It is hard to write after it has been so long. The things that happen begin to pile up. The longer I wait the harder it is. So in order to get it all out of the way I will give just a brief synopsis of the most interesting. After that bus ride from Nepal, which still stands out as one of the more memorable moments, I did make it to Darjeeling and spent about a week there in the clouds. Darjeeling is an old hill station located in the northernmost part of West Bengal and is at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. I spent about a week there just wandering around the twisty narrow streets as always there was a festival going on and so I got to see more parades and celebrations. It was interesting to be so high up for so long. I spent my days wandering around the city getting lost among the twisting streets and steep staircases. At certain parts of the city you can walk along what seems to be a flattened out ridge where you can see the city hanging onto the mountain below on one side, then walk to the other side of the street and see down a steep carpeted valley before more mountains jut up into the sky. After about a week I have had enough and with much difficulty manage to book a train to Delhi. On the morning of my trip I am supposed to take a share jeep down the mountain to the city where the train station is but as always there seems to be a snag in that plan. Time is short and as my jeep never materializes I begin to yell at the man who booked my ticket. This is not something I would normally have done but since being in India I have realized that yelling and arguing is a staple in everyday life. And it does seem to help move things along. In the end I have to fork out an extra seven hundred rupees to book a private car which is aggravating and probably the booking agents plan all along.
The train ride to Delhi was a little over thirty hours long but this time I booked an AC sleeper car and can lay down in my own space whenever I fell like it. It was a luxurious trip and there is again the feeling of comradery with the other passenger on this long trip. I watch the sun go down then rise then go down again as the country side speeds by and then I am in Delhi. By this time I have less that a week before I leave from Mumbai and am a bit anxious about getting back. I decide to stay the night in Delhi rather than going directly to the airport and flying strait to Mumbai. I make my way to the regular backpackers hangout, which happens to be in the seedy underbelly of the city, via bike-shaw. Along the way we have to make several detours. The dark streets frequently get jammed. In the back of this bike pulled cart, amidst all the exhaustion, the noise and smells, fireworks exploding in the air, I really start to enjoy myself. It is as if I can see myself from a distance with all this stuff going on and it all seems slightly absurd but very amusing.
I book my plane ticket that night and by afternoon of the next day I find myself back in Mumbai. Ready to head home. I spend the next few days doing random touristy things like going on boat rides around the harbor and buying souvenirs. On the second to last day I am walking to go to breakfast when I am approached by a guy. This guy says that he works in Bollywood and asks me if I would be interested in being an extra in a movie. I have heard that this happens at times and agree to do it. I will get paid five hundred rupees to work from four in the afternoon, when they will take me to the studios and four in the morning. This works out to a little less than a dollar an hour. But hey its my last day and what a way to go out. I show up at the agreed meeting spot and get loaded onto a bus with a hodgepodge group of about twenty other foreigners. I don't know what I was thinking but for some reason I expected a very glamorous experience. After the two hour ride across town they drove us into this odd run down complex of buildings and I start to wonder if this was all just a ruse to take a bunch of rich foreigners hostage. It is not and we get out and are led to a room where we wait while one at a time people are taken to wardrobe to get dressed up. The scene the were shooting was in a swanky restaurant and some of the costumes are pretty ridiculous but I luck out and get a pretty decent suit to wear. From here we have dinner and then are rushed down to the studio where we wait around some more. Finally the big stars show up and the move us around like chess pieces on a board. I get situated at the bar and am told to engage in a silent conversation with this girl from Australia while they shoot and re shoot the same scene. After a while my feet get pretty tired and the actors are getting very cranky and throwing fits in between takes. It was quite funny actually. From here they take us back across the city and drop me off near my hotel. It is about three in the morning and the city seems to have emptied out. It is not the first time that I have been in this city so late and it always creeps me out. It is like a different world. There is no traffic and the only people I see are those that are sleeping on the sidewalk. Occasionally a huge rat will dart across the walkway. As I get nearer to my hotel a huge swarm of them bolt out of the gutter and run through my feet ahead of me. I sleep for a few hours then get up and head to the airport to take me back to the states.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Leaving Nepal
In the cramped yellow lit bus the heat makes madness. The streets are dark. People shouting and strange noises. An unthinkable amount of time remains. Sleep is an impossibility with the seat ahead smashing my knees to pulp. Bugs flit around the bus lamps left on while someone searches for a headlamp only to come back to a dead battery. We wait wait wait in this eerie place broken seats tilted askew the bus now half empty and angrily silent. The lights of the passing cars struggle to cut through the murky air and light up the slow smoke of many cigarettes. As the bus starts a cluster of burning cigarettes form around the entrance as people crowd and I follow. Sitting down I argue incomprehensibly for space with the man in front of me. My shirt is no longer an article of clothing but an extension of my own body clinging desperately. The bus jolts forward finally. The only thing that keeps me sane is listening to the melodies of Morrison but this only helps for a while. I see a STD/ISD station and I have to restrain the urge to run off the bus and call everyone I know so that I can scream madness into their ears. The boy that sat next to me earlier telling me how he was a devout follower of both the first and second incarnation of the mysterious Sia Babba leans forward telling me quietly that we have just passed into India. Suddenly it makes sense. The bus driver speeds down narrow roads to avoid getting stuck, fishtailing from side to side tossing everyone about. The hard wooden back of the seat ahead slams into my knees with each bump. Outside of the bus small figures with dark faces and long shadows pass by. We stop again and a small carriage pulls up to the right. The donkey wears blinders and tilts its head down and to the left as it struggles through the mud, teeth bared, it is whipped forward. Statues decorated garishly with tinsel and lights live in many roadside shrines and get frequent worship. Small fires line the street in homage to many headed and armed gods.
We stop yet again this time for fuel. As the bus pulls out it moves about ten meters before it stalls and dies for good gurgling its last few sounds before remaining silent. Another long wait as they fiddle with the engine. Impossibly the pitted pitiful roads seem to get worse and we move at a snails pace moving up and down as much as forward. I doze for a bit only to come fully conscious when I realize we have stopped again. Outside I hear angry arguing voices and the bang of what sounds like an empty gas tank. I stumble outside to watch the spectacle from the cement median. We are indeed out of gas. It seems that either there was a leak or the station attendant cheated the bus driver. Resigned, I talk to the boy next to me and find out that he is studying business. After a few minutes of small talk he feels comfortable enough to ask me about my sex life because as he puts it, "I think that in America people are much more frank" when it comes to talking about sex. It was awkward. Eventually we are able to flag down another bus and siphon gas into a bucket to transfer to our own bus.
