A New Year, Two Monsoons, and a Little Bit of "Wah"

L'Shana Tova from the only Jew in Hyderabad. Being away from your community during the holidays is one thing. Feeling millions of miles from any other Jew is quite another. But, I saw this one coming, so I did some preparations for my inevitably funky day. With no services to attend or round challah to rip n' pass, I decided to make the most of this day on my own. As one should, I have done some reflection about my past year, thinking on how some relationships have grown while others have faded. Where have I missed the mark? Where have my actions and reactions strayed from my ideal? Who do I need to forgive and from whom should I ask for forgiveness?

On a more superficial level, I bought apples to eat with our house's abundant supply of honey. Apples aren't native to India, so they're REALLY expensive and not very good. The first batch I bought turned out to be all brown and bruised on the inside. Luckily, I had the morning off, so I tried again at a nicer super market. These ones were edible, so Suzanne, Kyla and I peeled them and sliced them and dipped them in honey :) I tried streaming services online after dinner, but Indian internet wasn't having it. Thankfully, the connection did allow me to skype my family from their big Rosh Hashanah lunch so that I could say hi and kind of be a part of the celebration. It was bitter sweet to see what I am missing, but also nice to have some semblance of a Jewish community on this important day. And such fun to see happy familiar faces!

In other news, the running streak of clear beautiful weather came to a drastic end this week with two straight days of monsoon rains. On Wednesday, Suzanne and I got stuck on one end of campus, with Hindi class a 15 minute bike ride away, and a torrential downpour between the two locations. After waiting for the rain to lighten up, we had already made ourselves ten minutes late for this hour long class. So, we arrived at the natural conclusion that it was no longer worth trying to make it. If we are going to get drenched, might as well be on the way home, where we had warm showers and clean clothes. We used our raincoats to protect our backpacks and decided to embrace utter wetness. There is something really liberating to throwing your hands up and just accepting what the world hands you, and in India, thats often what I find myself doing. So, I accepted looking like a giant hunchback, wearing see-through linen pants, and biking furiously despite being unable see more than five feet ahead.

BEFORE.

AFTER.

We got home, cleaned up, had some hot chai, texted our Hindi teacher about the absence, and put on Garden State. This all wouldn't have been too bad... if the same thing didn't happen again the next day. And this time, I didn't have my raincoat because I was coming from a volunteer meeting without my usual backpack. And, I couldn't skip class because we had a guest speaker in Ayurveda. So, I biked through the second ridiculous downpour of the week and arrived in class even more soaked than the above picture. I slowly dried through my three consecutive hours of class. Oy.

If you haven't already noticed, this week has kind of been a complain-y one. Nothing seriously bad has happened, just lots of little things eating away my patience. When I was in a similar mood in August, I created a list (typical) called "Things I Miss From America" in my handy little notebook. This week, I sat in class rereading the list and adding things. I don't know why I torture myself like this. To keep perspective, I sometimes try and remember that after a few days in America, I am going to have an even longer list of things I miss from India. I know its true! And, its not that I want to go home at all.. more just that I want to be in America for like three days, eat a lot of food, and then come back and stay here forever. Anyways, I thought I'd share the list (or at least a sample). 

Things I Miss From America

1. Wearing shorts
2. Working out (and having the energy to do so)
3. Wearing perfume instead of Deet
4. Sometimes straightening my hair
5. Clean bathrooms
6. Smoothly paved roads
7. Predictable traffic
8. Skim milk
9. Salad/Lettuce/Fresh vegetables
10. Good deli sandwiches
11. Bagels 
12. Ovens
13. Being able to cook or bake for myself, or even just serve my own plate
14. Shabbat dinner
15. Going out to dinner in Bethesda
16. Going out to dinner in Atlanta
17. Going out at Emory
18. Dancing
19. Feeling carefree in public, rather than always on-guard/self-conscience
20. Watching (American) TV
21. Big comfy couches
22. The combination of a warm bed in a cold room
23. Down comforters, sweatshirt blankets, and soft mattresses
24. Sleeping past 9am
25. Not planning my laundry around power outages
26. Not having my drying clothes re-dirtied by an unexpected monsoon
27. My dog, Kubi
28. Unlimited texting
29. Long phone conversations
30. Internet that can efficiently download youtube videos or upload photos
31. Being allowed to bring books and laptops into the library
32. Indoor study spaces at all
33. Just desks
34. Stimulating classes
35. Invested, personable professors 

See what all you Americans are taking for granted? Alright, I'm done. I think I need something to mix things up a little here. Next week, I have one presentation and one test, and then I am off to Goa, India's infamous hippy, tourist beach. Its not really the correct season, so things will be less crowded and cheaper, but hopefully we will still have some nice weather. The seafood and 'laxed culture should be really refreshing. In the meantime, I need to snap out of it and get my work done so I can enjoy the trip to the fullest! 

