Hoo! Ha! India!! HOO HAA INDIA!!!!

The title to this post is from the cheer that is now in 95% of the commericals on television, because the ICC World Cup has just started. The ICC World Cup is the world cup for cricket. It just started this past week, and the games have dominated our television at home ever since. Although I must say, it's pretty interesting to watch, in fact, I might be turning into a cricket fan/addict For the uninitiated, the ICC is being hosted in the West Indies this year, which means that even though I'm in India, 85% of me is rooting for the WI team. (Jamaica, anyone?) Don't tell my host family, though. ; )

Sooo....I'm going to blame my lack of blog postage on the horrible internet that's been happening for the past two weeks. Actually they had to replace the internet box (that's what I'm going to call it because I don't know the real name) and it just started working again yesterday. Apologies for the many backed up emails I haven't replied to yet, I'll be getting to them soon.

Coming up, in the Times of Anna (knock-off of a newspaper here called the Times of India) is a trip to Bangalore this weekend. Actually, it's Bangalore, Mysore, Shravanabelagola, Melukote, Somnathpure, and Sriangapattana. Don't ask me what all those places are, I don't know, hopefully I will by Tuesday, which is when we return. One of the best parts about this trip, or rather, our tranportation there, is that CIEE has decided to fly us!! Hurrah!! Unfortunately, that also means we're leaving at 4 am Saturday, which is in 4 hours. So much for sleep!

Previously, in the Times of Anna, last weekend was the festival of Holi. Holi is an Indian holiday that involves eating sweets and ambushing your friends by yelling while dumping coloured paint and powder on them. (With the occasional raw egg thrown in for variety). It is great fun!! Included is a photo, thanks to a fellow CIEE-er, of the aftermath of Holi. L-R me, my host sister Sowmya, my host-brother's girlfriend Shriya, and my roommate/fellow CIEE-er/dost(friend in Hindi)/sister Brittany Jordan. I think Brittany is pretty awesome, in case you couldn't tell.

The snap at the top of this entry is a picture of me from my last trip at Hampi (thanks to Britt), or as I like to call it, me falling in love with India.

I should probably go now, because even though I have only four hours to sleep, I should probably take advantage of those four hours. Last bits of updates are that I am now travelling for three weeks in India, then flying to London, visiting a friend there for ten days, and then coming home. Travel plans will be elaborated on in my next blog. But one of the best parts (again, involving transportation) is that in moving my special student ticket with a fee of only $25 for a date change--yes, I realize how amazing that is--I was bumped up to middle class for an additional fee of only $50!!! WHOO-HOO!!! Buisiness class from Delhi to London should be BEAUTIFUL. I might not sleep just so I can order special food and watch special movies and stretch my legs in all of the extra leg room I shall have. Okay. I'm off to get 3 hours and 45 minutes of sleep now.

I can't think of a creative title so this will have to do

This is my fourth or fifth attempt to post since coming back from Hampi. The internet has been pretty spotty this week, it usually cuts out right when I'm about to save a document or send an email or upload some pictures...and then everything gets lost. The internet-man has a cruel sense of humour. Still, I'll try again...

The most exciting news of late is that I now have a volunteer position with an NGO near Hyderabad!! Let me explain how this happened. Last Monday (before Hampi) I had an appointment with the Concern India Foundation, an NGO that funds other NGOs around India. I found CIF before I left America, when I was searching for Hyderabadi NGOs online. I called them a few weeks ago and took an appointment, and it was through them that I was connected with one of their beneficiaries near Hyderabad in Kukatpally, the CHORD project.

Chord is a school for children taken out of child labour, slum children, and destitute children. This Monday I went and met with the director, a very inspiring man who single-handedly started the project (there are now four schools throughout Andhra Pradesh). As we were speaking, he expressed his heart for the children, and he explained that he directs the schools completely on his own, for no payment, while supporting his own family.

Because my Telagu is EXTREMELY limited (note: non-existent: I know how to say, "hello" "come with me" "a little bit" and "enough") I can't really help out in the classrooms so much. However, what they need right now is someone to help them with the letters they send to foreign donors and grant organizations to get funding. I was more than happy to agree. I will get to interact with the kids some, too. Next Thursday I'm going back to basically sit in on some classes, play with the kids, and do a little internet research in their office.