In the morning the sun rises big and heavy through the thick air. As I look out at the flooded plains, huts half submerged, i realize that we are in the state of Bihar which has had some very bad flooding in the past months. Millions displaced and thousands dead. This explains why the roads are in such bad condition. We make a tea and shower stop at a hand pump well. Too hot to close the windows during the night ride we have all been caked with a fine dust. I wash my face and hands the best I can while someone pumps water then take my turn at the handle. After we go for tea but I do not have any Indian money so someone that sits near me on the bus buys me a cup. Those of us in the back of the bus have developed a sort of relationship over the past twenty hours. I won't say we are all friends but more like a frustrated family on a long car trip, arguing, joking and sharing. Even the two silent brothers in front of me with mean eyes and wicked moustaches are part of it. As we continue on we pass yet another wrecked vehicle. This time it is a large truck. Its load has spilled frame twisted in extreme angles, the windows busted out and staring with jagged eyes seem to ask implicitly, "well how bout it?".
As we stop for lunch I begin to realize that there is no way that i will make it to Darjeeling that day. It is already late afternoon and we are no where near where we should be and the border at Karkarbhitta closes at seven. One by one my new family steps off the bus shaking hands and saying their goodbyes. Soon it is just me and the mean eyed brothers. Suddenly I have never felt more alone in my entire life. Mine is the last stop and as we move on the towns seem to get darker and smaller. I start to worry about finding a hotel in the dark. Then I start to worry that the brothers will knife me and steal my stuff when we get to the station. Revenge for arguing with them earlier. In fact I KNOW that they will do this. I will die a slow death from a knife to the stomach in a dirty bus station. This is my fate.
Of course this does not happen and when we get to Kakarbhitta the electricity has turned back on. The city is lit up and not so empty. When I get off the bus I am actually approached by several hotel owners wondering if I would like a room. I go to my room, for which i pay less than three dollars, and fall asleep for twelve hours.
We stop yet again this time for fuel. As the bus pulls out it moves about ten meters before it stalls and dies for good gurgling its last few sounds before remaining silent. Another long wait as they fiddle with the engine. Impossibly the pitted pitiful roads seem to get worse and we move at a snails pace moving up and down as much as forward. I doze for a bit only to come fully conscious when I realize we have stopped again. Outside I hear angry arguing voices and the bang of what sounds like an empty gas tank. I stumble outside to watch the spectacle from the cement median. We are indeed out of gas. It seems that either there was a leak or the station attendant cheated the bus driver. Resigned, I talk to the boy next to me and find out that he is studying business. After a few minutes of small talk he feels comfortable enough to ask me about my sex life because as he puts it, "I think that in America people are much more frank" when it comes to talking about sex. It was awkward. Eventually we are able to flag down another bus and siphon gas into a bucket to transfer to our own bus.
In the morning the sun rises big and heavy through the thick air. As I look out at the flooded plains, huts half submerged, i realize that we are in the state of Bihar which has had some very bad flooding in the past months. Millions displaced and thousands dead. This explains why the roads are in such bad condition. We make a tea and shower stop at a hand pump well. Too hot to close the windows during the night ride we have all been caked with a fine dust. I wash my face and hands the best I can while someone pumps water then take my turn at the handle. After we go for tea but I do not have any Indian money so someone that sits near me on the bus buys me a cup. Those of us in the back of the bus have developed a sort of relationship over the past twenty hours. I won't say we are all friends but more like a frustrated family on a long car trip, arguing, joking and sharing. Even the two silent brothers in front of me with mean eyes and wicked moustaches are part of it. As we continue on we pass yet another wrecked vehicle. This time it is a large truck. Its load has spilled frame twisted in extreme angles, the windows busted out and staring with jagged eyes seem to ask implicitly, "well how bout it?".
As we stop for lunch I begin to realize that there is no way that i will make it to Darjeeling that day. It is already late afternoon and we are no where near where we should be and the border at Karkarbhitta closes at seven. One by one my new family steps off the bus shaking hands and saying their goodbyes. Soon it is just me and the mean eyed brothers. Suddenly I have never felt more alone in my entire life. Mine is the last stop and as we move on the towns seem to get darker and smaller. I start to worry about finding a hotel in the dark. Then I start to worry that the brothers will knife me and steal my stuff when we get to the station. Revenge for arguing with them earlier. In fact I KNOW that they will do this. I will die a slow death from a knife to the stomach in a dirty bus station. This is my fate.
Of course this does not happen and when we get to Kakarbhitta the electricity has turned back on. The city is lit up and not so empty. When I get off the bus I am actually approached by several hotel owners wondering if I would like a room. I go to my room, for which i pay less than three dollars, and fall asleep for twelve hours.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Nepal
When I decide to travel to Nepal I had only a vague idea that there had been some recent political turmoil. A few days before heading out I decided to check to the State Dept website and found out that there is currently a "travel advisory" for Nepal. Last march the old king was overthrown and the Maoist party took power. There had been some fighting and bombings in different places. Since the Maoists have taken power though things have calmed down quite a bit and the US is in the process of revoking that travel advisory.
Aside from this initial worrisome picture Nepal has been my favorite place to travel so far. The weather here is amazing compared to India and the streets clean. We are staying in the Thamel region of Kathamndu which is very touristy but nice. Also, I must have a sign on my forehead that says, "I do drugs" because at least a dozen people will ask me if I want hashish or "magic mushrooms" on any given day. It is weird. Other than that Kathmandu is a very nice place. Since one of Nepals biggest industries is tourism there is lots to do here.
On the first day we were able to go white water rafting and it was amazing. It was one of the first times since leaving the states that it has felt like summer. The sun was shining we were floating down a cold mountain river. We stopped on a sandy beach for lunch and I was even able to swim in the river.The water was clean(no floating garbage) and cold. It was possibly the most refreshing experience of my life.
The next day we went to Nagarkot which is a small town in the hills at about 7,200 ft. When we got to the bus station the last bus was leaving and it was packed full with an additional thirty people sitting on top of the bus in the luggage cage. No room the bus so we climbed up top. After taking off I asked the guide if he had ever seen any one fall off. He said that he had only seen one person fall to thier death. Well. It was not too scary. The bus went pretty slow and as we climbed in elevation the the air got colder. The first pine trees that I have seen since leaving began to show up. It made me thing of the Northwest and also being in Alaska last summer. Sitting on the top of the bus I got my first view of the Himilayan mountain range and the sun began to set. Far below I could see the city sprawled out in the Kathmandu valley. By the time we reached Nagarkot the sun had set. Only a small hike to our hotel. And after dinner we went to sleep so we could wake up for the sunrise the following morning.
