Going out with a BANG(kok)

Well, I had a FANTASTIC time in Bangkok and Hong Kong. They are both amazing places and I could see myself living in each...which means I loved them. Bangkok was filled with temples and monuments and delicious street food. We took this awesome day trip where we drove about 300km away and rode elephants, a bamboo raft on the river, and visited the Tiger Temple. The tiger temple was a bit disappointing because I felt like the tigers were mistreated, if not just sad but I'm not sure I can commune with big cats as well as I think I can. We also rode the river ferry quite a lot which was a fantastic experience and a fun/cheap way to travel down the river. And on our third day in Thailand we were headed to some very famous mansion when we ran across this huge market. The market was filled with tons of food and stalls- it was awesome! We dinned on a massive amount of free samples and purchased tons of different exciting food items and even some clothing. The market was extremely clean and well-planned. Some of the "stalls" from bakeries had brought in furniture for their customers to sit at and people-watch from. 


I'd also like to note that I FINALLY had some food I considered very spicy. I had green prawn curry at this Thai restaurant. First, I'd like to say it was delicious. So memorable. Second, I'd like to say that my lips were literally tingling HOURS after eating said curry. And I had finished off the meal with fresh mango accompanied by mango and coconut ice cream! In other words, I'd (at least attempted) to cleanse my palette. As us twenty-somethings say, major fail.


Hong Kong is an amazing city. It's part New York, part San Francisco, and a huge part Asian (I suppose it's also quite British but I didn't notice that to any great degree). The Times Square was small in comparison to that of NYC, but there was a 13 story (count 'em) mall in it. I found that extremely impressive/terrifying. We did a good deal of shopping in Hong Kong, which can be done on a budget. We also had a couple culinary experiences, specifically we went for dim sum one morning and had an awesome Japanese dinner (yes, we're talking very fresh sushi here). I liked dim sum much more than the "Chinese food" I've had in America, which mainly features fried chicken in a sweet, thick sauce. Dim sum is a compilation of a huge variety of foods, it may be safe to say most of them are steamed. We had one dish I thought was particularly good which was a noodle dish with big noodles (think ziti here) that surrounded a wrapping of noodle. It's hard to describe but I promise it was AMAZING. Covered in this brown sauce and accompanied by none other than peanut sauce and hoisin sauce. Nomnomnom. As for our Japanese meal, it was filled with soupy noodle dishes and seaweed salad. Now before you get proud and think that you know what I'm talking about, allow me to explain. Seaweed salad is a pile of seaweed (looks just like the stuff you see in the ocean, dark green and salty) with some romaine lettuce surrounding it. It's served with a dressing that looks like ranch but has a large dose of horseradish in it...delicious. And the culinary expert I was with (a friend from the study abroad program who happens to live near Hong Kong at some points during the year) knew to also put her soy sauce (which had an impressive amount of wasabi in it) over the salad. Double good.


Our last day in Hong Kong we visited Stanley Market and the surrounding area, which really reminded me of San Francisco. There are cafes and shops overlooking the water with a very open-aired feel, perhaps Sausalito would be more accurate as a point of comparison. After seeing Stanley, we packed up and headed to the Light/laser show on Avenue of the Stars. It was quite interesting, I had never seen buildings light up in synchrony with music. I have to say at the beginning I was a bit disappointed but by the end I was beginning to be impressed. Perhaps the rainy weather damped the mood and the show itself. 


So I managed to stay up my last night in Hong Kong in an effort to start myself onto America's time zone. Time has shown it's worked! I'm jet-lag free and happy to be home. It's been a very quick three months away, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I'd like to leave you with the lyrics of a song I always play when I get home from a trip abroad, as it seems to always perfectly encapsulate my feelings as I return home. But before I do that, I want to thank you for being my faithful readers and for taking the time to follow me around South East Asia. I've really enjoyed recounting my adventures for you, I only hope you enjoyed reading about them and that maybe that you were able to come out with some sort of cultural appreciation that you didn't have previously. Best of luck to all of you on your own travels, I hope to hear all about them! 


Two weeks away it feels like the world should've changed
But I'm home now
And things still look the same
I think I'll leave it to tomorrow till unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat on the road
Where the cars never stop going through the night
To real life where I can't watch sunset
I don't have time
I don't have time

I've still got sand in my shoes
And I can't shake the thought of you
I shake it all, forget you
Why, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again

Tomorrow's back to work down to sanitation
should've run back ?? before I left here
Try to Mama show her that I was happy here
Before I knew that I could get on the plane and fly away
From the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To real life where I can't watch sunset
And take my time
Take up our time

I wanna see you again
Two weeks away, all it takes to change in time around by falling
I walked away and never said that I wanted to see again

I wanna see you again
I wanna see you again 


- Dido, Sand in My Shoes

Singapoor?

