A Pain in the Butt

Leigh with a foaming friend

I have a big pain in my butt.  I literally think my tailbone is bruised.  Let me tell you, riding on a half trotting, half walking swaying camel in the scrub land desert of Rajasthan is really not comfortable.  I think everyone on the trip left with a couple pains here and there.  However, that aside, the camel safari that I participated in over the weekend was pretty neat.  We were led out into what they try to advertise as the desert, but was really picture-esque African-like scrub land (still pretty cool).  Besides the awesome experience of riding on a camel and in front of a foaming camel in heat, I also got to see a lot of unique wildlife and add a few more species of birds to my life list.  However, I am not sure that I enjoyed it as much as some of the other girls.  What really bothered me was how the camels were treated. 

Maybe its just my inner animal rights activist coming out, but I feel as bad for the animals here (sans most cows) as I do for the beggar children.  There are stray dogs everywhere, and I have seen dozens of puppies too skinny to survive much longer.  The dogs are seen as such a nuisance that they are often kicked out the way, so they literally run away from any human.  Domesticated animals are generally treated much better.  The lucky purebred dogs that have homes are usually pampered - one of my instructors says his dog has his own bed and has to be pet for 30 minutes every night before falling asleep.  I have seen thousands of goats wearing sweaters that make me jealous (because 40 degrees is considered freezing).  Yet the camels and elephants that I have seen have not been treated well.  Some had sores on them, while all the camels had nose piercings all the way through the cartilage to tie reins on and better control the animal.  Out of ten camels, I would say that two or three were treated nicely by their drivers.  I was lucky enough to snag a camel with a kind driver, so I didn't have to subject mine to too much abuse.

Spit Bubble!

To answer any other questions about the camel safari, no I did not get spit on and yes my fascination with camels is very high.

To turn to a more positive note, I also got to experience a part of Rajasthan where a lot of organic farming takes place.  The larger farm we visited has been certified Indian organic (absolutely no unnatural products go in or around any plants) for over seven years.  The farm was bigger than any organic farm that I have ever been on, and EVERYTHING was beautiful.  There were mangoes, papayas, pomegranates, wood apples, tons of different beans, cauliflower, radishes, carrots, Indian berries, a wide variety of animals and two green houses filled with roses.  Seeing how well everything operates almost makes me want to become a farmer in the future!  We also got a chance to see a large scale vermicomposting research site and see how one of the NGOs can impact so many people in one area.  It was amazing to see the successful part that sometimes gets buried beneath the failures.

Sabeji!  (Veggies!)

Today was a holiday for the Lord Siva so we were lucky enough to have school off.  After a very chilly sleeper train back last night, my roommate and I decided to brave the crowd to try and get to Moti Dungri, the temple on the hill about a block away from our home that is only open once a year.  We waited in line for over an hour, and after we were sure we were not going to get it, moved to the front of the line (Indian style) and try to squeeze our way in.  Lucky for us, we were able to follow a mother and daughter who had a relative in the police force.  With the beautifully dressed mother leading the way and waiting for us to catch up, we made it past thousands in line to the top of the temple and quickly back down.  

Beautiful organic yellow rose

I am very happy to say that, in the past several weeks, the people who treat me nicely and sometimes go above and beyond nice are starting to balance out all of those men and women who disrespect me.  I am so grateful for anyone who does me the smallest favor.  I don't know why, but it has me paying a little bit more attention to karma.  I know that I should try and act as Indian as possible, stop saying please and thank you on the streets or to shopkeepers and pretty much ignore everyone in the streets, but it feels so much better to pick up the blanket that fell off a man's cart or thank the shopkeeper for getting me chai.  It feels wrong to just accept that people are obliged to treat me well because so many treat me poorly.  Though I will try and immerse myself into the culture as much as possible, I refuse to stop my pleases and thank yous...because when I say them, I mean them!


Thanks for reading today :)

Adjustment

Amer Fort

This weekend was awesome.  I am starting to take more steps forward than backwards now.  This weekend, I successfully read my first sign in Hindi, met lots of really awesome people, and bought many gifts for my family. In fact, I would definitely say that the past nine days have been very successful in general.  I learned how Indians play "paper, scissors, stone," visited local sites like the Amer Fort, Hawa Mahal, and Juntar Muntar, a restored ancient astrological garden.  It was pretty great. 

Last weekend, I experienced my first dose of man that wasn't trying to hit on us.   When we were walking back from the Amer Fort, , we wanted to check out some famous Jaipur blue pottery and shop at some of the local leather shops (don’t worry it’s all camel), so we hiked back into town.  When we were in the blue pottery shop, hordes of happy cheering Muslims began marching towards us, on their way to a mosque outside of town.  Luckily, before we even really thought about it, one of the shopkeepers invited us to his roof, as he didn’t want anything bad to happen.  In India, the majority of Muslims are converts and many come from the lower castes, hoping to escape their place in society.  This being said, they often are not highly educated, so the younger boys can sometimes stir up trouble with girls.  So it was a very good thing that the shopkeeper allowed us up to watch the crowd go by.  It was amazing how many people were so happy to celebrate an occasion. 

Dancing with 7 pots!