Nepal is a very beautiful country. I wish that I had more time to spend here but I will move on soon. We will go to the city of Pokara on Sunday and stay for a few days. After which I say goodbye to the last of my friends and head on alone to Darjeeling.
Aside from this initial worrisome picture Nepal has been my favorite place to travel so far. The weather here is amazing compared to India and the streets clean. We are staying in the Thamel region of Kathamndu which is very touristy but nice. Also, I must have a sign on my forehead that says, "I do drugs" because at least a dozen people will ask me if I want hashish or "magic mushrooms" on any given day. It is weird. Other than that Kathmandu is a very nice place. Since one of Nepals biggest industries is tourism there is lots to do here.
On the first day we were able to go white water rafting and it was amazing. It was one of the first times since leaving the states that it has felt like summer. The sun was shining we were floating down a cold mountain river. We stopped on a sandy beach for lunch and I was even able to swim in the river.The water was clean(no floating garbage) and cold. It was possibly the most refreshing experience of my life.
The next day we went to Nagarkot which is a small town in the hills at about 7,200 ft. When we got to the bus station the last bus was leaving and it was packed full with an additional thirty people sitting on top of the bus in the luggage cage. No room the bus so we climbed up top. After taking off I asked the guide if he had ever seen any one fall off. He said that he had only seen one person fall to thier death. Well. It was not too scary. The bus went pretty slow and as we climbed in elevation the the air got colder. The first pine trees that I have seen since leaving began to show up. It made me thing of the Northwest and also being in Alaska last summer. Sitting on the top of the bus I got my first view of the Himilayan mountain range and the sun began to set. Far below I could see the city sprawled out in the Kathmandu valley. By the time we reached Nagarkot the sun had set. Only a small hike to our hotel. And after dinner we went to sleep so we could wake up for the sunrise the following morning.
Nepal is a very beautiful country. I wish that I had more time to spend here but I will move on soon. We will go to the city of Pokara on Sunday and stay for a few days. After which I say goodbye to the last of my friends and head on alone to Darjeeling.
Six hours of sleep, five days, and four cities
It has been quite a trip lately. Seems like a month has passed since I left Pen and my internship but it has just barely been a week. On friday we left for Mumbai got there late. Aoi and I had to stay up even later figuring out our flight to Kathmandu. When all was said and done we got about two hours of sleep befor we had to go to the Mumbai airport for our flight to Delhi early Saturday morning. We headed straight for the bus station and then endured a five hour bus ride to Agra. Blistering hot. We checked into our hotel, called Shanti's Lodge which had a rooftop resturaunt with an amazing view of the Taj Mahal. Sitting on that rooftop was possibly the most sublime moment in India yet. After two days of travel and business it was the first time we had to relax. The sun was setting directly in front of me and the Taj was to the right. We sat and talked with the other travelers and listened to the evening prayer song drift up from the streets.
We went early the next morning to the Taj to aviod the rush and it was pretty epic watching the sun rise hit the palace. Later we spent the day relaxing, went to the movies and saw Rock On, a pretty decent Bollywood movie. Afterward we got word of the bombings that had happened in Delhi. Another traveler who had just come from there had been in the market place when it happened. Overall I think there were five different locations in the market place that were bombed and twenty people killed. Very scary because if our flight to Kathmandu had been as planned we would have spent that day in Delhi shopping. When I mention to Aoi that maybe it is a sign that we should not shop so much she says, "If I die, I die." which I take to mean, "I REALLY like shopping."
That same night we take an evening bus back to Delhi and go straight to the airport for our early flight to Kathmandu. All of this traveling, bus rides, plane rides and airports, takes place in a sleep deprived haze. I have not yet figured out the trick of falling asleep on suicidal bus rides and the airport is a most uncomfortable place so over this period of time the only real sleep that I get is at Shanti's lodge. We arrive in Kathmandu early in the morning and get pushed into a hotel by the tourist machine. After getting settled in the machine takes us to book tours for our stay here but on the way I run into two people that I went to college with which is the last straw for my sleep deprived mind. It was very strange and unexpected to see someone from home on the other side of the world. We talk for a bit and decide to meet up later. After the machine is done with us we are allowed to go to our rooms where I get to take a much needed nap.
We went early the next morning to the Taj to aviod the rush and it was pretty epic watching the sun rise hit the palace. Later we spent the day relaxing, went to the movies and saw Rock On, a pretty decent Bollywood movie. Afterward we got word of the bombings that had happened in Delhi. Another traveler who had just come from there had been in the market place when it happened. Overall I think there were five different locations in the market place that were bombed and twenty people killed. Very scary because if our flight to Kathmandu had been as planned we would have spent that day in Delhi shopping. When I mention to Aoi that maybe it is a sign that we should not shop so much she says, "If I die, I die." which I take to mean, "I REALLY like shopping."
That same night we take an evening bus back to Delhi and go straight to the airport for our early flight to Kathmandu. All of this traveling, bus rides, plane rides and airports, takes place in a sleep deprived haze. I have not yet figured out the trick of falling asleep on suicidal bus rides and the airport is a most uncomfortable place so over this period of time the only real sleep that I get is at Shanti's lodge. We arrive in Kathmandu early in the morning and get pushed into a hotel by the tourist machine. After getting settled in the machine takes us to book tours for our stay here but on the way I run into two people that I went to college with which is the last straw for my sleep deprived mind. It was very strange and unexpected to see someone from home on the other side of the world. We talk for a bit and decide to meet up later. After the machine is done with us we are allowed to go to our rooms where I get to take a much needed nap.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
After a while
I guess it is time to end my blog boycott and start writing again. I have three days left in Pen and then my program is over. I will slowly say goodbye to all of the friends that I have made here and then fly to Delhi on the 13th.
For the past nine or ten days the whole state of Maharastra has been having a celebration for Ganesh. The people here get a statue of Ganesh and put it in their home treating it as an honored guest, giving it the best food, inviting other guests over to see the statue etc. Yesterday the celebration culminated with a procession through the streets with Ganesh all decked out in flowers and sitting in a cart that is pushed along the street as people dance, light fireworks and pound on drums. We followed this procession through the winding streets of Pen for a good three hours dancing in the rain and waving flags.Periodically someone will shout out the phrase, "Ganpati bappa!!" and the rest of the crowd replies by shouting "Morya!" at the top of their lungs. A pretty exhausting, but very cool thing. The march ended at the lake which is at the center of town. The lake is surrounded by a walkway and there are steps going down into the water. Ganesh is floated out to the middle on an inner tube and then dumped into the water where he is left to dissolve. Next we all headed to the nearest temple and sat down to drink spicy tea.