The Search Is Over-- Lets Talk About Puberty!

Its been a very long time since I have mentioned volunteering, and I am elated to say that I am now working on a project that could not be more perfect for my experience, skills, interests, and schedule. But before I get into it, let me rant for just a minute about the ludicrous process of finding a position/project. 

When it became clear that the organizations affiliated with CIEE were not going to work with my busy class schedule, I decided to look elsewhere on my own. So, the search began. I met with a doctor originally from Hyderabad who is now working at the VA hospital in Atlanta. A dear professor at Emory put me in touch with him while he was visiting India, and we got together over coffee. Our little meeting involved some great conversation about comparing American and Indian culture and their perspective medical systems. We left the morning equally fond of each other, and he put me in contact with a friend of his who runs an NGO working in health education and promotion in Hyderabad. I spoke with this director on the phone, and he invited me to one of his organization's upcoming events. But he was pretty curt and difficult to understand over the phone, and we had a serious of miscommunications that left us both frustrated. I finally got the correct time and place and set out alone to get across the city to said event, just as Hyderabad was hit with its worst monsoon of the season. I stood at the bus stop waiting to switch to a rickshaw-- my legs wading in 8 inches of flowing water, clothes completely soaked, already 30 minutes behind schedule, and still unclear where I was going. I found a rickshaw and got pretty close to where I thought this event might be, but when I called to explain my tardiness and ask for more directions, the man was so unhelpful and unfriendly that I just gave up. I decided that if he couldn't even help me out a little, I was not going to put any more energy into helping him. I was lost and alone and exhausted and just so so wet.. it wasn't meant to be. So, I met up with some friends who were at a coffee shop halfway between me and home. My search was back at square one. 

At this point, my mom suggested that I visit the Rotary Club of Hyderabad to find out if they knew of any projects or organizations that I could work with this semester. So, the weekend that Meghana was in town, I went to one of the nicest hotels in the city and attended the weekly Rotary Club meeting with some of Hyderabad's most philanthropic intellectuals and professionals. They were very enthused to have me as a visitor, and even asked me to give an impromptu speech behind a podium. Club photographer snapping away, I told them about myself, my semester in India, and my desire to give back to Hyderabad, and thanked them for welcoming me. The guest speaker that week spoke about the epidemiology of cancer and why certain cancers increase and decrease in prevalence as a region develops-- so fascinating to me. I met a very nice couple that was eager to help my search along. That Sunday, I navigated the city alone again to attend a meeting in their home to plan Hyderabad's chapter of India's annunal "Joy of Giving Week". Because of his role in this event, the husband knows about every NGO in this city. And, his wife is a doctor and one of the few people in India who has known Emory. They gave me some very useful information, including the name of a group called "Youth For Seva" (Youth For Service) that mobilizes young people volunteering in the fields of education, health and environment. 

I immediately contacted their health coordinator and met him for coffee that week. This little coffee date was much more of an interview than I anticipated, but I was quick on my feet-- I told him about the Predictive Health initiative at Emory and my current studies in anthropology and Ayurveda and my work in informal education at Camp Moshava and my volunteer work this past summer with Yachad's Ramp it Up! PHEW.. we both had so much to say! He told me about a project that he thought might be a good fit and gave me the information to meet the team that Thursday at the mall food court. That meeting turned out to be one of the greatest hours of my time in India! 

I am now working with the health sector of Youth For Seva on a project that does health education and hygiene promotion for pubescent girls from the slums. First, some context-- In India, menstruation is seen as impure. It is not discussed openly, so girls often do not understand what is happening to their body. In addition, there are many taboos and superstitions associated with menstruation that result in girls not bathing, being excluded from religious rituals, improperly cleaning their cloths, burning their pads, and missing class. The associations of impurity can get in the way of hygiene and lead to an unnecessary prevalence of infection. Also, most girls do not go to school during their period because they do not have a way to change or clean their reusable cloth at school. Since they are missing one week out of every month, many girls soon drop out of school all together. 

My group goes to government schools and meets with girls around ages 11-15. The day is started with an activity to get the girls comfortable with this topic. Then, we talk to each girl individually to find out if she has her period, her sanitation habits, her school attendance, and her thoughts, beliefs, and experiences regarding menstruation and associated taboos. After this data is collected, the team gives a presentation to educate the girls on the biology behind menstruation, assuring them that it is normal, healthy, necessary to life, and in no way impure. We teach the girls sanitary ways to clean their reusable clothes and encourage the more hygienic and convenient disposable sanitary napkin. Since the girls are just now warming up, they have an opportunity to get their questions and concerns addressed. In the end, we leave them with three months worth of free sanitary products for the girls.  

