Sarees, salsa dancing, and birthday celebrations

The sociology department held a farewell party for the graduating seniors, so Marie, Claire, and I dressed up in sarees for the occasion. The master’s first-year students (my classmates) put it on, so they did all the decorations, arranged for food, put together a slideshow and music, and performed during the party. It was really nice, especially because it was clear how much work they had put into it.

The next weekend Pondicherry University held a talent show, which was supposed to start at 5:30, so according to Indian time that means 7:15. People performed dances, yoga demonstrations, songs, etc. It was awesome! However, it went on too long, and some people didn’t get to perform – including Arun, who was going to dance. At ten p.m., the talent show was still going on, but they made an announcement that women should return to their hostels (but men could stay). So I stayed! Ha. Such a rebel, I know. They ended the talent show soon after, though, because no one had had dinner…it just frustrates me that women are supposed to go back early all the time and yet men can do whatever they want. But enough of that, I rant about it enough to my friends here.

On Saturday, a group of us got dressed in sarees and took the local bus (oy vey, so many people stared at us) into Pondicherry, where we had lunch at a fancy buffet to celebrate my birthday and Kara’s birthday. Lunch (and getting there and back) lasted from 11:30am to 5pm, when we got back to our hostel. Around 6 or 7, we got ready to go back out  - we were going to a friend’s house, then salsa dancing in Pondicherry! We rented a 14 seater van for the night because it was cheaper than renting autos ($4 per person for 4.5 hours, cool eh?). I think about 16 people were there, total. Salsa dancing was fantastic! I had never done it before, but I had a blast. The party was put on by a group of European expatriates, so it felt like going dancing at home a little bit. It was really fun.

Other things of interest…the power has been cutting on and off – though not for very long – because of the heat, I think. I was cooking dinner (a rare occurrence here because it’s harder to get groceries, adequate cooking supplies, and we have a cafeteria to go to) for me and Arun and the power went out right as I put the vegetables into the oven to roast. Thankfully the power came back on a few minutes later, but you never know…also, the internet hasn’t been working well (well being a relative term) which is hard b/c I have to email people, figure out classes, and book plane tickets. Yikes! It’s okay though, I’m used to it by now so it’s not a problem.

I leave Pondicherry University early in the morning on April 27, and I’m ready but not ready at the same time. Leaving will be hard. I’m in the process of packing and studying for finals and saying goodbye and it’s just a lot to take in all at once. Study abroad is hard, for a number of reasons. It’s also the best time I’ve ever had in my life, though…it’s just like India – everything is an extreme, great or terrible, rarely any in between, and often it’s both. So you just have to accept it.

On April 27, I’ll be traveling to Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur on a guided tour before traveling to Darjeeling and Kolcutta with Liz and Jackie. From there, I’ll fly to Nepal to start my Odyssey project on May 9 – I’m going to be volunteering at a small hospital in Pokhara teaching health education and living with a Nepali host family for six weeks. I’ll keep my blog going until I go back to the United States in the end of June. 

 From left to right: me, Arun, Claire, and Marie at the Sociology Farewell Party

Noella, Liz and I wearing sarees on our way to fancy lunch in Pondicherry

 Friends! Taken in the van before salsa dancing. Leon, Matt, Kara, Liz, Charlotte, Natasha, Marie, Claire, Najeeb, Me, Arun, Jackie, Ravi, Eugenie.

"We're like that old lady with the fish"

Friday was a fairly typical example of what it’s like to go into the town of Pondicherry, which is about 30-40 minutes from the university by local bus. Liz and I each had a package to mail back to the US (mine was 18 pounds), so we waited for the bus at the bus stop, which is across the street from the gate of Pondicherry University. When the bus arrived, we tried to push past people as they were pushing past us to get onto the bus, lugging our boxes with us. I was terrified the bus would leave w/out us both on it, but we made it!

Once we were on the bus, we stood in uncomfortable positions – we were thankfully standing against the wall rather than just in the aisles. I had my back to the windows/wall, and the boxes were also behind me. Liz was next to me, and we were fairly squished. I tried to stay a bit back from the woman in front of me (her arm was about 6-8 inches from my face and she had some kind of skin rash) so I ended up squatting sideways? Liz befriended this adorable Tamil boy who was around two or so, he kept waving at us then his mom made him touch her face, stand near her, etc. so that was cute. Another child, an older girl, got on the bus and said hi to me - I responded, “Vannakam!” (hello or welcome in Tamil).