Lately I have been feeling very at home in India, and a half months I finally feel that being here is comfortable and normal. Just in time to move on. I guess thats how it goes. I can already tell that I will miss India when I leave. There are so many parts of my experience here that are completely beyond description. Sometime I look back at past posts that I have done and they just do not come close to conveying what it is like to be here.
I am excited for the next leg of my trip. The idea of spending the next month traveling in Nepal and India is intimidating but after my time here I feel more confident that I can handle it. I am most excited to see the Himalayas. As long as I don't get laid out by the altitude sickness I am planning on a five day trek through the mountains near the Darjeeling. Three days to go.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Almost done
This may be a little premature but I am getting really antsy and thirteen days to go seems very much like I am almost finished with the program. I have not written for a while because I have started to have a great deal of resentment toward www.dano211.blogspot.com and the time that it takes to keep it updated. Not that I am especially busy these days just annoyed and ready to keep traveling. Also I was recently pretty sick. Thought I might have malaria but no such luck.
One interesting thing happend this last week though. There was a festival(when is there not?) celebrating Lord Krishna. Back in the day when he was a youngster he used to get into trouble by breaking the clay pots that people here use to make curds and then eat the innards. For this festival people get these clay pots and string them about fifteen feet in the air then make a human pyramid and the person on top of the pyramid smashes the pot showering himself and the crowd below with bright yellow smelly partially curdled milk. Sounds fun huh? Well this festival was going on last sunday during the hieght of me being sick. I had been laying around all day not daring to go out becuase I did not want to get sprayed with water from a hose, forced to dance, and then covered head to toe with red dust as the other interns had when they braved the streets earlier. It was about four in the afternoon when I finally got fed up with lying around feeling sick and decided to go out and use the internet and get some food. Things had slowed down a bit and the streets were fairly empty. In fact most of the shops where closed including the internet cafe so I started walking back home. I picked up a tasty samosa on my way back and was eating it and enjoying the empty streets when I turned the corner to my house to be confronted with a group of Indians dancing like mad in the middle of the street. Upon seeing me they immediatley and forcefully incorporated me into thier party. Soon I was drenched covered in red stuff and dancing in a crowded street. After a while I notice that they have strung a clay pot decorated with fruit and flowers above the street. A human pyramid is forming and there is motioning that I should be on the top and be the one to smash the pot.Maybe it was the dancing, or the delerium from the fever, or the cold water but I decide to do it. How hard could it be? As I climb onto the backs and shoulders of Indians who are half my size I realize the how precarious my situation on top is and also how drunk many of these festival goers are. Crouching low at the top of the pyramid in order to not fall off the clay pot is still a good five feet above me. I will have to stand up in order to smash it. I steady myself as much as possible then briefly let go of those supporting me to strech up and smash the pot getting instantly drenched with yellow curd. The crowd cheers, the pyramid crumbles and I barely make it to the ground in one piece. After this there is more dancing and then the party seems finished with me and I am allowed to return to my house and clean up.
One interesting thing happend this last week though. There was a festival(when is there not?) celebrating Lord Krishna. Back in the day when he was a youngster he used to get into trouble by breaking the clay pots that people here use to make curds and then eat the innards. For this festival people get these clay pots and string them about fifteen feet in the air then make a human pyramid and the person on top of the pyramid smashes the pot showering himself and the crowd below with bright yellow smelly partially curdled milk. Sounds fun huh? Well this festival was going on last sunday during the hieght of me being sick. I had been laying around all day not daring to go out becuase I did not want to get sprayed with water from a hose, forced to dance, and then covered head to toe with red dust as the other interns had when they braved the streets earlier. It was about four in the afternoon when I finally got fed up with lying around feeling sick and decided to go out and use the internet and get some food. Things had slowed down a bit and the streets were fairly empty. In fact most of the shops where closed including the internet cafe so I started walking back home. I picked up a tasty samosa on my way back and was eating it and enjoying the empty streets when I turned the corner to my house to be confronted with a group of Indians dancing like mad in the middle of the street. Upon seeing me they immediatley and forcefully incorporated me into thier party. Soon I was drenched covered in red stuff and dancing in a crowded street. After a while I notice that they have strung a clay pot decorated with fruit and flowers above the street. A human pyramid is forming and there is motioning that I should be on the top and be the one to smash the pot.Maybe it was the dancing, or the delerium from the fever, or the cold water but I decide to do it. How hard could it be? As I climb onto the backs and shoulders of Indians who are half my size I realize the how precarious my situation on top is and also how drunk many of these festival goers are. Crouching low at the top of the pyramid in order to not fall off the clay pot is still a good five feet above me. I will have to stand up in order to smash it. I steady myself as much as possible then briefly let go of those supporting me to strech up and smash the pot getting instantly drenched with yellow curd. The crowd cheers, the pyramid crumbles and I barely make it to the ground in one piece. After this there is more dancing and then the party seems finished with me and I am allowed to return to my house and clean up.
Friday, August 22, 2008
A nice day for a motorcycle ride
We have received a brief respite from the monsoon only to pummeled by the brutal Indian sun. After a day spent riding to remote villages on the back of a motorcycle I now sport the most wicked of tan necks. We start of early in the morning around 11:00 am heading toward the market area so that we can fill the hog up in preparation for the days journey. Weaving through traffic I hug my knees in toward the bike as images of my knee catching on the bumper of an oncoming truck fill my head. After filling up we are soon out of the city and I spend the next fifteen kilometers winding up a surprisingly smooth road to the village of Jaituchiwadi. The social workers that I am with drop off some papers and we all sit down and visit for a while in the shade before taking off to the next village Ghote, which has a population of about three hundred and is fairly close to Jaituchiwadi. Upon getting arrival the social worker that has been driving me around shows me around the village, which is a tribal Thakur community, and then we go to the big house of the man in charge. He is described to me as the "lord" of the village. One of the strangest things I have noticed about these remote villages is that a surprising number of houses have satellite television usually attached to a thatched or tiled roof of some kind. This mans house is no exception and we hang out for a while watching tv and drinking tea. After a while we head back to the CFI offices for lunch. Overall a very productive afternoon.
I have moved on from Sadhana village and said goodbye to the many friends that I made there. I am now working for an organization called Children's Future India in a decent sized town called Pen. It has been really good to get to a new place and do something fresh. I tried to attach my final report on the SHG that we had been working with but can't seem to figure it out so if anyone is interested just let me know and I can email it to you. A warning though it is about fifteen pages single spaced but I think it presents a pretty good picture of the life that these women live and the challenges they face.