All of this is done in one event called "awareness talks" that we do at different government schools across the city. We also have "gynecological camps," where gynecologists offer to see girls that need doctor consultations free of charge. Three months after doing an awareness talk (and gynecological camp, if necessary), we return to the school to collect data on any changes in the last three months. At this point, we provide a partial stipend to continue the purchasing of sanitary products. It is well known that an individual will be more likely to value and utilize a product if they are contributing to its purchase, so girls must start partially paying for the products after the three month period.  Teachers are also engaged in this program, as it is their job to insure that trash cans are in the bathrooms, pads are available to girls that need them, and the school atmosphere is a open, comfortable, and encouraging place for girls, even when menstruating. 

The group of about a dozen young women meet in the mall eatery every Thursday. We start the meeting reading and discussing an article that somehow relates to women's empowerment in India. Then, we discuss the past week's work and plan for the upcoming week. We are currently trying to find a pad company that will sponsor our project and provide free pads, or at least wholesale prices. Also, a team member just translated this video about the biology of menstruation from English to Telugu so that it can be used in the awareness talk. I have really enjoyed these meetings, and the training session I attended for all new Youth For Seva volunteers. At this past week's meeting, I told the table full of well-educated women what a tampon was, showed them two different kinds, and explained how they work. The concept of tampons just doesn't exist in India and no one knows about them-- so interesting! As much as I enjoy these meetings, I am bummed to have not actually attended a government school yet because of my recent travels and the shut down of government schools by the Telegana Separatist Movement agitation. I still feel very much a part of the project and am eager to get even more involved. Our project leader just met with an American women who is doing similar work in Africa and Nepal, and happens to do her fundraising in Atlanta. I am thinking that I might be able to help her when I get back next semester or copy her model to raise funds for the YFS project. Its amazing, but a month's worth of sanitation products for one woman cost around 25 rupees.. exactly 50 cents. (Her project is called "50 Cents. Period." if you want to look it up!)

I recently ran into an interesting moral dilemma of sorts regarding my work with this project. The video that they chose to translate is a Disney short film made in the 1940s. It has great simple explanations of the biology of puberty and menstruation. But it also perpetuates very stereotypical gender norms, subtly implying that girls are just delicate little things, who should look pretty, play with dolls, be attracted to men, etc. At one point, they say "you can go about your every day activities" and it shows a woman cleaning the house. I cringed. And when I showed the other two Americans in my home stay, they agreed that I should say something. I am here with a unique perspective, and that is worthless if I squash it. But, I felt conflicted because India's view of menstruation (and maybe gender roles) is behind that of the US, so this video may be more appropriate in these contexts than it would be in the States right now. And, the group already put a lot of hard work into translating the script and arranging a voice over. Plus, I am the group newbie, so its a little gutsy for me to question the moves of the team. After some internal dialogue, I decided to send the project leader an email voicing my thoughts and concerns. I said that we should still use the video, but I offered to find an article about how children's movies often promote certain gender norms or heteronormativity. At least that way, our group can learn more about the topic.

I am still nervously waiting for a response. So, my classes may not be very thought provoking or progressive, but I have definitely found another way challenge myself and contribute to enlightening thought! Honestly, the search for a volunteer position gave me invaluable networking and interviewing experience and definitely tested my determination and persistence. So, this is just a win-win-win-win-win situation for me, Youth For Seva, and underprivileged girls in Hyderabad.

Jaipur and Agra

Sorry this post is a doozy, but this weekend's independent travel to two thirds of the infamous golden triangle left me with just too much to say. Be patient, and enjoy :)


Wednesday
6:00pm- Leave Hyderabad
11:30- Arrive in Jaipur, a famous historic and beautiful city in Rajastan, North India. Spend night in adorable, quaint little hotel where we slept 8 girls in 4 beds in the colorfully decorated "family room"for the equivalent of $4 per person per night.


Thursday
7:30- Wake up for WESTERN breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel.
9:00- City Palace. First site of the weekend. University of Hyderabad student IDs earn us a student discount and exempt us from the foreigner tax-- SO COOL! Actually, happened all day. Cool every time.
10:30- Jantar Mantar Observatory. Looks like a beautiful sculpture garden, but each structure is still functioning to do some astrological stuff I don't understand and tell time more accurately than my watch.
12:00- Get lost on the way to Hawa Mahal and meet some really cool vendors who speak Spanish. Shop and have great conversation in a mixture of English, Spanish, and Hindi.
1:00- Hawa Mahal. Gorgeous structure built for royal women to sit and observe the city below. Breath taking building with even more breathtaking views.
2:00- Lunch at a hole in the wall (more life roof) restaurant with DELICIOUS North Indian food-- garlic naan loaded with butter, flavorful creamy curries, much more rich and less spicy to our diet in the South.
3:00- Shopping in the notorious Jaipur Bazars. Made some friends. Made some enemies. Walked away with really decent prices on an absurd amount of gifts, including "tie and die" scarfs unique to Jaipur.
5:00- Order drinks in a cafe just to get some AC. Try to find a public garden that ended up being really rundown and sketchy park. Then, failed attempt to see a Hindi movie. So, went to the mall and settled for a coconut oil head massages and pedicures. Not bad.
9:00- Dinner back on the rooftop of our hotel. More delicious North Indian food followed by much needed showers and planning for the next day.