Here's the truly incredible part: after the director expressed their needs, he said if I would help them he would give me a job for the rest of my life there. !!!! Not only that, but while I work with them they're going to pay my transportation!! I tried to turn him down, saying that I wasn't expecting any payment. But he said that he understood I was a student and things were tight, so I should at least let him make a timetable for the time I spent with them, that would cover my transportation.

So after writing all this of course I have to give you the website. Here it is. If you are at all interested in sponsoring a child, please do so. It's only $30 a year for one child's education and support. : )

My weekend at Hampi was perfect, marred only by the occasional person trying to rip us off, accidental fall into the river, and sketchy 8:00 pm walk through a dark banana grove. I'll start with the banana grove: on tour book and local recommendation, our first night in Hampi Brittany, Ilana, Pareen and I decided to eat at this restaurant called The Mango Tree. When Pareen was reading us the description of the food in the Lonely Planet guide to India, she quoted them as saying, "Even the walk is delicious!" However, by the time we returned from our temple excursions and set off for dinner it was already dark. We didn't think this would be a problem because our hostel was right in the center of all the shops and restaurants, but this particular eatery was quite a walk, as we soon discovered. The Lonely Planet "delicious walk" quote was repeated sarcastically several times as we gingerly picked our way through a dark abandoned street, a wood, and then finally a banana grove. Thankfully, we arrived safely and the food was worth the walk.

My slip into the river occurred as our group set off to climb to the Hanuman Temple in Hampi. Hanuman is the monkey god, and this temple was perched atop a high hill/mountain that was separated from main Hampi by a river. So, we asked a boatman to take us across in his boat, aka a large straw circular basin covered in tar. I fell into the river just as I was carefully climbing into this boat, explaining to my friends how, in order to safely climb into a boat without falling, one should keep one's weight low and centered...pride does indeed come before a fall.

Despite this early blow to my pride, I insisted on trying to "row" us down the river, even though we were paying the boatman a very nice price to row us there himself. I say "row" because my paddling attempts merely resulted in spinning our basin in circles, giving the boatman/guide a good laugh and my friends queasy stomachs. Anyways. We eventually made it down the river, alighting at an extensive banana grove (our weekend was full of banana groves) which our guide led us safely through, then some more fields, and finally to the base of the mountain, which was looking less and less climbable the closer we got. However, we made it up the 600-odd steps, (pausing every few feet to admire the AMAZING views) to the temple, where we had a nice chai break chilling with the swamis in the temple, before climbing down again.

There were many other adventures in Hampi but the internet is still working and I don't want to push my luck, so I'll only include this last bit of news: I'm now training to run the NYC Marathon this fall! Some of you may know that last year, with two of my friends, I ran the Queens half-marathon. Anyways, one of these friends sent me an email with information on an organization that raises money for cancer research, which we could run for in the NYC Marathon. We were both very interested in this, because my grandmother passed away about three and a half weeks from cancer, and my friend lost also her grandmother to cancer last year.
So, we've decided to run! I'm looking forward to starting training again, because I really enjoyed my long runs last spring, although running in Indian heat will certainly be a different experience. But there are a few runners in the program that I can run with, so at least I'll have company!

That's it for news, hopefully the internet co-operates when I try to post this!

More Pictures

These four photos are from one of the first monuments we visited in Hyderabad. It's called Charminar. The views are looking out from the top of Charminar, and the stone is the ceiling and from the inside. Upper right: behold the autorickshaw!!





These next four are from my house!!! Upper left, my room, which I share with my roommate Brittany and my host sister, Sowmya. Upper right, the room outside my room where the recently departed Dane Thor slept. Alok, the MPhil student, also sleeps there. Lower left, the balcony outside our living area, lower right, Brittany standing at the top of a set of stairs to yet another balcony. More pictures later, I've got to leave for class!

Good Morning, Chennai!!!!

This past weekend CIEE took the whole group of us minus two students to Chennai, Pondicherry, and other places whose names I can't spell. The trip was....guess what word is coming next....AMAZING!!! Amazing basically means adventures and mishaps galore, but *almost* all ones that can be laughed over afterwards.