I have moved on from Sadhana village and said goodbye to the many friends that I made there. I am now working for an organization called Children's Future India in a decent sized town called Pen. It has been really good to get to a new place and do something fresh. I tried to attach my final report on the SHG that we had been working with but can't seem to figure it out so if anyone is interested just let me know and I can email it to you. A warning though it is about fifteen pages single spaced but I think it presents a pretty good picture of the life that these women live and the challenges they face.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Going to Goa
So I stumble, bleary eyed, off the bus after only four hours of a fourteen hour ride. It is midnight and drizzling rain. I see a sign for the restroom and head that way only to be yelled at by some guy in a uniform. Aparrently that is not the way to go. So I head to the attached building which is some sort of resturaunt and wander around in a daze for a bit, semi oblivious to the attempts of a person behind the counter to sit me at a table. Finally I find the entrance to the restroom and do my business. Later I go outside and although I would love to eat at the resturaunt I do not know if we are stopping for long enough so instead i buy some snacks from a nearby stand an wait, with Dimitar and Aoi, to herded back onto the bus. We slowly realize that the purpose of the stop was to eat at the resturaunt but by that time it is too late we have to be content with our measley snacks. As I notice the stares of my fellow Indian travelers (something I have gotten used to) I am struck by how wierd they must think we are. Having almost no frame of reference for how I should act or behave in this totally foriegn culture I realize that I have gradually just given up trying to act in a culturally "normal" way. I suddenly have a possible picture of myself through thier eyes. I am wearing a dirty t shirt and shorts( most Indian men do not wear shorts), I am eating snacks when I should be eating a meal, and I have not shaven in a few days. I must look like this crazed dirty giant of a forienger to these small polite and clean middleclass Indians who are going to Goa for the Independence Day weekend.
This is only the beginning of the scariest and most painfull of busrides. I still have ten hours to go and they are mostly spent frantically gripping the armrest next to me so I don't go flying off of my seat. We booked the bus last minute so we sat in the back where we feel every bump. Like any bus there are two isles going down the right and left sides of the bus making rows of four seats. The back row is the exception as it has five seats with one directly in the middle of the bus. I foolishly choose this one so that I will have leg room. As a result every time the bus slams on the brakes, and this does happen quite often, I don't have a seat in front of me to brace agains so unless I am holding onto the armrest I will go flying into the aisle.
The roads in India are already narrow and treacherous but during the monsoon season they get worse. We go up and down what seems like an endless mountain pass filled with the most brutal switch backs which the driver takes at full speed causing the passengers to get thrown, first to the left, then to the right, every ten or fifteen seconds. Needless to say I get hardly any sleep and by the time we arrive in Margao I am a broken mess. Towards the end of the trip I seemed to have developed nausea and a fever so when I get off the bus all I want to do is find a place to lie down. But nobody has eaten, aside from snacks, since lunchtime the day before so we go get some food then find our way to the railway station so we can book our return ticket to Panvel and then travel to Vasco De Gama which is on the coast and where we will meet some friends. We find out that, in the words of the ticket agent, we have, "No chance" of booking a ticket and so have to again ride in a bus to get home. However we are able to book a ticket to Vasco and wait for about an hour for the train to come. We board our train and ride for another hour before getting to the coast and our final destination. Luckily the hotel we are staying at is only a few blocks from the railway station and it is sooo much luxury. I promptly lay down and pass out for a few hours.
The next day I am feeling much better and we are able to go a beach which is very nice even though it is cloudy. We get to swim in the ocean for a bit which is nice except for the few peices of floating garbage that we have to share it with. Aferward we go to a resturaunt with a view of the beach and just relax for a few hours before heading back to the hotel. I wish that we could spend more time in Goa, it is a very beatiful state with many old buildings left over from when it was a Portugese colony. Vasco is a very nice city as far as Indian cities go and we were pretty much the only foriegners around. Goa is a very small state but I think a person could spend months here just discovering different places.
Today is our last day here and we leave by bus at 5:00 pm hopefully reaching Panvel by 7:00 am and then taking the bus to Pen where we will start work at 10:00. This time at least we have a sleeper car and I am equipped with sleeping pills so hopefully the return journey will not be so bad.
This is only the beginning of the scariest and most painfull of busrides. I still have ten hours to go and they are mostly spent frantically gripping the armrest next to me so I don't go flying off of my seat. We booked the bus last minute so we sat in the back where we feel every bump. Like any bus there are two isles going down the right and left sides of the bus making rows of four seats. The back row is the exception as it has five seats with one directly in the middle of the bus. I foolishly choose this one so that I will have leg room. As a result every time the bus slams on the brakes, and this does happen quite often, I don't have a seat in front of me to brace agains so unless I am holding onto the armrest I will go flying into the aisle.
The roads in India are already narrow and treacherous but during the monsoon season they get worse. We go up and down what seems like an endless mountain pass filled with the most brutal switch backs which the driver takes at full speed causing the passengers to get thrown, first to the left, then to the right, every ten or fifteen seconds. Needless to say I get hardly any sleep and by the time we arrive in Margao I am a broken mess. Towards the end of the trip I seemed to have developed nausea and a fever so when I get off the bus all I want to do is find a place to lie down. But nobody has eaten, aside from snacks, since lunchtime the day before so we go get some food then find our way to the railway station so we can book our return ticket to Panvel and then travel to Vasco De Gama which is on the coast and where we will meet some friends. We find out that, in the words of the ticket agent, we have, "No chance" of booking a ticket and so have to again ride in a bus to get home. However we are able to book a ticket to Vasco and wait for about an hour for the train to come. We board our train and ride for another hour before getting to the coast and our final destination. Luckily the hotel we are staying at is only a few blocks from the railway station and it is sooo much luxury. I promptly lay down and pass out for a few hours.
The next day I am feeling much better and we are able to go a beach which is very nice even though it is cloudy. We get to swim in the ocean for a bit which is nice except for the few peices of floating garbage that we have to share it with. Aferward we go to a resturaunt with a view of the beach and just relax for a few hours before heading back to the hotel. I wish that we could spend more time in Goa, it is a very beatiful state with many old buildings left over from when it was a Portugese colony. Vasco is a very nice city as far as Indian cities go and we were pretty much the only foriegners around. Goa is a very small state but I think a person could spend months here just discovering different places.
Today is our last day here and we leave by bus at 5:00 pm hopefully reaching Panvel by 7:00 am and then taking the bus to Pen where we will start work at 10:00. This time at least we have a sleeper car and I am equipped with sleeping pills so hopefully the return journey will not be so bad.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
How the time flies
I can't believe that it has already been a week since I last posted and a month since I've been in India. One of the interns that we came with is already done with her program and is leaving us. I am realizing that in a week we will have hit the halfway mark for the program.