Friday
8:00- Mango Lassi (yogurt drink) back up on the roof before bidding our adorable hotel goodbye.
9:00- Group splits. My half heads to a family business that makes and sells Jaipur blue pottery. SO GORGEOUS. More gifts, more Hindi practice.
11:30- Can't find this ayurveda store, so instead get fresh fruit juice, some AC, and a little rest from our ever-growing luggage.
12:00- Lunch at a nice restaurant that was a bit pricer, but had really cool decor and more tasty eats.
1:15- Get picked up by our arranged taxi service and head to the Amber fort, about 20 mins outside of Jaipur. On the way, stopped to take pictures of camels, elephants, and the Jal Mahal, the "floating palace" that is half underwater now because of monsoon season.
2:30- Amber Fort, the most beautiful and confusing structure to ever wander. Went up dark spiraling staircases, through bat-ridden tunnels, onto amazing balconies, into ancient ancient bathrooms, and up to the very top to see the city and mountains in the distance. Oh, and a rainbow. Just pure bliss. The fort also had an incredible art museum that we hit up on the way out.
5:00- Back to our cabs to go to the train station-- Jaipur to Agra.
10:00- Arrive in Agra, greeted by our tour guide for the next two days, Raja. He agrees to race us to McDonalds and convinces them to give us McVeg patties and paneer wraps even though they close in 30 seconds. We like him so much already.
11:00- Arrive in our way less cute but equally affordable hotel. No AC, no hot water, no bedding, yes walking distance from Taj Mahal.


Saturday
5:30- Up before the sun to see the Taj bright and early.
6:30- Get through security with Suzanne's pocket knife but not my gum. Immediately take lots of photos before it gets too crowded. Raja gives us the whole shpeel and then lets us wander on our own for a bit. Lots of photos, but not one of them capture the building's unbelievable brilliance.
9:00- Traditional Indian breakfast and tea at a street-side food stand. Nom nom fried everything.
10:00- Off to Amber Fort. Partially still utilized by the military, wholly beautiful and strategically designed. Raja was full of fun facts about all of our never ending questions of how, why, when the monument was built. Plus he provided truly genuine anecdotes on Islam on the ground in India today.
12:00- Marble store where artists demonstrated how marble is shaped and inlaid into other marble. Learning about the art form made us all wonder how the miraculous detail on the Taj was completed in only 22 years.
1:00- Went to another marble store, which was a little more low key and affordable. Obviously purchased more gifts.
2:00- Lunch at Raja's inlaw's house in a village 30 mins outside of Agra. Such a colorful home, full of generous people and authentic food. We were fed until we nearly burst, and then sat in the shade digesting, reflecting on the morning, and being entertained by Raja's three year old.
4:30- Back to the city, back to the sites! Baby Taj, much smaller structure but really amazing marble detailing. Also, went to a secret spot with an great view of the Taj Mahal reflecting of the Gange river. At this point, most of our camera batteries were losing it.
6:30- Shopped around a bazaar with the little energy we had left.
8:00- Light dinner at the hotel. Suz and Leah quality time in our double. Showers, Indian cosmo, and some henna practice before bed.


Sunday
5:00- Another bright and early morning! Off to the rail station. Bid Raja farewell after he patiently waited for our delayed train. Then, a peaceful morning ride back to Jaipur.
12:00- Arrive in Jaipur. Find the cabs Raja and arranged for us. Go to lunch at a fancy restaurant that was definitely some fishy commission deal. Almost went the whole weekend without falling for a tourist trap, so close!
3:00- To the airport. Wait around. Fly to Mumbai, then to Hyderabad.
10:30- Finally home after a long day of travel. Durga's delicious idlis waiting of us upstairs... oh, and 97 emails.

Things more important than itinerary:

