hoganakal!
Well it's been a while since I wrote my last entry, about two weeks, so I figured it was round bout that time to update the two of you about what I've been doing here. Last Saturday (the 10th) I went on an aftercare 'monthly meeting' trip where we check up on our clients, see how they're doing, assist our aftercare partners with anything they need and basically try in any way we can to communicate with our clients. We got in the car WAY too early for a Saturday (8:00 AM) and headed off for a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was very interesting seeing India outside of Bangalore The land outside of the city is beautiful, especially in Tamil Nadu where there are mountains and forests. We stopped at this small shack looking place for breakfast:
Don't judge by the appearance! Although it looks incredibly shady, it had some amazing food. I was particularly excited for breakfast since it was my first time experiencing a real Indian breakfast. Coming from the States, I was expecting something very hearty and maybe even a little sweet. To my surprise, however, breakfast was not really different than lunch or dinner and was, of course, very spicy (honestly I don't even know why that surprised me). I ordered Idly which are these circle rice cakes that you break off and dip into chutney (a kind of thick sauce). They were amazing!
After breakfast we hopped back in the car and drove maybe ten minutes away to a church where the clients were. Since the clients don't speak English, this poses as a problem for all the Western language speakers. Many of the more experienced interns, however, have been able to break barriers and become friends with some of the clients through smiles, holding babies and sometimes translators. My job was just to sit and back and take pictures during the meeting. After the meeting was over I went outside to take more pictures and found myself getting accosted by some children from a local school. Once they saw that I had a camera they each had me take their pictures and show them their picture. They thought it was hilarious and would pose for me smiling, saluting or in a boxing stance. Eventually there recess was up and they had to go back to school so I got a bit of a breather. Shortly after I got my breather we went away to lunch where I had my first traditional South Indian meal served on banana leaf and all!
The thing is that you eat with your right hand and ONLY your right hand as the left one is meant for (ahem!) other purposes. Basically you make a little pile with your fingers, scoop it into your fingers then place it up to your mouth and shove it with your thumb! I am anxiously awaiting when my manners minded mother comes to visit and I can for once 'play' with my food in peace!
The next day was the World Cup and since the place I am staying at has a TV, we decided to invite some people over to watch the game. I woke up way to early in the morning for a Sunday (7:30) and went to St. Mark's Basilica which is part of the ecumenically minded Church of South India. The CSI was formed in the mid 1900s from many denominations with the main purpose of their unification being that the church be united. The service was very similar to an Anglican Church service and was packed with people! After church, I got lost. A couple hours later I found myself back at home and bought some supplies for the game that night. Everyone came over around 9 or 10 and we kicked off the night with a dance party!
Most of the interns (and Neenu and Wincy, two nationals who works at the office and hang out with us a lot) came as well as a staff member, John, who came with his wife and twins! Naturally, we included them in the dance party:
(That'd be Neenu and Hanne dancing with John's daughter to 'Waka Waka' by Shakira)
The dance party was a lot of fun but it wore us all out so most of the crew passed out within the first ten minutes of the game. For those of us who didn't and stayed up until 3 AM to watch the end of the game (it started at midnight) we ended up regretting it as we were zombies for work the next day. The next week of work was spent learning form Lela (the intern who I was replacing). Honestly I don't know what I would have done if she had left early! I feel like she does everyhing! Unfortunatly this past weekend she and another intern, who shall remain nameless due to her fear of being mentioned on the internet, left our office. So we threw a 'party' for them which is really a poor way of describing this get together as most people were in tears. It is really sad the way interns come in three phases. You might become really good friends with someone only to see them leave in a couple weeks or a few months and then who knows when you'll see them next! Either way it was nice to hear all the nice things people had to say about these two. Afterwards we went to our place and watched a Bollywood movie Pardes. It's an interesting movie. I'll just say I learned a lot about what American life is like.
The next morning we got up WAY too early again (for real this time. 5:30 AM) and took a trip out to Hoganakal.