When I first arrived in Singapore I was quickly reminded of one thing: Christmas!! One of those cheezy songs was playing in the air and there were Christmas decorations everywhere! I was beyond thrilled. Yes, I'd like to walk in a winter wonderland. Yes we can go caroling and have pumpkin pie. Oh dear...now I really want some pumpkin pie. 

I took a cab to get to the hotel and my cab driver was a bit...off his rocker. He's a 68 year old crazy man who told me all about Singapore and gave me loads of life advice. For example, he said that Singapore looks nice to tourists but actually everyone is bankrupt. He also told me that the 3 things most important in my search for a husband (he was curious as to why this search hasn't begun yet): 1) he's healthy, I'm not sure if I start dating a guy with the common cold if he falls into that category but I will be sure to consult with crazy cab man at some later date 2) he smiles and he's handsome because you'll have to look at that face for the rest of your life 3) he's hard-working. I'd like to add 4) he likes the ballet. No, nevermind. I find that boring. 

Anyways, I wanted to tell you that all those rumors you've heard about Singapore being this clean oasis of bliss perfect for you everyday OCD clean-freak- well, they're all true. I didn't see a single piece of litter and I even used the bathroom at the public transit- and it was fine!! A Chicago CTA bathroom (does such a thing exist) would be very jealous. 

So our first day we did some shopping on Orchard Road (which is the thing to do in Singapore, especially for those looking to lighten their wallets by a significant proportion) and went to the Night Safari. I met this fabulous man at the airport in Mumbai- the director of an art school- who told that this was absolutely a "must-see." The Night Safari is directly across from the zoo and it's very much like a zoo but it's only viewable at night. At first we were a little hesitant because it seemed expensive and aren't the animals going to be asleep anyways? But no. Not only are they awake and wondering but you can get REALLY close to them. We're talking less than a foot away. Ok, so there's a small layer of glass separating the two of you but that's besides the point. Here are some photos to illustrate my point:

some kind of fancy kitty posing for me

No glass here- we walked into a bat cage and saw this guy face to face....this picture didn't even require zoom!

I hope you see what I see

The pair of lovers!

I used flash here just to expose the facial details- SO AWESOME!

My traveling partner and I also decided we should attempt to use Singapore's public transportation. 10 more points for Singapore- the system is incredibly efficient and intuitive. While very crowded, you know exactly what you're getting into: the trains are very clearly marked, a screen above them tells you exactly how long until the next train arrives and all the stops are clearly announced. In other words, these trains scoff at Indian trains. Sorry India but user-friendly is not quite part of your job description. 

The pristine MRT, Singapore's public transport system

 On our second day we went to Sentosa island which has basically been built up for tourism. In order to get to said island you take the MRT to Vivocity mall. Which is, like nearly every other building in Singapore, a mall- a very clean, expensive mall with lots of clean, expensive (and inexpensive if you're lucky) facilities. At Sentosa, we saw the Merlion (below) and Fort Siloso (which my travel partner calls Fort Samosa because it's easier to remember). We also took a journey to Little India later that night which was really nice...it was actually a lot like being in India with a few exceptions. When we tried to haggle with people and walked away, they didn't come chasing after us finally accepting that price they seemed they'd never accept. I also ended up being forced into buying a sweet coconut (whatever that is) with a straw for drinking it's milk. It was actually quite tasty but filling and I was already bursting at the seams from previous goodies. People liked when I said "Namaste," but didn't understand when I asked questions in Hindi. Oh, and the prices of everything were much more Singapori then Indian, alas. 

The Merlion 

food food food! at a Hawker center in Vivocity mall- the gateway to Sentosa island

Tune in later for more on Singapore! Spoiler: there are gardens in your future

Templicious...then GOA

This blogpost is going to be a recounting of my two week trip around south India in which we saw temple after temple after temple until they all looked the same and we were completely templed out. 


First, a quick note of the process of going to temples: first you head over to the "shoe-minder" who you leave your shoes with and you're forced to tip at the end for literally watching your shoes. (mind you, people do walk around barefoot all the time but it's hard to believe there's any crisis for shoes going on when they're all over the sides of the road, which I've never understood). Anyways, after that you pray that the stone isn't so hot it threatens to burn the soles off your feet and make your way to the temple. So you take a look around, maybe take some photos if they allow it, and then make your way out.


Now! On to those temples. On our first day out of Mysore we climbed an outcrop! This basically means we climbed a whole bunch of steps and found out how out of shape we've become. Below are some photos from said outcrop. Our purpose was of course to see the temple complex at the top but also to see this enormous (18 meter) carved stone statue- and by carved stone I mean that he was carved out of the mountain so...they could make no mistakes! And they didn't. He was flawless--well done, people! I'd tell you more about the history and such but I threw out my "field notes" and truth be told I wrote a 10 page paper talking about this...that's quite enough of that. 