• This weekend brought so much great Hindi practice! In Hyderabad, Telugu is most people's mother tongue, and they only know Hindi because it is the official language (which some resent). When I speak in Hindi in Hyd, people really don't expect it, so they think that they can't understand my English. Other times, they realize what I'm trying to do, but are annoyed because they know it would be a lot easier to communicate in English. But in the North, everyone LOVED speaking in Hindi with us! It is their mother tongue and they are flattered to meet the rare foreigner that is actually trying to really learn the language despite the prevalence of English. I had a lot of interactions with vendors in predominantly Hindi, and it resulted in a more amiable dynamic and much better prices. And, when I told people hassling me to "bug off" in Hindi, they actually respected the request. I had a lot of fun with language and learned so much... I am determined to start forcing Hindi on more people here now, just for the practice. 
• The title of this blog has never been more appropriate than this weekend. SUCH AWE. All of the monuments we saw truly left me speechless. The Taj Mahal is unlike anything I have seen in my life, and I hope to never forget it. But whats most amazing is that it is one of about a dozen equally incredible sites of the weekend. Having Raja explain the history behind the tourist attractions made me appreciate the sites in Agra that much more. For example, the pillars of Arabic marble inlay going up the Taj Mahal gradually get thicker as they go up so that when you see it in the distance, you perceive the stripe of scripture to be perfectly straight. Amazing! I kept thinking about how, until this semester, I hadn't known that most of these places even existed! So, there must be so much beauty out there in the world! I cannot even fathom it all, so overwhelming. Just, utter awe. 
• Jaipur and Agra are big tourist attractions, unlike Hyderabad. It was very interesting to be around so many other foreigners. I obviously found myself relating to them, but I also kind of related to the Indians who stare at foreigners and wonder "Who are these people and why are they here and what are they doing and what language are they speaking and why are they wearing thaaat?" It was shocking to me how many tourists seemed very ignorant of Indian culture, which made me realize just how acculturated I have become in the last two months. I also realized that Americans don't travel abroad enough.
• You know when you go out to dinner with 8+ people and the bill comes and there's all sorts of confusion over how to pay for each meal separately and split tax and tip and break large bills and pay partially in credit card? Well imagine that commotion, but all weekend long and for every single transaction (food, hotels, transport, tour guides, etc). Oh, and with the added component of haggling. I hate how much we thought about and talked about money. I know that at some level money makes the world go round, but I feel like there are so many other things that wasted energy should have gone towards this weekend. I guess, there is no getting around it unless you travel in all inclusive packages or have more straight forward transactions alone or in pairs. So, I am learning things about myself, and I don't think I like having to coordinate with this many people while traveling. Also, because I did much of the preliminary planning, the group ended up turning to me a lot for the next move and I stepped up to the plate, but I don't want to have to be in that constantly vigilant role again. Low key, cheap travel from now on!
• After this weekend, I feel like I have a much better grasp on India as a whole. Specifically, I learned about the differences between the North and the South in terms of climate, geology, population, fashion, cuisine, language, and every aspect of culture. Compared to Hyderabad, people in Rajastan are friendlier, food is fattier, sun is hotter, traffic is safer, and clothes are slightly less conservative. On Sunday night, when our taxi finally pulled onto Mumbai Road back in Hyd, everything seemed so familiar and manageable and comfortable. Its amazing, but it really did feel like coming home. 

Finally, what you have all been waiting for. Believe it or not, this is just the tip of my iceberg of photos from this trip! (You can click to see them larger.)

This random rickshaw driver spoke Korean..
Jaipur was such an amazingly international place!

Something astrological at the Observatory

Overlooking "Pink City" in Jaipur

The best food really does come from the most grungy restaurants

Jaipur blue pottery

"Floating Palace" is a euphemism for half-drowning in monsoon.

Obligatory Taj photo

Raja, my man!

No need to take your shoes off.. silly little invention. 

Agra's unique art of marble inlay

Raja's wife.. happy lady and GREAT cook

Village heart-breaker

A bird pooped on Suzanne and I caught the moment. Would have
been much funnier if it hadn't gotten on my shirt that she was borrowing!

On the sleeper train between cities. Photo cred to Suz

The whole gang!

Halfway High Five!

This post is a scattered collection of some notable happenings this past week... the 10th week of my 20 week long adventure! HALFWAY HIGH FIVE!! 


For those who don't realize, thats referencing a swimmer (or water polo player's) feigned enthusiasm for a long set. Speaking of swimming, Suzanne and I finally found a pool! It sounds simple, but it was a long struggle that led to a very gratifying first dip... 


We had been trying to get membership the beautiful olympic-size pool near our campus, but the process was a lot of jumping through hoops... its outrageously expensive and only one hundred people get membership each month. So, you have to wake up at 4am to get in line, but its not exactly clear what day, so it may take multiple tries. Oh, and you have to have passport photos and a form from your doctor. What, India? Instead, Suzanne and I miraculously found a different lap pool that is open reasonable hours, close to our home-stay and very affordable. Hello, Pulela Gopichand Badminton Academy!!! 

Saturday morning was our perfect chance to swim-- the sky was blue and had been for the last few days, allowing the sun to bring this unheated pool to a very pleasant temp. Plus, we had gone for a run the day before and even attempted to lift weights for the first time in two months... our muscles needed to stretch out. So, we inquired about female hours and paid 100 rupees (around $2.50) for one hour of swimming. Not bad! But, don't be fooled, this establishment still had a set of ridiculous rules of its own-- caps and dark swimsuits required! But, really, who cares. The feeling of being back in a training suit and pushing off the wall in this clear blue water can only be described as "right". I just felt so so RIGHT! When I put the suit on, it was like reuniting with an old friend. I just wanted to dance around forever and never take it off. I didn't have googles, so I did a lot of floundering around and some head-up swimming/treading for water polo. When our hour was up, we sat by the side of the pool. Our rarely-exposed skin soaked up the sun while we gazed over the odd combination of palm trees and barbed wire to Hyderabad's skyline, illuminated by the morning light. 