My mom asked me to talk a little more about my daily life here so I'll give it a go. After a fairly lackluster begginning the monsoon has finally taken off with much gusto and this morning found me and the other three interns walking in the rain waiting for someone to come along and give us a ride to the village of Paud where we can catch a bus or jeep to Pune. We flagged one down after a bit and were able to get out of the rain but as it was a covered "goods carrier"/ truck and not a jeep we had to croutch down awkwardly on the bumpy ride to Paud. Once there a bus picked us up and we crammed in with about a hundred other people. We sat in the back near a group of people who seemed to be starting thier daily commute. Without even trying we were the funniest people on the bus. The intern that was leaving had all her stuff with here and so took up quite a bit of space and this was quite a novelty to the other riders. You could tell they were talking and laughing about us for pretty much the whole trip. It was funny and I really wish I knew what people here thought of us. We must be a pretty strange sight. I was sitting next to a boy who went to school in Pune to study engineering and he actually spoke pretty good english so we had a broken conversation for a bit. When we get to Pune we usually head straight for the renown German Bakery which serves western food and has an internet cafe, two unheard of luxuries at Sadhana. I really enjoy the food there but it is always the same, we have chowpatty(which is a tortilla like flatbread), rice, some sort of soup, and bhaji(cooked vegetables) so it is nice to have something different.
As for the internship it things are finally beginning to take shape. It seems as though my main role with Sadhana village is to research and document thier community development efforts mostly with regard to the womens SHG's but also with thier supportive education program. This is "program evaluation" and it is a first for me. It is a little wierd that people who have been running this NGO for fifteen years would want the opinions and suggestions of a foriegner who has little proffessional experience in this area. But I suppose that having an outside perspective is always valuable and the Metyatai (one of the housemothers) made the point that they get so involved and busy in the day to day running of the program that they may loose sight of the bigger picture. In that sense I guess that I can see how my thoughts on thier programs might be helpful and I am excited for the opportunity to help in any way that I can. Also I am beginning to see what a great experience this will be in terms of helping me find a job when I get back to the states.
In other news I have decided to try and push my flight back so that I can do more traveling around India and even hopefully venture into Nepal. I think that the McCall reunion is going on right now, or will be soon, and that I am missing it for the third year in a row which gives me real heavy boots. I also found out today that Tim and Mindy are having a baby boy which is very exciting. Congrats guys!I saw the pictures on facebook, very cool. Well, I hope that everyone is having a nice summer and look forward to getting back and seeing you all.
My mom asked me to talk a little more about my daily life here so I'll give it a go. After a fairly lackluster begginning the monsoon has finally taken off with much gusto and this morning found me and the other three interns walking in the rain waiting for someone to come along and give us a ride to the village of Paud where we can catch a bus or jeep to Pune. We flagged one down after a bit and were able to get out of the rain but as it was a covered "goods carrier"/ truck and not a jeep we had to croutch down awkwardly on the bumpy ride to Paud. Once there a bus picked us up and we crammed in with about a hundred other people. We sat in the back near a group of people who seemed to be starting thier daily commute. Without even trying we were the funniest people on the bus. The intern that was leaving had all her stuff with here and so took up quite a bit of space and this was quite a novelty to the other riders. You could tell they were talking and laughing about us for pretty much the whole trip. It was funny and I really wish I knew what people here thought of us. We must be a pretty strange sight. I was sitting next to a boy who went to school in Pune to study engineering and he actually spoke pretty good english so we had a broken conversation for a bit. When we get to Pune we usually head straight for the renown German Bakery which serves western food and has an internet cafe, two unheard of luxuries at Sadhana. I really enjoy the food there but it is always the same, we have chowpatty(which is a tortilla like flatbread), rice, some sort of soup, and bhaji(cooked vegetables) so it is nice to have something different.
As for the internship it things are finally beginning to take shape. It seems as though my main role with Sadhana village is to research and document thier community development efforts mostly with regard to the womens SHG's but also with thier supportive education program. This is "program evaluation" and it is a first for me. It is a little wierd that people who have been running this NGO for fifteen years would want the opinions and suggestions of a foriegner who has little proffessional experience in this area. But I suppose that having an outside perspective is always valuable and the Metyatai (one of the housemothers) made the point that they get so involved and busy in the day to day running of the program that they may loose sight of the bigger picture. In that sense I guess that I can see how my thoughts on thier programs might be helpful and I am excited for the opportunity to help in any way that I can. Also I am beginning to see what a great experience this will be in terms of helping me find a job when I get back to the states.
In other news I have decided to try and push my flight back so that I can do more traveling around India and even hopefully venture into Nepal. I think that the McCall reunion is going on right now, or will be soon, and that I am missing it for the third year in a row which gives me real heavy boots. I also found out today that Tim and Mindy are having a baby boy which is very exciting. Congrats guys!I saw the pictures on facebook, very cool. Well, I hope that everyone is having a nice summer and look forward to getting back and seeing you all.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Some Pictures!
Well, I have finally been able to borrow someone's camera and get some pictures uploaded. I have a video camera that takes stills but it is hard to transfer to the computer. Kind of a hastle but here are some pictures from the trip to Mumbai, Sadhana village and surrounding areas, and the hike that we went on yesterday on our day off. The hike was so beautiful and took us up into the nearby hills to a Hindu temple. We stayed there for a while and then continued on up the hill for another half hour before we made it to the top. The hill we were on extends out into Kolvan valley and we were able to see the countryside in all directions for miles. The pictures really don't do it justice but it was quite amazing to finally be able to get up into those hills. I've been wanting to go up there since I came to Sadhana.