I've decided that I love sleep-over train rides in India. There's just something incredible and exhilarating about standing in the open doorway of your train car, watching India flow past you...and then returning to your bunk to read, or eat, or whatever...and then falling asleep to the rocking motion of the train and the click of the wheels on the tracks.

But back to news of my trip. So this past Thursday evening, the lot of us boarded the overnight train to Chennai, and disembarked Friday morning. We have been lucky in our campus location in that Hyderabad, while hot, is not humid. The same cannot be said for Chennai. When I stepped off the train, I felt like I was back in the midst of a New York summer!

Once we had dumped our stuff in our hotel, our group boarded a bus to go see some temples at Kanchipuram. The highlight of this day was seeing two elephants at one of the temples, who would touch your head with their trunks if you gave them coins. Unfortunately, I had no coins on me, so I was left watching.

The next day was really when the action started: our trip to Mammalapuram (sp?) and Pondicherry. Mammalapuram contains these breathtaking rock formations, with temples carved out of them, as well as walls and walls of relief sculpture. Here I had lots of fun leaping over rocks and taking landscape photos from high up positions. Mishap number one happened here, as I was happily taking pictures from high up positions...I kept my camera safely around my wrist at all times until I was climbing down from one particularly steep rock, at which point I turned to try to transfer it to the camera bag. Something went wrong during this transfer and it slipped off my wrist. Fred, who had been taking pictures with me (and who is my hero of the week), courageously or foolishly (depending on if you're his family or his friend) leaped off of the rock in a futile attempt to save my already doomed camera. I stood and watched in shocked silence as they fell together...thankfully Fred ended up safely but my camera did not. I am currently working on replacing it. The memory card is safe but the software was damaged in the fall, so I will not be able to access my pictures until it's replaced.

* * * * * *moment of silence * * * * * *

On to mishap number two. After my camera broke, for some reason I decided to test my luck again. So I set off to climb up some "stairs" that had been carved into a steep rock face because they led to the highest point at Mammalapuram: a tiny temple perched atop this rock. I made it up the stairs safely (barefoot for better traction) and had great views once I got there. After a bit I noticed a large group of male Indian tourists approaching the same way I had come, so I decided to descend, or try to, before they clogged the main stairwell. Unfortunately, this was also the day I had decided to wear my new skirt...I think you know where this is going. Unhappily for me, but quite happily for all the guys climbing up below me, a large gust of wind blew up right when I started to descend...from all the Tamil/Hindi/Telagu exclamations as I struggled to simultaneously hold down my skirt, hold my shoes & camera, and climb down safely, I think I was their favourite American that day.

Next adventure/mishap, same day: Pondicherry! Pondicherry is personally most famous for being home to Sri Aurobindo's Ashram, the place where he produced a large bulk of his writings, of which I am a great fan. Check out The Foundations of Indian Culture, if you have a chance. Pondicherry is also by the sea, and ALSO near this small experimental village called Auroville. I loved my time at the Ashram as well as at the sea, where I saw humongous crabs, so if you're interested ask me sometime later, because right now I'm going to focus on Auroville as that's where adventure/mishap #2 happened.

Auroville sounds interesting, but it's actually rather weird, in my opinion. Read on the website and decide for yourself, I suppose. It's set up like a galaxy, with this giant golden orb at its center. By the time our group arrived, the orb was already closed to the general public. But being the adventur-er that I am, I bought a town map for RS 10 and jauntily set out with Brittany and Gabriel in search of the orb. At first we were on the main road, down which a lot of Aurovillians were coming all at once, for some reason. They all looked rather odd, kind of Ithaca commons hippy-esque...and whenever I made eye contact, which was probably not a good idea, they gave me this strange smile. After several such encounters I suggested we move off the main road onto a side road to avoid unnecessary contact.

Fifteen minutes later, we still hadn't found the orb and it was about time to turn back. I decided I was just going to quickly explore this one little path leading into the brush. B & G followed, and after a short while we arrived at a fence and some trees, and through the trees I saw a building. After determining that the building wasn't a private residence, I crawled under the fence, (B & G watched and took pictures) and found myself on a well-trodden mud path leading up to what looked like some rock gardens. After climbing the path, which ascended a small hill, I saw........ THE ORB. Or rather, a corner of it, as it was to my left. It was HUGE. And very golden. But there was something odd about it too.