The headache inducing road to Hoganakal. To be honest these roads were WAY better then some of the others we had to drive over. Some of them were not paved and had rocks about the size of my fist to serve as the pavement.
The waterfalls of Hogenakal! It was very much worth the rocky ride!
This was the boat all six of us went in to view the falls and then go swimming in the river!
Water Buffalo cooling off in the water.
Neenu and Emily. Emily had an unfortunate experience with a greedy monkey who stole here bottle full of orange soda. It's a good thing she loves monkeys!
You could say we hit some traffic on the way home...
These past two days have been my first two on my own. Luckily right now the office is a little slow since a lot of the staff are taking trips for work purposes so that's given me a chance to get my feet wet slowly. I've mostly just been doing some filing and IT work. Not the most glamorous work but someone's gotta do it. For those looking to pray for myself and the Bangalore team here, we would really appreciate your prayers in regard to the casework. We have been facing a lot of road bumps and have for a few weeks so just pray that eventually all our team's hard work will pay off.
Thanks to all for your prayers and support.
-Mark
Don't judge by the appearance! Although it looks incredibly shady, it had some amazing food. I was particularly excited for breakfast since it was my first time experiencing a real Indian breakfast. Coming from the States, I was expecting something very hearty and maybe even a little sweet. To my surprise, however, breakfast was not really different than lunch or dinner and was, of course, very spicy (honestly I don't even know why that surprised me). I ordered Idly which are these circle rice cakes that you break off and dip into chutney (a kind of thick sauce). They were amazing!
After breakfast we hopped back in the car and drove maybe ten minutes away to a church where the clients were. Since the clients don't speak English, this poses as a problem for all the Western language speakers. Many of the more experienced interns, however, have been able to break barriers and become friends with some of the clients through smiles, holding babies and sometimes translators. My job was just to sit and back and take pictures during the meeting. After the meeting was over I went outside to take more pictures and found myself getting accosted by some children from a local school. Once they saw that I had a camera they each had me take their pictures and show them their picture. They thought it was hilarious and would pose for me smiling, saluting or in a boxing stance. Eventually there recess was up and they had to go back to school so I got a bit of a breather. Shortly after I got my breather we went away to lunch where I had my first traditional South Indian meal served on banana leaf and all!
The thing is that you eat with your right hand and ONLY your right hand as the left one is meant for (ahem!) other purposes. Basically you make a little pile with your fingers, scoop it into your fingers then place it up to your mouth and shove it with your thumb! I am anxiously awaiting when my manners minded mother comes to visit and I can for once 'play' with my food in peace!
The next day was the World Cup and since the place I am staying at has a TV, we decided to invite some people over to watch the game. I woke up way to early in the morning for a Sunday (7:30) and went to St. Mark's Basilica which is part of the ecumenically minded Church of South India. The CSI was formed in the mid 1900s from many denominations with the main purpose of their unification being that the church be united. The service was very similar to an Anglican Church service and was packed with people! After church, I got lost. A couple hours later I found myself back at home and bought some supplies for the game that night. Everyone came over around 9 or 10 and we kicked off the night with a dance party!
Most of the interns (and Neenu and Wincy, two nationals who works at the office and hang out with us a lot) came as well as a staff member, John, who came with his wife and twins! Naturally, we included them in the dance party:
(That'd be Neenu and Hanne dancing with John's daughter to 'Waka Waka' by Shakira)
The dance party was a lot of fun but it wore us all out so most of the crew passed out within the first ten minutes of the game. For those of us who didn't and stayed up until 3 AM to watch the end of the game (it started at midnight) we ended up regretting it as we were zombies for work the next day. The next week of work was spent learning form Lela (the intern who I was replacing). Honestly I don't know what I would have done if she had left early! I feel like she does everyhing! Unfortunatly this past weekend she and another intern, who shall remain nameless due to her fear of being mentioned on the internet, left our office. So we threw a 'party' for them which is really a poor way of describing this get together as most people were in tears. It is really sad the way interns come in three phases. You might become really good friends with someone only to see them leave in a couple weeks or a few months and then who knows when you'll see them next! Either way it was nice to hear all the nice things people had to say about these two. Afterwards we went to our place and watched a Bollywood movie Pardes. It's an interesting movie. I'll just say I learned a lot about what American life is like.