The week flew by with staff from Minnesota University visiting, a meal out to celebrate my half birthday, and another special friend's birthday, climaxing in a field trip to a local performing arts tribe, where we learned and practiced the art of puppetry, dancing and sewing.  When this weekend hit, I really wasn't too terribly excited.  We were planning on a very low key weekend, with lots of hiking, mostly just to get away from the city.  But it turned out so much better than planned.  First, I took my first train ride ever.  We were already sure to have bought seats, so there was none of that being crammed like cattle into the car.  In fact, we shared a very roomy cabin with two men who quizzed us on our Hindi (I must admit that I didn't fair too well).  Other than that, it was nothing but a very a relaxing ride that didn't spark any motion sickness.  

Learning Rajasthani Folk Dancing (Check out my sandal tan lines!)

Our train let us off in Ajmer, a smaller city than Jaipur.  I really only wanted to see one site there, a tomb of a famous Sufi Saint.  Sufism is a branch of Islam that is fairly popular in the area I live in.  Since I had only experienced Hindu sites up until then, I really wanted to go see the holy site.  It was well worth the confusing and pushy walk through the crowd of Muslims.  As soon as we stepped through the gate, a calmness settled in the air.  Though people asked for donations, they only asked once and were all too happy to bless us anyway.  In general, it was just a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city.  

Mountainous Hike Route to Pushkar

After a good lunch, we hiked about 10 km over the mountains to a small town called Pushkar.  I had no idea what to expect, and was shocked to see such a variety of people.  It seemed as if the sixties never really died in Pushkar.  I am pretty sure that Indians were in the minority there, and the majority was some floater hippy, median age 40, and all with dreadlocks.  It was great.  Prices were pretty fair, and the Brahmin priests were more than happy to bless you (for a price).   We saw the only Brahman temple in the world, and did lots of good shopping.  During dinner at a falafel stand (Israelis dominate the town), we got to know a few people, one of which we ran into on our way to the guest house we were planning on staying at.  Fortunately, the guest house happened to have exactly eight more beds, but unfortunately, no rooms.  We actually crashed on mattresses that were set up in the restaurant!  AND it was  a million times more comfortable than the guest house we paid double for in Bharatpur. Even the food was better.  


All in all, the word that really describes the atmosphere of Pushkar was chill.  The entire holy city was just following the groove...it was a perfect escape from the busy city.  I can't wait for this week.  We have a field trip in a region called Shekawrati, followed with a camel safari outside of Bikaneer and a visit to the rat temple.  Though this is going to be more than double what my other two weekends costed, I am sure it will be worth it; after all how many times does anyone get to ride a camel through the deserts of India?


Happy Valentine's Day!  

Family Life

Candlelit chicken curry dinner with Paige and Bridget

Today reminded me of the best part of my study abroad experience so far: my wonderful families.  In the past two days, I got to speak fairly extensively with many of my loved ones, which made everything seem a bit better.  However, I say families because my host family is easily the best host family out of all the ones in the program.  

First, there's Uncle Ji.  He is a very happy man and always pleased to talk or chat with you.  Also (the extremely lucky part) he was a professional chef.  As said in India, he is first class.  He was the head butcher for the king of Saudi Arabia at one point and cooked for others, including Bill Clinton.  Though he doesn't cook every night, when he does, its amazing.  First, we had his Indian version of pizza.  Then there was the best vegetable soup that ever had.  And tonight we had meat for the first time - an excellent chicken curry (it was a special occasion).  Although it was spicy enough that Bridget was crying a bit, I was amazed at the quality of the dish.  I'm sure it helped that the chicken was butchered only this morning.

Then, there's Auntie Ji.  She speaks the least English out of anyone in my family, so she forces me to practice my Hindi a bit.  Things can get a bit jumbled sometimes, especially when speaking about locks.  Bridget and I don't understand the need to lock all the doors (our flat is built around the balcony, so from the outside there are doors to my room, the living room, the bathroom and the kitchen), but we have also never faced a monkey raid.  We live fairly close to the Hanuman temple and, therefore, apparently have frequent monkey visits. But, the best part is that she is quickly growing very fond of us.  Yesterday morning, she wished her children (Bridget and I) a good day before handing us our tiffins to go to school.   This morning, she made us the best banana pancake/crepes that I have ever had.  She always wants to know where we are going, but tolerates pretty much anything, so long as we are back before 9.  And she loves having fun.

Rockin' out to some Rihanna

Today, Uncle Ji's two sisters came over.  His middle sister is CRAZY.  She was shouting and dancing and making all kinds of crazy jokes.  We literally locked Uncle Ji out of the house today, and all had a dance party, at Auntie Ji's urging.  I learned some great moves from Uncle Ji's sister and Taneshka, the elder daughter.  At sixteen, she reminds me a lot of my own sister (even she fights with her mother), but a little less bashful.  She knows what she is good at and is not afraid to say anything that she wants to.  Her younger sister, Nanoo, and she get ready for school every morning to bass pumping pop music. Both are always up to talk to you, no matter what time of the day.

Nanoo with the daily chai

Even though all this stuff is wonderful, the best part about my host family is seeing how family interactions never really change.  Most of the stuff that I notice I recognize from what my own family experienced at one point or another.  Just today, Taneshka was given a new phone by her aunt and every one was fussing about it.  However, off to the side, Paige (another student living with our family) and I could see Nanoo getting very jealous.    Eventually, it ended with Nanoo leaving the room to avoid crying...nothing ever changes. 

Humans are all the same, no matter where you go.