So, that was just really really great, but it was not the only memorable event of the weekend. The Ramanan household (my home here in Hyderabad) has be a HOPPING place lately. First, a CIEE alumni who once stayed with the Ramanan family for an entire year came back to pay a visit. She stayed for two weeks before continuing to Lucknow, where she will spend a year studying Urdu. It was really interesting to get to know her and hear her insights about life in Hyderabad, classes at the University, and transitioning back to America. Her precense brought some nice family time, including Uncle's much anticipated vocal concert! 

At the peak of all of this excitement, Soumya came home for a visit (the adult daughter currently living in America, mentioned in a pervious post). Soumya just got engaged, so she is back to do all sorts of exciting wedding shopping and preparations. For context, in Indian culture, weddings are a BIG DEAL. And, the Ramanan's son is also engaged right now, so the love/marriage/settling down is basically always the topic around the dinner table. Me and my fellow home stay students joke that living in this house has us all thinking about marriage entirely too much! 

Since Soumya is currently living across the world and has been for a while now, her return home has brought visits from every friend and extended family member in India. As if there wasn't enough of a commotion, this weekend, her fiance surprised her by flying in from America! And, this trip is the first time that he has met her family!! Naturally, his visit brought an impromptu "function" at the house-- around 30 guests, lots of small talk, outrageous amounts of delicious food, so so many pictures of the same people in different combinations, chocolate cake, and even karaoke. My stomach was really happy, but my evening was kind of tainted by the fact that the loud house kept me awake tossing and turning until 3am, when I had specifically gone to bed early for an important meeting in the morning. Such is life in a full house in India. 

Through all of this excitement, I have learned a lot about Indian marriages and families, or at least those of modern, high caste, Hindus from Tamalnadu. I am constantly so so grateful to be living with a family in a home. Along with great food and easier access to the city, my home-stay provides invaluable opportunities to genuinely experience Indian culture. You cannot get the same first-hand knowledge from reading culture books or going to museums or just talking to Indian classmates. While all of the family affairs have been amazing, me and my fellow home-stay students really miss the usual intimate family dinners.  Meeting the extended family has been a reminder that we really are temporary, superficial characters in this family, as profound as our relationships are beginning to feel.  Like an older sibling annoyed by everyone cooing over a new baby, we are ready to have Auntie and Uncle all to ourselves again. The endless amount of Indian sweets can stick around though, no complaints there!

This week wasn't all swimming and parties! On a much less cheerful note, I am bidding farewell to my most favorite of favorite shoes to ever own ever. It is tough to part ways, but the time has really come..... 

So, goodbye dearest Birkenstock sandals-- Thanks for bringing from Garrett Park to Atlanta, to Water polo tournaments in Florida to the dirt hole that is Camp Moshava.. and then all the way to India! I am sorry that you beautiful suede fared so poorly in heat and moisture of Hyderabad. It is a shame for you to leave this world in such a smelly, moldy fashion. Know that you are very loved and will be sorely missed. I will try and replace you with another sturdy sandal, but you will never be forgotten!

In fact, I think I may replace them this weekend, with a pair of authentic camel leather shoes from Rajastan.. thats right, its finally time for my big trip to Jaipur and Agra!!! There are seven of us making the trip together, leaving tomorrow night after classes and staying through Sunday. I am a little nervous, because I did a lot of the planning for the group and I really hope it all goes smoothly. I am also just anxious about my first big venture without the program holding a safety net. And it is a BIG venture.. two days and two nights in the hot, bustling, historic city of Jaipur, and then a train to nearby Agra for two nights and one big day of site seeing, including the Taj Mahal. Obviously, the nerves are mixed with so so much excitement for break from routine, great eats, beautiful sites, and LOTS of shopping. Time to get some serious textiles! I will be off my comp for the next week-ish, but you will all get an update with LOTS of pictures when I return. 

So, I am commemorating the halfway mark of this semester of adventure by visiting a wonder of the world. Not too bad! Send me safe and happy vibes, please :)

Testing My Limits

I have always said that I have a phobia of worms, but its not really true. Its not a fear as much as it is a nauseating disgust, and it could never be diagnosed as a phobia because it is in no way debilitating enough to impede daily living. When it comes down to it, its not even about worms as much as it is slimy, wiggling creatures. Honestly, writing this is making me want to vom. This general disgust for slimy beings has sometimes been a dramatic one, and those who saw me nearly cry at a BBYO convention because of the worm-infested sidewalks have my sincerest apologies. Because that squeamish girls would be unrecognizable to the tough young woman rocking India right now. To prove it, two fun anecdotes:

This week, I noticed a lizard in my room on the floor by my bed. I chose to ignore it and hope it would make its way out eventually if I prompted my door open for long periods (a tactic that had proven successful in the past).  But soon, more than a day had passed and the lizard had not moved. I made the natural conclusion that it was no longer living and brought it up to the family durning our post-dinner yoga time in the living room. Somehow, everyone just laughed it off and slyly avoided my subtle appeal for help. The PhD student living here agreed to take a look, but confirmed it to be dead and then exited the situation. So, I was on my own with this one, and I was not going to sleep another night without this dead thing out of my bedroom. 