Anyways, instead of continuing, as I should have, I jumped and waved to B & G to signal that they should come. They were coming, but slowly, so I finally shout-whispered to them to come. That was a mistake. This small man came running out of a little hut on the side of the path, very agitated and upset, saying in broken English that this entrance was only for insiders and we weren't allowed to be there. When we turned to go down the path that said "WAY OUT" he wouldn't let us, but forced us to go back under the fence and around a different way (following us the whole time to make sure we wouldn't try to get back in) and over this other fence covered in thorns and worms....we were quite scratched up by the time we got to the road. And even when we were IN the road, he stood in the road and watched us walk down it, just to be safe.

Of course, my curiosity and over-active imagination got the better of me and as we walked back to the bus I figuratively beat myself over the head for not keeping quiet while at the same time imagining all of the strange things that could have been happening at the globe which I wasn't allowed to see (sacrifices, chanting, meditation, anyone?). None of which were too far off the mark, as it turns out, because once we were on the bus and leaving Auroville I read a rather disturbing pamphlet describing what it is like and what one must be/do in order to become an Aurovillian, one of which was that they are "preparing for the new species." Next to this statement was a picture of Aurovillians sitting around the globe, with a fire lit in front of it, into which they were all staring......I'm pretty sure I had my first cult experience.

Next and last major adventure of the trip happened in Chennai. Right before we left on Monday, we visited a museum of East India Company artifacts, among others. (I read original letters from Robert Clive there!! Crazy!!!) The museum was housed in a old building, which was Fort St. George during the colonial period. Next to the museum was an old church, Santhome Church to be exact, where Elihu Yale, the founder of Yale University was married. (They had his marriage records on display there). This church still had the original organ, and it was in working condition. Brittany, who is an amazing musician currently taking a break because of tendinitis, asked one of the wardens if she could play the organ. He said yes, and as they were heading over, I spotted them, and to make a long story (and blog entry) short, Brittany and I played the organ!!! It was GREAT. My first organ experience!!! I played the upper keys and Brittany did the pedals. We used one of their original hymn books, too, and played at least six or seven hymns before we had to leave. I think the organ was the overall highlight of that trip.

I also made several gift purchases this trip, and by several I mean one, which was Ruth's sari in Chennai. (Chennai has some of the nicest silk in India, by the way....) There is the chance that my Dad might come to Bangalore on business at some point, and if he does, I am planning (please?) to send some of the gifts I've bought home with him so that I can still fit everything into the original duffel bags when I head home.

So that's it. I think this has been my longest blog entry! In other news, health wise, I have been doing very well. Early on I had a slight cold that I think was just the after-effects of a very stressful semester. Otherwise, I am pleased/surprised to discover that after my Cambodian experiences, I have a very strong stomach. I can drink the regular water that everyone drinks, (filtered water) and be totally fine. I even had tap water by accident (we said regular water at a restaurant and they brought us tap water) and had no stomach issues. I've also had fruit juice on campus, street food, and several coconuts which are DELICIOUS. Aside from the odd 1.5 and stomach pain that makes me wonder how *gone* my former friendly organisms really are, I'm doing great. This coming weekend (ie, Thursday night, returning Monday morning) I'm travelling to Hampi, in Karnataka. So stay tuned, more adventures to come!!!!!

For Shuli

This last picture is of my first sunset in Hyderabad! Some friends and I decided to explore campus before classes started, to get an idea of where our buildings would be. As we were exploring, we came upon these huge rocks, which we climbed, and at the top was this amazing sunset. I tried to post it in the other entry, but it wouldn't load.

Some Lovely Snaps

So, here goes for some photos of where I'm living now!! Thank one of my fellow program-ees, Rachel, for some of the snaps of campus, which I have unashamedly stolen from her facebook account.

So, these first few pictures are where I lived on campus the first week I came here. I lived in the Ladies Hostel, LH IV, to be exact. above you can see the sign to the ladies hostel where I lived, as well as a corridor in the Hostel. my room is around the corner. Oh, and bikes are the main mode of tranportation around our campus. I have a bike which I ride everywhere provided I haven't forgotten my key somewhere : ).

This next picture is of where I called home every day from, before I had my own cell phone, that is. It is right outside the gates to the ladies hostel. The booth with the international phone is called the STD booth, because the phone is an STD phone. Yes, the jokes have already been made, re-made, and gotten old. I can say, "I'm off to the STD booth" now without even cracking a smile.