We got to the bus stop and yelled to make sure the attendant would stop long enough for us to bring our boxes down. Then, we took an auto to the international courier service, shipped our boxes, and stumbled to Café Coffee Day (similar to Starbucks, nice but a little overpriced, but so good) where we shared dessert, drank coffee, and studied some for finals, which are next week. Then we checked out a handmade paper factory (cool stationary!) and walked back to the bus stop, where we actually had seats on the bus ride back (always nice) and then got back to our hostel, where I rested for two hours before heading out with some French and Indian friends to “make party” as Marie would say!

Note: the title is something Liz said after we got off the bus, and I agree. Sometimes there are women on the bus with big metal buckets full of fish to sell on the street or at the market…and that’s how we felt on the bus. Hot, sweaty, crowded, but we did it! (And we made some new cute lil’ friends in the process)

Holi Moley - Holi Celebrations and Tea Plantations

Last Wednesday was Holi, which is mostly celebrated in the North, not the South – bummer, man, as I am suuuuuper South! – but some students celebrated it. In the morning, I walked out of my independent study to find some of my French friends ready to cover me in powder! People were running around the social sciences/humanities buildings throwing colorful powder at each other. In the evening I heard there was a Holi celebration going on in the stadium, so I went with Arun and Shruti to check it out. Once we got there, I realized that Shruti and I were the only girls participating, though there were a few girls sitting in the stadium watching boys dance to Tamil music and throw powder everywhere. I danced for a little bit, but felt…odd/uncomfortable being the only woman there. It was super weird, but fun for the most part!

This weekend, the Americans, Arun and I went to Ooty, a nearby hill station. So of course I got to play in tea plants again! Hooray! We visited two botanical gardens/parks, a lake that was a mixture of a lake and a small amusement park, several jaw-droppingly beautiful scenic lookouts over mountains and tea plantations, and wandered through a tea plantation. We were on a bus that took us all over Ooty and nearby Coonoor (for 150 rps or $3 for the whole day, so cheap!) and we were also supposed to visit a tea museum, but ran out of time, oh well.

On Sunday, Arun and I went to the Isha Yoga Centre near Coimbatore. He has been studying Isha yoga for a few years, and is a volunteer as well. The yoga centre was…awesome. I’m still at a loss of words about the experience, honestly. It was so cool learning more about his traditions, practices etc. and at the same time the place itself was really beautiful. Well worth the 5.5 hours of bus travel to get there.

Also, since we were in a cooler climate, it was COLD at night. Women were wearing sweaters over their saris, and many men wore jackets or sweaters. I didn’t because it was ‘cold’ to them – maybe 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celcius – and it was so refreshing to feel cold instead of constant, sweltering heat. It was so nice.

When I got back to Pondicherry after traveling 5.5 hrs during the day Sunday on three buses, and then overnight on another one, the sudden heat and tiredness caused me to get a terrible fever. Oops, my bad! I went to the health center and explained what happened – basically, the change in climate plus lack of sleep and lots of travel messed me up – and the doctor said it was due to the change in climate, overexertion, etc. Okay. So she prescribed 3 things to me – an antibiotic, a cough/cold medicine even though I told her my throat wasn’t bothering me, and something I couldn’t find online so I didn’t take it – and didn’t explain what anything was for. I am bad at taking medicine to begin with, but if I don’t know why I should take it…hmm. Anyway. It’s been interesting (to say the least) to try to get medical attention for minor illnesses – mostly because I’m interested in international public health haha. It’s very different than in the U.S., that’s for sure. 

Happy Holi! With Arun

Shruti, my favorite Canadian, and I were two of the only girls there. India.

With Arun at Doddabetta peak, the highest elevation in Southern India and a scenic lookout!

At Lamb's Rock in Coonoor, cheesin'

It's hard for me to believe places this beautiful actually exist.

Arun surrounded by endless tea plants, Coonoor

Halfway here, halfway home

This is about the halfway point for my time in Asia – I’ll be leaving India for Nepal in May, then flying back to India in June, then flying back to the U.S. a week later. 