The past week has been good, and I finally feel as though I am getting adjusted to the way of life here. The days are starting to flow by in a somewhat predictable manner. It is very strange to me that I have only been here for three weeks. Time is strange here, in the present it always seems as though we are not really doing much and that time is crawling by but when I look back it seems that the three weeks passed in the blink of an eye and yet were filled with so much activity. On Monday of this week we were able to go to the city to do some research at a library which was very helpful in giving us a better background in development, microcredit and womens self help groups. The next day we were able to visit with five of the women in the group and interview them in thier homes. It was very enlightening to see how these different women live and hear about some of the struggles they face. Two of the women were comparitively well off and had the support of thier husbands but the other three were very poor and one got the sense that the only reason that they were able to participate in the group was because thier husband was either absent or in an alchohlic haze. Despite this, all of the women were very happy to talk to us and had a very positive attitude. The main benefit that the women got from being involved in this group was financial security and hope for the future that. One woman in particular was so proud that her daughter was going to be one of the few girls in the village that was continuing her education by attending a school for hotel managment. There are four such girls in the village and it is a very big deal that they are able to go to this school both in what it will do for thier future but also for the example that it will give to other young children in the area.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Mumbai Part 2
We left Pune at around midnight a few days ago thinking that the we could sleep on the bus and arrive sometime early in the morning and avoid paying for a room. It took two hours instead of the four that we were told so we came into mumbai in the dead of night. That early in the morning Mumbai was a deserted desolate wasteland. For a city of about fourteen million people I was very suprised to find that, aside from our taxi, there was almost no one up and about. More than half of the people that live in Mubai reside in the slums or simply have no home at all. The only company that we had on our drive from the bus station to our hostel were people sleeping on the ground.
Despite my initial feeling about the city the next morning I woke to a very busy vibrant city with lots to do. We got up and hit the town. I had forgotten to bring a copy of my passport, which you need to stay in any of the hostels here, and so had to deal with the annoying business of trying to get a copy faxed from the office here in Mumbai which took a few hours. Afterward we walked around a bit and saw the Gate of India which was pretty cool then headed to a very famous Haji Ali Dargah Mosque which was quite interesting. It was built in the 19th century for the Muslim saint Ali Dargah and is located on an island in the bay that is connected to a bridge. I haven't ever really had any exposure to Muslim culture and it was a very good experience.
Like most things since I've been here it was a very hectic and chaotic trip. Despite the chaos however travel here is amazingly cheap and we were able to see a lot of the city simply by taking a taxi where ever we wanted to go which you could never do in the states. It has been a fun weekend trip but it will be good to get back to Sadhana. Tommorrow I will be teaching again at the informal weekend school and I am excited for that. I also had a chance to pick up some really good books about India while I was in Mumbai which I hope will help give me a better framework for the things I am seeing and experiencing.
Well thats all for now, I miss you all and hope all is well.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Pune and then Mumbai
Well thank you to everyone who wrote comments it is nice to hear from you all. To answer Tim and Mindy's question, the economy is growing very rapidly. Last time I looked India's GDP was growing at a rate of about 11-12% per year compared to the US which grows around 3% per year. It is a complicated situation however because there is a fair amount of income inequality with mostly rich people living in the urban areas benefiting from the growth. The gap between the rich and the poor is continually getting wider and wider. That being said however the poor are being made better off by the improving economy but at a much slower rate.
I am finally getting accustomed to life here in India although it is hard being in such a rural area so far away from any sort of large city. Things move at a different pace and it is sometimes very frustrating. Out daily routine consists of morning chai at 730 then breakfast at 830. After such a taxing morning we usually take a break till around 1000 and then do some sort of activity. Lately we have simply been visiting and learning about the nearby banks, schools, and hospital trying to get a feel for the communities surrounding our village. Then we have lunch at 130 followed by another break till three. Sometimes we will have another outing and sometimes we won't. For most people the day slows down to a crawl after lunch and never really picks back up. Despite this I am getting am learning a lot about how people live and work in this area. One particullarly unique experience was when being able to work in the rice fields of a nearby farm for a few hours. It is suprisingly easy work. Befor the monsoon starts the rice is planted and allowed to grow to about a foot tall. It is then pulled out and replanted to increase the yield. And when I say easy I guess I should be honest and say that I don't know if I could have done it for more that a few hours. It wasn't very physically demanding but it was very hard on the back. After planting the family invited us back to thier house for dinner. This familly had about eight acres of land which is more than most people (the average in this area is one or two acres) but still they lived in abject poverty. They had no power or running water, which sadly is the norm in the area. I have heard the phrase "subsistence farming" many times but I had never really had a deep understanding of what this meant until recently.
Me and two other interns are heading to Mumbai tonight and have a four hour trip ahead of us and I'm already pretty exhausted, can't seems to really get my thoughts out in any real coherent manner so I will try writing again tommorrow after I've had some rest. Thanks again for all the comments, I miss all of you and can't wait to see everyone again. Very bummed that I am going to miss the reunion as well. Oh well, hopefully I can read about it in everyone else's blog.
I am finally getting accustomed to life here in India although it is hard being in such a rural area so far away from any sort of large city. Things move at a different pace and it is sometimes very frustrating. Out daily routine consists of morning chai at 730 then breakfast at 830. After such a taxing morning we usually take a break till around 1000 and then do some sort of activity. Lately we have simply been visiting and learning about the nearby banks, schools, and hospital trying to get a feel for the communities surrounding our village. Then we have lunch at 130 followed by another break till three. Sometimes we will have another outing and sometimes we won't. For most people the day slows down to a crawl after lunch and never really picks back up. Despite this I am getting am learning a lot about how people live and work in this area. One particullarly unique experience was when being able to work in the rice fields of a nearby farm for a few hours. It is suprisingly easy work. Befor the monsoon starts the rice is planted and allowed to grow to about a foot tall. It is then pulled out and replanted to increase the yield. And when I say easy I guess I should be honest and say that I don't know if I could have done it for more that a few hours. It wasn't very physically demanding but it was very hard on the back. After planting the family invited us back to thier house for dinner. This familly had about eight acres of land which is more than most people (the average in this area is one or two acres) but still they lived in abject poverty. They had no power or running water, which sadly is the norm in the area. I have heard the phrase "subsistence farming" many times but I had never really had a deep understanding of what this meant until recently.
Me and two other interns are heading to Mumbai tonight and have a four hour trip ahead of us and I'm already pretty exhausted, can't seems to really get my thoughts out in any real coherent manner so I will try writing again tommorrow after I've had some rest. Thanks again for all the comments, I miss all of you and can't wait to see everyone again. Very bummed that I am going to miss the reunion as well. Oh well, hopefully I can read about it in everyone else's blog.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Mumbai, Malvali, Sadhana and finally Pune
I have been in India for almost a week and it has been surreal. Spent the better part of the morning riding to the nearest large city called Pune in a jeep crammed with nineteen other people. That's right, nineteen, I counted. That's sixteen Indians, one Japanese girl, and three Americans. Needless, to say it has been an adventure trying to adjust to how things are done here but I think I'm doing all right although a little homesick. Traveling here by road is pure maddness. The dividing lines are mere suggestions that are rarely taken, and then only as a last resort to avoid head on collision.