Below is a picture of the typical squatter. These toilets are actually healthier than Western toilets, or the name for the above ground toilet we use in America. The posture you have to take to use them is medically better for you. I have also recently mastered the art of using the bathroom without toilet paper. There is no toilet paper in an Indian bathroom, unless you're in an expensive restaurant or the guest house. Or unless you buy it yourself. What you use to clean yourself (for those interested) is that small bucket you see on the right, which you fill with water from the orange bucket and use to rinse and wipe yourself off, left hand only.
Down here are a few other campus snaps. Most buildings have courtyards in their center. Pictured here are the courtyard in the ladies hostel, where I hung my clothes to dry, the courtyard in the Social Sciences building, and a wall in the social sciences building, which I thought was really pretty. Many hallways are lit by natural light.























Below is the general store, known as ghops (pronounced GO-PS, I know I'm spelling that wrong). I buy AMAZING mango juice here, and sometimes biscuits.




I think that's going to be it for campus pictures, for now. I was trying to upload a few more (some buildings, a sunset photo I took from these rocks) but the internet is being slow on me, and I'm afraid it will cut out before I've even posted these. So I'm just going to publish as is : ) And in the future, I will try to be a bit more regular with my blog entries...once a week is my goal.

Of Rats and Men

To those *cough* Sarah *cough* who have been asking if I'm going to ever post here again, the answer is yes, I am. A lot has happened since I last posted. My room, for one, has been inhabited not only by my host sister, my roommate Brittany, and I, but also by a few rats who have either been chased out, killed with brooms, or killed with rat poison. I consider my role in capturing and killing the rats to have been a crucial one: I stood on top of our mattresses and yelled every time they ran out from some corner or pile of things, thus alerting the people doing the chasing and killing as to the rats' presence. Without this, they might never have known where it was. From now on, you may address me as The Rat Master. Anna is also acceptable between family members and close friends.
In other news, this coming weekend I and the 31 other American students in the program are travelling to Pondicherry, in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is a state in southern India. Here's a map if you're interested. Tamil is also the state that my host family comes from. We are taking a bus to Pondicherry on Thursday, and from there we will also travel to Chennai, Kanchipuram, and Mammalapuram. We'll see temples, the Ashram in Pondicherry, five Rathas, a museum, a beach, a church, a dance school...among others. I'm really excited, it's the first excursion (other than coming from Delhi by train) that I've made out of AP. The other trip which I posted about was cancelled last minute because all the hotels were full. Which just meant I had other adventures in Hyderabad that were equally exciting, even if they didn't involve huts and swimming out to abandoned forts. The following weekend I am travelling independently for the first time, yayy!!! By independently I mean with a group of four other girls. We are going to Hampi, in Karnataka. No last minute cancellations, either: we've got train tickets, room reservations, and everything. All for about $20, total. I love travelling in India.
One of the exciting things which happened the weekend I did not travel, was that I was on television!!! My host brother Bharat and his girlfriend took Brittany and I to the opening of this new hair place in Hyderabad. The press was there, and they filmed us and took lots of photos, and a few days later, there we were in the daily news on TV!! Haha I never thought I would be on TV, least of all in India. Today after class I'm going to the Industrial Baazar, an exhibition of work and ware from all over India, all in one place. Next week I also have an appointment to call an NGO, the Concern India Foundation, and "take an appointment" (a perfect example of Hinglish) with them for that day or the next. One of my classes this semester is called "NGO's and Development" and for one of the internal assessments (basically midterm) I have to work with an observe an NGO of my choice. Which is perfect, because it's what I would want to do anyway, while I'm here. I found this particular one online, and luckily for me they have a branch in Hyderabad!
I also am hoping to work with this foundation. I heard about them through a summer program I applied for in Guatemala. My interviewers sent me the link to it in an email (my acceptance email!!!). However, even though I was accepted into the Guatemala program I'm not sure if I can do it (I'm trying to get funding from Columbia, we'll see how successful that is), but I hope to be able to at least work with their branch in Hyderabad while I'm here, if I have time.
And that's it...or rather, in the interests of time and posting some pictures, this entry is now closed.