The next morning we got up WAY too early again (for real this time. 5:30 AM) and took a trip out to Hoganakal.
The headache inducing road to Hoganakal. To be honest these roads were WAY better then some of the others we had to drive over. Some of them were not paved and had rocks about the size of my fist to serve as the pavement.
The waterfalls of Hogenakal! It was very much worth the rocky ride!
This was the boat all six of us went in to view the falls and then go swimming in the river!
Water Buffalo cooling off in the water.
Neenu and Emily. Emily had an unfortunate experience with a greedy monkey who stole here bottle full of orange soda. It's a good thing she loves monkeys!
You could say we hit some traffic on the way home...
These past two days have been my first two on my own. Luckily right now the office is a little slow since a lot of the staff are taking trips for work purposes so that's given me a chance to get my feet wet slowly. I've mostly just been doing some filing and IT work. Not the most glamorous work but someone's gotta do it. For those looking to pray for myself and the Bangalore team here, we would really appreciate your prayers in regard to the casework. We have been facing a lot of road bumps and have for a few weeks so just pray that eventually all our team's hard work will pay off.
Thanks to all for your prayers and support.
-Mark
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
One Week Down...somewhere around 47 to go?
Well it's been a whirlwind of a first week here in South Asia. The first few days I was pretty much living on three to four hours a night and then dragging myself to work only to be really conscience and coherent for maybe...3 of those hours. The rest of the time was me pretty much taking up space and trying to focus. But overall I think it went pretty well considering the mental state I was in. I got a brief orientation of the work that I'll be doing and seems like it's going to be pretty tough due to the amount of areas I am responsible for (IT, finance, recruiting and maintaining the shared website). I'm a little worried though as I have absolutely zero knowledge of computers or finance so it'll be sink or swim for the next year.
Since stepping off the plane I have found it more and more enjoyable due in large part to the people I have met here. Everyone, nationals and ex-pats, has been really great and friendly. It seems like it really is a cohesive group. On Friday we had doughnuts and a dance off at the end of the day. I was still in my little jet lag phase but I promised to participate in the dance off after I had taken a few bollywood hip hop dancing lessons. The next day all the interns took the three of us new interns out into the 'city center' of Bangalore to show us the sites of the city. There aren't too many but here are some highlights
This is the entrance to the High Court of Karnataka (the state where I live). A close up of the arch reveals the goal of the High Court. It says 'Justice for all - Real & Speedy.' For some reason I just find that hard to believe.
This is the parliament building of Karnataka. The motto for this building is "Government Work is God's Work." Let's hope that's not the case.
These are some of the girls from the office:
And the only three Ex-pat guys in the office:
Getting around is pretty easy. We usually just walk or take autos but dealing with traffic is a bit of nightmare.
Needless to say this picture does not do it justice but it's amazing that more accidents don't happen here.
Since stepping off the plane I have found it more and more enjoyable due in large part to the people I have met here. Everyone, nationals and ex-pats, has been really great and friendly. It seems like it really is a cohesive group. On Friday we had doughnuts and a dance off at the end of the day. I was still in my little jet lag phase but I promised to participate in the dance off after I had taken a few bollywood hip hop dancing lessons. The next day all the interns took the three of us new interns out into the 'city center' of Bangalore to show us the sites of the city. There aren't too many but here are some highlights
This is the entrance to the High Court of Karnataka (the state where I live). A close up of the arch reveals the goal of the High Court. It says 'Justice for all - Real & Speedy.' For some reason I just find that hard to believe.