To commemorate the halfway mark of my time abroad, here are some things I miss about the U.S., and some things that I do not miss:

I miss…

-Wandering around campus late at night with friends

-Freedom to go to friends’ rooms whenever, male or female

-Wearing less modest clothing [sometimes]

-Having access to an air-conditioned gym…ooh, also air conditioning

-Ecohouse silly times/environmental endeavors/gardening and cooking/friends

-Food: smores, mac and cheese, salmon and asparagus, chocolate chip cookies, eggs/a protein-heavy diet, kale, greek yogurt, apples

-Halloween, and excuses to wear costumes

-Western feminism

-Finding new American music, my radio show with Allison

-Netflix – mostly to watch documentaries though. Or Sherlock. Or Mad Men. Or Parks&Recreation

-Hendrix party culture

I don’t miss…

-Reality tv and the stupidity that comes with it

-American bump ‘n’ grind dancing

-Homework, stress, and work in general

-Dependence on cars rather than public transportation

-Everything being expensive

-How un-friendly people can be, in certain parts of the U.S. (compared to here at least)

-Hendrix party culture

Spring Break (of sorts)

View of Hampi from the top of the hill. Hanuman Temple, Hampi

 At the top of Hanuman Temple hill, Hampi

Vittala tempel at sunset, Hampi

 Lakshmi the temple elephant

 Lakshmi, again

 Part of the historic Hampi tour, monument made from one huge boulder

 15th century ruins, Hampi

Sanskrit on a stone tablet, Hampi

Marie goobering around, Hampi

Marie and I on St. Mary's Island, Malpe (with McChauffe, which she carries when she travels and takes pictures with it)

 St. Mary's Island, Malpe

Last week, half of my classes were canceled because the Sociology department was going on a 'cultural tour' aka educational field trip. So Marie-Cecile, a french classmate, and I decided to go on our own cultural tour of the nearby state of Karnataka. It was a whirlwind week of traveling, as we would spend one night on a sleeper bus traveling and the next in a hotel/guest house, staying in one place for a night before going to the next. We went to Hampi, Udupi, Malpe, Mangalore, and Bangalore. While it wasn't the most relaxing trip, I had a blast. Hampi was my favorite place by far - I wish we could have stayed there longer. Hampi is a World Heritage Site, and is surrounded by strange rock/boulder formations. The city itself has old monuments, ruins of 15th century temples and statues, and is one of the most laid-back places I've visited, full of Western backpackers and good food. At one store, I bought an embroidered camel leather purse but I didn't have enough change - so the shop owner told me to keep the purse and pay him later! (which I did soon after). Our first day, we crossed the river by boat and explored old ruins and went to a small temple at the top of a steep hill, from which we could see the quaint city beneath us, including the river and hills around it. After lunch at an Israeli restaurant we wandered around and stopped to get cake at a bakery before crossing the river and walking up a hill overlooking the main Vittala temple just before sunset. As we were eating our cake, I felt something wet on my head. I looked up, and realized that a monkey had just peed on my head!! It then tried to jump after us to get our cake so we ran away. Monkeys are vicious! The next day, Marie and I went down to the river to see the temple elephant, Lakshmi, about to take her daily bath in the river - we were a bit early though, so we just saw her before she took her bath (we had to leave for the bike tour at 8:30am). Then we went on a 4.5 hour bicycle tour of Hampi historic sites, which was fantastic. Afterwards we were pretty beat so we relaxed at a restaurant for most of the day.

The next day we arrived in Udupi by bus, where we wandered around the large Krishna temple in the morning with all of our backpacking gear before taking yet another bus to the nearby fishervillage of Malpe. After getting lost at the harbor, hauling our luggage for a while, we made it to the tourist boat leaving for St. Mary's Island. We hopped on and joined the 3 dozen Indian tourists for a boat ride to the island. Afterwards, we took a bus back to Udupi, then on to Mangalore. Once we got to Mangalore we tried to find a hotel - when I realized I had lost my passport copy (which I later found) and Marie didn't bring one...so we had to visit several hotels before we found one that would take us. Yikes. Good thing I had written down my passport and visa numbers just in case! We ended up having to pay more than we wanted to, but it was okay...in the evening we went to the mall to see a movie - the new Oz movie, my first movie in a theater in India. Also it was 3D...and it cost $3 US which was wonderful.

The next day, we decided to go to nearby Ullal Beach. As we were waiting for the bus to take us to the beach, Marie bought some sugarcane juice which was delicious. Then, we saw the bus coming - but it didn't stop! Marie gulped down her juice and chased after the bus, but it was to no avail - we had to wait 20 minutes for the next one. I cannot believe she ran down the street, chasing after the bus! After visiting the beach, we went back to the mall to kill time until our bus left for Bangalore that night.