Suzanne, suddenly amazingly courageous, offered to take care of it for me... only to shriek as soon as she turned the lights on in my room before she even saw that little thing-- FAIL. So, it became a group effort. Kyla had a plastic folder and Suzanne had a magazine (while still screaming and occasionally breaking to roll around on my bed freaking out). Together, the two scooped the limp reptile off the floor. I stood about 5 feet away directing the operation and providing positive encouragement. We later joked that in the sport of dead-lizard-removing, Kyla is a varsity athlete, Suzanne is JV, and I am the coach/ cheerleader/ water boy/ soccer mom. 

At first, this story makes me sounds really lame. But I am actually so proud of how I calmly coexisted with this carcass for 30+ hours. I then stood very close to the thing in order to asses its condition. And, while I may have made some very squeamish faces throughout the removal process, I remained relatively unflustered. Deciding that it was the least I could do, I sanitized the folder and floor area, which required overcoming some irrational concerns of nastiness-contamination. VICTORY! I was the only one of the three of us that remained level-headed enough to veto the idea of throwing the lizard off the balcony, so the little guy was peacefully laid to rest in a bush outside the house.

You are probably all overflowing with pride right now, but there's more! Anecdote two: 

On Tuesday, my Ayurveda class went on a field trip to a public Ayurvedic hospital. I went into this semester hoping to have some really unique experiences, and this is absolutely one of them. You can not see operations like I saw anywhere else in the world, and I will probably never have another opportunity to get the insider's look that my teacher provided. With that in mind, I was excited to have a day off of classes and on to adventure! 

First stop was the gynecological wing, where we learned about Ayurvedic recommendations for a health pregnancy. Easy. Next stop, the opthamologist-- needless to say, very different from the Atlanta office where I spent entirely too much time in April after my water polo blow to the eye. We watched a man get oil nasal drops and another have an oil eye soak treatment. Cool. Then, we were suddenly in this strange smelling room where an old woman was sitting with her head back and mouth open. The doctor used a giant tank-hose mechanism to blow medicinal steam and smoke in and around this lady's face to treat a speech impediment. Interesting. We also hit up the pharmacy, where a doctor explained how different herbs are used and let us taste different medicines. "This is long pepper. It is spicy and used to treat congestion.. Anyone have a cold? Anyone want a taste? Try it!" We all joked about walking into a US hospital and having a doctor say, "This one is good if you have back pain, anyone want to try some morphine?"

The most memorable stop of the day, hands down, was the "Operation Theater". UNREAL. First of all, we had to take our shoes off before we entered the wing. Secondly, the operation at hand was a rectal fistula. What. We talked to a surgeon and then the group split in half- those willing to go into the operation room and those choosing to wait outside. My teacher tried to say something compelling about observing in the name of science, but I didn't need convincing.. I was in! Two months ago, this would have been a difficult decision, but it was a completely obvious one considering my current gung-ho mentality. So, I will spare you the details, but I stood one yard away from one operation where a doctor removed a corn from a girl's thumb and applied medicinal alkali or something to the open wound. Then, I stood about 5 yards away from the fistula procedure, hands covering my gasping mouth by eyes open wide. 

Just, honestly, who am I? 

Hyderabad TV Guide

One afternoon, some friends and I started changing popular TV titles to fit our lives here in India. Once we started going, we kept thinking of more and more, completely cracking each other up. We decided to submit the list as a creative article for our program's newsletter "Hyd Times." Some of the humor may be lost on you all, but Im hoping you appreciate our wittiness. No one can say we don't know how to keep ourselves laughing! 


The Price Is Right The Price Is Skewed for Foreigners

Little People, Big World Big American, Small cup of Chai

Jersey Shore Goa Shore

Cash Cab Cash Rickshaw

Pimp My Ride Pimp my Auto

Ace of Cakes Ace of Ghee Sweets

Paula Deen's Home Cooking Durga-ma's Home Cooking

Say Yes to the Dress Say Yes to the Sari

Amazing Race Khojo Hyderabad

Shark Week Cow Week

Dora the Explorer Tanvi the Explorer

Real Housewives of Orange County Real Housewives of Banjara Hills

The Office The Call Center

How I met your Mother How I met your Amma

Keeping Up With the Kardashians Keep Up with the Ramanans

Cops Tagore Security Guards

The Making of "Single Ladies" The Making of "Yo Baby"

So You Think You Can Dance So You Think You Can Kutchipudi

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Where the Hell in Hyderabad Are We?