For those of you who do not know what it is exactly that I am doing here, I commiserate because I am still a little unclear myself. Officially I am an intern working with grassroots community development. I am staying in a longterm care facility for the mentally disabled, called "special friends" in India, in a village called Sadhana. This facility, aside from taking care of the disabled, has become involved in various other projects in the surrounding villages. These include education, healthcare, financial education, and a womens self help group. Yesterday we, the other three interns and I, went around and visited representatives for all of these different projects and we are all still trying to feel out where and how we will get involved. I myself am thinking of getting involved with the womens group in whatever capacity that I am able. I am realizing that my invovlement will be fairly limited as the language barrier is significant. Most people speak Maharati and little English, with a few exceptions. Despite this I am very excited to learn more about how this womens group works. From what I have understood so far they started meeting a few years back at the encouragement of the women that run the facility where I stay. They have recieved must resistance from the men in the village but have pushed forward. In thier group they are able to apply for small loans and recieve education on how to spend the money they receive. They have very little political power as of now despite one of the women in the group being part of the village council.
This country is beautiful and full of contradictions and I feel very lucky to have come here. On my second day here, first full day, we drove from Malvali to Sadhana where I am staying now. As we took a scenic route out to this rural village many things stood out to me; a women beating wet clothes on a rock to clean them, men and women ankle deep in muddy water re-planting rice in the fields, horned buffalo with skin wrapped tightly around ribs, piles of refuse next to beautiful greenery, hilltop mansions next to straw huts, and the list goes on and on. We spent the next week or so getting used to life in rural India and I found it very relaxing, almost as if I were on vacation. We would go for walks, drink chai tea and chat, and attend the activities with the special friends who were very excited to meet us and learn where we were from. Suprisingly some of the best english speaker are special friends. I think this is becuase it is fairly expensive for them to stay at this facility as it is fairly unique in India. As a result I think many of them come from fairly well off families.
Overall, my time here has been very stressfull, exciting and at times very sad. Arriving today in Pune was my first time in the streets of a large city and I was immediately singled out by the beggars. Children gathered around us touching our feet and then kissing thier hands asking for money. One particular boy followed us for quite a while and if we stopped for too long he would sit on the ground and wrap his arms and legs around my leg to keep me from going. I wanted nothing else but to give this boy some money but they tell us that most of these children are employed by adults who treat them very cruelly and by giving them money we are supporting what is essentially a very immoral industry.
Well thats all for now, I have lots of people to write and only limited time. I very much enjoy hearing from others and if anyone would like to give me a call my cell number here is 9323626891 just keep in mind that I am about thirteen hours ahead of most of you. And I also very much enjoy getting comments from family and friends.
For those of you who do not know what it is exactly that I am doing here, I commiserate because I am still a little unclear myself. Officially I am an intern working with grassroots community development. I am staying in a longterm care facility for the mentally disabled, called "special friends" in India, in a village called Sadhana. This facility, aside from taking care of the disabled, has become involved in various other projects in the surrounding villages. These include education, healthcare, financial education, and a womens self help group. Yesterday we, the other three interns and I, went around and visited representatives for all of these different projects and we are all still trying to feel out where and how we will get involved. I myself am thinking of getting involved with the womens group in whatever capacity that I am able. I am realizing that my invovlement will be fairly limited as the language barrier is significant. Most people speak Maharati and little English, with a few exceptions. Despite this I am very excited to learn more about how this womens group works. From what I have understood so far they started meeting a few years back at the encouragement of the women that run the facility where I stay. They have recieved must resistance from the men in the village but have pushed forward. In thier group they are able to apply for small loans and recieve education on how to spend the money they receive. They have very little political power as of now despite one of the women in the group being part of the village council.
This country is beautiful and full of contradictions and I feel very lucky to have come here. On my second day here, first full day, we drove from Malvali to Sadhana where I am staying now. As we took a scenic route out to this rural village many things stood out to me; a women beating wet clothes on a rock to clean them, men and women ankle deep in muddy water re-planting rice in the fields, horned buffalo with skin wrapped tightly around ribs, piles of refuse next to beautiful greenery, hilltop mansions next to straw huts, and the list goes on and on. We spent the next week or so getting used to life in rural India and I found it very relaxing, almost as if I were on vacation. We would go for walks, drink chai tea and chat, and attend the activities with the special friends who were very excited to meet us and learn where we were from. Suprisingly some of the best english speaker are special friends. I think this is becuase it is fairly expensive for them to stay at this facility as it is fairly unique in India. As a result I think many of them come from fairly well off families.
Overall, my time here has been very stressfull, exciting and at times very sad. Arriving today in Pune was my first time in the streets of a large city and I was immediately singled out by the beggars. Children gathered around us touching our feet and then kissing thier hands asking for money. One particular boy followed us for quite a while and if we stopped for too long he would sit on the ground and wrap his arms and legs around my leg to keep me from going. I wanted nothing else but to give this boy some money but they tell us that most of these children are employed by adults who treat them very cruelly and by giving them money we are supporting what is essentially a very immoral industry.
Well thats all for now, I have lots of people to write and only limited time. I very much enjoy hearing from others and if anyone would like to give me a call my cell number here is 9323626891 just keep in mind that I am about thirteen hours ahead of most of you. And I also very much enjoy getting comments from family and friends.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The Beginning
Well folks, (This is the gender nuetral politically correct term to use when talking to an audience of different sexes. In Alaska we always started off our tours with this phrase and it just keeps popping up whenever I want to write a narrative.) it seems as though my adventure has officially begun. I arrived in Chicago this afternoon from Jacksonville, IL where I had been spending the last week and a half with my brother, sister in-law, and niece. It was a long but comfortable train ride. My Hostel is right in the middle of dowtown near Lake Michigan and right now it is about eighty five degrees and the Tastes of Chicago is going on all week (a similar festival to the Bite of Seattle). There are free concerts all week and on the third there is even a Independence Day Eve firworks display so even though I will be leaving for India in the afternoon on the Fourth of July I will still get to see some fireworks.
Overall, I am very excited to be here for the next few days and Chicago is quickly becoming one of my new favorite cities. Right now I am in the Chicago Public Library, which is only a block away from my hostel and it is by far the most expansive and amazing library that I have ever been to. I think I could spend all day just wandering around looking through different books and admiring the architecture. Well thats all for today I am pretty exhausted and I still want to walk around a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to make another post tommorrow.
Overall, I am very excited to be here for the next few days and Chicago is quickly becoming one of my new favorite cities. Right now I am in the Chicago Public Library, which is only a block away from my hostel and it is by far the most expansive and amazing library that I have ever been to. I think I could spend all day just wandering around looking through different books and admiring the architecture. Well thats all for today I am pretty exhausted and I still want to walk around a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to make another post tommorrow.
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