We arrived in Bangalore at 5:30am, and met our friend Leon (poor guy, he stayed up all night and then had to wake up early to greet us, and it was his birthday!) at his house. Our time in Bangalore was really fun - one of the best weekends I'd had in a while. About 10 or so friends stayed at Leon's for the weekend, where his mom kept plying us with more home-cooked food than we could eat (it was all so good, though). We celebrated his birthday throughout the weekend, spending Saturday at his house with friends and family dancing and eating great food, and repeating the party the next day at his uncle's house, where we enjoyed Indian barbecue and a had another dance party (let me tell you, it's hard to dance in a sari). Indian birthdays involve the birthday boy/girl feeding everyone else cake, then they eat some. There's a lot of food, dancing, laughter, and love. It's great. I'm going to be traveling during my birthday, but I hope to celebrate with friends before I leave Pondicherry.

It was a wonderful week - I had a great time with Marie, and our friends in Bangalore. Marie also taught me some French - mostly incredibly useful phrases like "Bonne douche!" which means essentially "have a good shower!" (See, Amy, now I am fluent in French! Just kidding) This week is a bit like another spring break because classes have been cancelled for the rest of the week due to protests by Tamils in Tamil Nadu against the mass killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Hmm...my blog sounds like all I do is travel and hang out, which is moderately accurate. I did take a midterm yesterday though, so that's something, right? An official came into class as I was taking my test to say that classes were canceled, but I chose to finish my test before leaving for the day...

Livin' That Pondi Life

Over the past two weeks, I…

-Went to the Mahai Maham parade in Pondicherry, during which gods from Hindu temples all over Pondi were paraded down the street

-Had some unfortunate digestive issues and spent the majority of the week near the toilet

-Practically had a three day weekend as my classes ended at 10:30am Friday – found the atm on campus, got a coconut near the beach, and got a pedicure (for $7 US, great no?)

-Walked around Rockfort Beach in Pondi with Arun and checked out a nearby park as well as listened to some live Tamil music at the beach – there’s always something going on there in the evening. Had ice cream for dinner, yolo!

-Discovered (okay, the French girls told us about it) the most wonderful restaurant for European/American food near Auroville. Farm Fresh serves burgers, eggs, salad, sandwiches…all things that are no longer a common part of my diet! It’s also a small store, so after sharing a salad and a burger, Liz and I stocked up on the essentials: pasta, peanut butter, dates, and kombucha. We also went there for breakfast! Yum.

-Went into Pondi with two classmates, Swarna and Subhadra, and a couple of their friends for lunch. They are from Kolkatta in West Bengal so we went to get Bengali food – rice, dal (lentil sauce), a sweet sauce, vegetables, and spicy fish curry, it was delicious!

-Watched a crazy documentary about Indian feminism. Not the same issues as Western feminism, let me tell you...I was the only foreign student there but I wish there had been someone else, b/c I couldn’t tell if it was shocking to me or everyone

-Fell off a bicycle (note: it wasn’t moving) b/c my harem pants got caught on the back, so I fell off, ripping them beyond repair. Oops. Embarrassing, yes. Hilarious? Absolutely.

-Took my first midterm (internal here) in my Indian Sociological Perspectives class. Wrote 6 pages (bigger than US paper size) in an hour, then when I turned it in a classmate asked me, “is that all you wrote?” Uhhh…yes…?

- Visited an ayurvedic doctor and now have medicine that tastes like icing; after my trip this week I’ll be going back for an ayurvedic massage

-Went to the Rockfort Beach and then had dinner w/ my professor, Dr. Mili, her husband, his brother, wife, and daughter. It was really nice! I had a lot of fun – how often do you get to hang out with your professor and her family?

-Starred in a movie! Ok, not really - I was an extra in a Tamil film, so I sat in the sun all day and pretended I was a guest at a wedding. I got free food, a necklace, and 2000 rps ($40 US) as well as a Kingfisher beer – a good day, I would say, though I did get my first sunburn of the semester.