30 Rock 30 Boulder

Sex and the City Celibacy and the City

Law and Order No Laws and No Order

Meghana Hits Hyderabad

Meghana! In my room in India!

Its been too long, so I am going to try and fit the excitement of this past week into one not-too-giant posting. Thursday was a Hindu holiday called Ganesh Chaturthi.  Basically, it starts the festival of the elephant-headed "destroyer of obstacles".  For me, the holiday meant delicious food, spontaneous packs of singing men on my street, Ganesh statues around the house and across the city, and most of all, a much-needed 5 day weekend.... Ganesh Chaturthi was extra special for me, because it brought a very welcome visit from none other than Meghana, dearest. 

Since her recent arrival in Manipal, Meghana and I have been relating over the ups and downs of adjusting to life in India. Our "close, yet so far" situation is too strange-- we are a world away from our homes, but in the same country, yet still not actually physically close together. Obviously, it has been really great to have one of my dearest friends understand some of the quirks of my new life and have skype conversations that do not have to accommodate a 10 hour time difference. But at the same time, our lives are each as busy as ever and we are still 12 long hours away from actually being together. With the holiday weekend approaching and our days beginning to drag, we decided that this little tease had gone on long enough.. it was time for our India adventures to intersect! So, after much ambivalence and indecision, Meg bought her ticket and showed up in Hyderabad early Thursday morning. 

Feeding her birthday cake. Cute little Indian tradition.
Couldn't look more awkward. 

Of course, our much-anticipated reunion was delayed by 1.5 hours of trying to find each other on the ridiculously spread out, unlabeled, streets of Hyderabad. But when I did finally hear that familiar voice scream my name from a car across the street, I literally almost leapt into traffic. There are certain times in my life when I think, "Leah, you're never going to forget this." It happened when I stepped onto the bima at my Bat Mitzvah, when I first walked into my freshman dorm at Emory, and this Thursday morning when Meghana and I hugged each other so so so tightly on the side of Mumbai Road. 

We basically spent the whole weekend doing the Indian variation of exactly what we do together in the US.  We went to KFC and ate enough for a family of five. (This one weekend challenged my stomach to process more meat than its faced in the past two months combined. Help!) I bought her a chocolate cake that read "Happy 20th Pegward", because I miss calling her that and today she bids her teen years goodbye!! We sat across from each other in a coffee shop while I read Anthropology and she read some scienc-y things.. that part literally could have been a flash back to Emory except instead of Jazzman's delicious almond coffee blend, we were drinking really tiny glasses of Indian chai. She met my host family, and drank mango juice mixed drinks, and listened to Guster, and lied on my bed, and snapped unflattering photos, and tried to remember the Anna Sun dance we memorized in May. Mostly, we just soaked up each other's presence, which is what I think we both needed the most. It all felt so comfortable and familiar that we had to keep reminding each other that we were in India. Just so surreal!

Yep, self-timer,whaddup

On Thursday, I missed my family's little celebration for Ganesh Day because I was with Meghana at her grandparents. (Of course, they didn't inform me that it would be happening. That would be too orderly and logical for India.) When I heard about all the festivities and saw the pictures, I felt pretty bad about missing it all and added it to the sad list of things that Meg and I had sacrificed to make our reunion possible. But then, after saying goodbye on Saturday night, I heard singing in the streets and went outside to see the neighborhood's Ganesh idol being loaded into a little pick-up-Rickshaw with boys chanting and drumming and dancing all around. Apparently, it was time to emerge the colony Ganesh in the lake and I got swept up in the excitement! I hopped in a van with the adult daughter of my homestay family and we followed the Ganesh through the evening streets of Hyderabad to a smelly little man-made lake reflecting skyscrapers on all sides. It turns out, the "emerging" is more just throwing the idols into the water, which was ridiculous looking, but also really fun. So, community members of all ages threw their own mini deities and helped heave the giant one into the lake. I threw a little clay Ganesha too, and Soumya explained the tradition to me. After the group had all lighten their incense, sang their songs, thrown their little sculptures, and watched the big Ganesh sink down, we all headed back to the neighborhood for a "colony dinner". But its still India, so we ended up waiting for the food until around 10pm. I had a great conversation with Uncle (homestay father) while we waited, so I didn't mind too much. The family time and impromptu ritual observance made me feel better about missing the family "pooja" earlier in the weekend. 

Thats just us in India.

So, all and all it was a great few days. Maybe I'll repay Meghana for her two miserable overnight bus rides by making a venture down to Manipal before the semester ends. I kept bringing up the idea, and I think thats what made this goodbye much less blubbery that the uncertain farewell in May. Truth is, who knows where and when we will next meet. But, no matter what, this weekend will never be forgotten!