This is the parliament building of Karnataka. The motto for this building is "Government Work is God's Work." Let's hope that's not the case.
These are some of the girls from the office:
And the only three Ex-pat guys in the office:
Getting around is pretty easy. We usually just walk or take autos but dealing with traffic is a bit of nightmare.
Needless to say this picture does not do it justice but it's amazing that more accidents don't happen here.
Cows eating some trash in front of a college. Would you honestly expect anything else?
Sure they look really cute but these things are out of control! There are tons of these dogs around the city that do nothing but sleep all day but at night these things turn into monsters and that's coming from a dog lover. They own the night and roam around the city in packs and when they start barking and howling it might be one of the most frightening sounds I've ever heard.
After the tour of the city, we went to a bar to watch the World Cup and have a few beers. While there, we watched the Argentina/Germany game. To my suprise, a good amount of Indians were there watching the game. This was strange to me because coming here I heard the soccer was not that big of a sport; Cricket was the sport to watch/play. But when we went to the bar/restaurant, there were tons of people watching the game. The thing I loved about it was that none of them were cheering for any team in particular. They were cheering purly for excitment. When Argentina almost scored a few goals they would gasp in anticipation and exhale with dismay. But when Germany scored, it was yelling and cheering and high fives all around. I thought this was hilarious.
The next day was independence day and Sunday so I went with a couple interns to a Presbyterian Church. I think in total there was about 30 people in the small church. Afterwards, we went and bought beef (yes beef) and talked to some of Rob's (one of the three ex-pat male interns) friends from church who invited us to come camping in the rainforest. That sounds incredibly awesome and terrifing at the same time (see my phobia of snakes). When we had gotten all our supplies we went to an apartment and had a real American BBQ in Bangalore full of Burgers, Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Apple Pie and Beer! It was great and felt like home. At least it felt like home until we were told not to leave the house all day monday, due to a strike that would last all day and that could potentially become violent. So the next day we all went to our boss's house and had a second BBQ though not nearly as poppin as the first one.
Although there are some parts, like the random cows and traffic, that can be a hassle it really is a fun experience learning about a whole new place and getting to experience it first hand. I never ate that much Indian food before I came here but now I find that I love the food and especially the spices! It seems like I've had something different everyday and have loved each dish! All in all I like it here and am really glad I did this!
Until next time,
Mark
After the tour of the city, we went to a bar to watch the World Cup and have a few beers. While there, we watched the Argentina/Germany game. To my suprise, a good amount of Indians were there watching the game. This was strange to me because coming here I heard the soccer was not that big of a sport; Cricket was the sport to watch/play. But when we went to the bar/restaurant, there were tons of people watching the game. The thing I loved about it was that none of them were cheering for any team in particular. They were cheering purly for excitment. When Argentina almost scored a few goals they would gasp in anticipation and exhale with dismay. But when Germany scored, it was yelling and cheering and high fives all around. I thought this was hilarious.
The next day was independence day and Sunday so I went with a couple interns to a Presbyterian Church. I think in total there was about 30 people in the small church. Afterwards, we went and bought beef (yes beef) and talked to some of Rob's (one of the three ex-pat male interns) friends from church who invited us to come camping in the rainforest. That sounds incredibly awesome and terrifing at the same time (see my phobia of snakes). When we had gotten all our supplies we went to an apartment and had a real American BBQ in Bangalore full of Burgers, Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Apple Pie and Beer! It was great and felt like home. At least it felt like home until we were told not to leave the house all day monday, due to a strike that would last all day and that could potentially become violent. So the next day we all went to our boss's house and had a second BBQ though not nearly as poppin as the first one.
Although there are some parts, like the random cows and traffic, that can be a hassle it really is a fun experience learning about a whole new place and getting to experience it first hand. I never ate that much Indian food before I came here but now I find that I love the food and especially the spices! It seems like I've had something different everyday and have loved each dish! All in all I like it here and am really glad I did this!
Until next time,
Mark
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