-Killed 3 cockroaches in a 20-minute period (Allison you should be so proud of me, the other girls were afraid but I was just like, yeah, that’s a huge one, lemme just smash it with my shoe!) and found one under my desk and didn’t freak out, just swept it outta my room

…and that’s what two weeks in Pondi are like. Basically. This week I don’t have half of my classes because the sociology department is going on a field trip (44 college students on a trip, oy vey). I’m going to travel around the state of Karnataka for a week with Marie-Cecile, who is from France. We’re going to Hampi and Mangalore, arriving in Bangalore on Saturday to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Then later this month I’m going to Ooty, a famous hill station in Tamil Nadu! Sorry for the lack of pictures - the water decided to cut out this morning in the middle of my shower and the wifi isn't working in my hostel so I'm currently in an internet cafe with shampoo still in my hair hahaha

Oh, my. Mysore and Bangalore

Last Thursday, the four American SIP girls and I traveled to Mysore and Bangalore, arriving back at Pondicherry University Monday morning at 6:45, after which I went to my classes and then slept (until I decided to go into town to see a parade, that is).

Traveling there meant taking:
-A bus from Pondicherry University to the bus stand in Pondicherry (45 min)
-A private bus overnight to Bangalore (8 hours)
-A bus from Bangalore to Mysore (3 hours)

Traveling here is both hard and easy - easy in the sense that it's much cheaper than it would be at home, and I have more time/flexibility to travel during my semester in India than I would back at Hendrix...but it's also incredibly difficult. I'd never booked long distance buses/trains/etc or hotels before, and doing so in another country where the people you're talking to don't always speak English is challenging. Also our internet doesn't work very well in the hostel, so it's hard to even look things up online. It's worth all the stress, though - as soon as I get back from traveling somewhere, I start thinking about the next trip!

Once we got to our hotel in Mysore, we rested for a bit (two of the girls were sick! poor things) and then headed into the city for some sight seeing. Mysore is a tourist destination - for Indian tourists, not Westerners - and so the city is very green/full of nature, the roads are wider, the sidewalks are cleaner, there is less traffic, and people even wear helmets when they ride motorcycles! It's a beautiful city. We visited the Maharaja's Palace and explored the gardens, then took an auto-rickshaw to the top of Chamundhi hill, where we could see all of Mysore in the distance. Then, exhausted, we returned to the hotel for dinner (most hotels have restaurants attached) and I tried my first Indian wine. Result: something like sweet brandy mixed with rubbing alcohol. Bummer.

On Saturday, we hired a driver for a few hours (something I could NOT afford to do at home, but divided among everyone it came to $4 per person for 4 hours) and went to nearby Sri Rangapatnam, a historic fort. Once inside, we toured the Gumbaz tombs, Summer Palace, and the Ranganatha Swamy temple. Afterwards we split up, and Liz and I went to Cafe Coffee Day (think Indian Starbucks) before wandering around, exploring Mysore and shopping. We hung out in a park for a bit, where we got several stares - being the only white people around - and then went shopping! Mysore is famous for silk, sandalwood, and incense...and I might have bought too many scarves (6) but some are for gifts! So it's fine, right? We then walked to a nearby art gallery which was unfortunately closed.

We ran into an auto-rickshaw driver who called himself Master Blaster (I only speak the truth) who offered to show us the "real" Mysore. We went through neighborhoods and alleyways, stopping to see wood carvings being made by hand, Indian cigarrettes called beedi's made of leaves being rolled, an incense/essential oil shop, and finally a silk emporium. It was awesome.

Sunday, Liz and I took the bus back to Bangalore, where we hung out at a mall (A/C! Fancy, clean bathrooms with a bidet! A bookstore/coffeeshop where I bought a book about feminism in Tibet and a french press! Did I mention the A/C?) and then went to India's first microbrewery, the Biere Club, where we met up with Kara, Jackie, and Lauren. I'd never been to a microbrewery before...after that, we took a bus from Bangalore overnight to Pondicherry, where we arrived at the university at 6:45am. I had breakfast, went to my classes, and then slept...until I went into town to see a parade that occurs once a year, that is.

The five of us at Chamundhi Hill

Cheesin' outside of Maharaja's palace - beautiful place

The Gumbaz tombs

Mysore city square: it's a pretty well planned city, I was impressed!

A man doing wood carvings

Driving the Master Blaster auto-rickshaw! (Just kidding, I didn't really)

Wandering through the small alleyways containing woodworking shops, incense makers, etc.

The temple on top of Chamundhi Hill and the bustling market outside of it