Looking up from the bottom 

We reach the top!

The view from way up there

The man we'd all been waiting for

The next day we spent in the bus driving to Hospet, which is the gateway town to the ruins of the Vijayanagra capital. More on them here. Our drive was pretty uneventful aside from the bathroom stops which are always amusing. By bathroom stop I mean that our bus pulls to the side of the road and we all hop out. The boys are assigned to one side and the ladies to another and we all meander around trying to find the perfect bush to hide behind. As you can guess I'm now a master of the squatty-potty practice. 

When we finally got to Hospet, or at least as we approached it, we got into the traffic jam of the century (I'm really not kidding) where we sat in the bus for four more hours- I'm not sure if we ever moved but somehow we made it to Hospet. The jam was absolutely insane because it was just a mess of cars all sitting together--not normal gridlock, just lock. Awful awful awful.

We spent a day at the capital of Vijayanagra (or Vij, as we call it in the biz) seeing--you guessed it--about ten thousand temples. We even ate lunch in one of them! Here's some photos of them, but I'll warn you these places really all do look the same (however my trained eyes can distinguish between early-Vij and late-Vij architecture). 

The next day, we climbed a mountain! It was one of the highlights of the trip I really enjoyed the challenge. We kept going up and down and recalculating where we would try and climb because the path that's normally used was occupied by a large herd of goats and cows. Reaching the top was a great feeling and it was especially great because our whole group made it together (all 26 of us!). We then toured a megalith complex at the top of the mountain. Oh, and here's a photo of the cutest puppy. We found him in Hampi, near Vij. 

Please please pet me!

climbing up with the cows

here's me at the top!

The trip culminated with the last three days which we spent lying on a beach in Goa. Yes, it was incredible. Pina coladas and spicy crab and mojitos and SO MUCH SUN. I can't describe in words so here goes..

Oh and here's a mosque we went to at sunset

Yes I LOVE pina coladas- and getting caught in the sun

paradise

Guess who's back

Well, I'm back in Pune. In fact I have been for a couple days but before you think I've been holding out on you, don't worry- I've been distracted by illness and paper-writing. And who wants to write a blog when they're writing a paper? No offense but...one can only have so much writing in one day.


The good news is that I locked myself in a coffee shop today for a period of seven hours and got a lot done. The bad news is that I leave India tomorrow and I still have a lot of packing and writing to do. 


So I'll update the blog about my trip in FULL as soon as Saturday rolls around- I'll be in Singapore then, mind you. After that I'll find myself in Thailand and Hong Kong so you best stay along for the ride! I'm betting it'll be a fun one. I would leave you with a picture but, as we all know too well, the internet is just too awful here to support those kind of shenanigans. 


Toodles for now!

Let me start by saying that the last paper I wrote that was of any significant length (10 pages) was about psychology...which is a science, in case you didn't know. My point is that I'm a science-y kind of gal and I rather like that. So, when it came to writing a paper about historigraphy (which I'm not sure I'm even spelling correctly), I didn't even know where to begin. Needless to say, it was a painful experience that I'd rather not relive but what's important now is that I did it and now I happily return to writing blog posts. (Well, at least until a couple weeks from now when I'll undergo the paper-writing process yet again- this time with a much longer paper as the goal. 20 pages?! GAH!)

Moving right along, our last few days in Pune were filled with last-minute errand runs and a realization that I quickly become addicted to lattes. One errand run was rather interesting because we ended up in a rickshaw in the pouring rain. I was lucky to be in the middle, but the two girls on the sides got soaked. I love how susceptible we are to nature.

On to Mysore! It's quite an interesting place, I must say. It seems more developed in some ways- the buses here actually have numbers on them and say what route they're on. I wonder if they actually stop to pick up passengers. Oh, I don't think I mentioned: people who ride public transportation here end up chasing the buses down and jumping off them while they're still in motion, for whatever reason long ago it was decided that buses should not stop for those getting on or off. Interesting move on Pune's part. 

While I do believe that a blog post without pictures is better than no blog post at all, I really want to save descriptions of the amazing places we've been seeing until I can post pictures to accompany them. Until then I leave you with a list of some exciting things that happened today.

First off, I saw a cow being milked. It was fascinating, I've never seen that happen before. I really wanted to ask the guy milking if I could have a try but I resisted the urge knowing communicating that I wanted to milk his cow would inevitably result in me getting kicked out of town if not worse.

Also, I got a sari. Pics to follow!

Happy Thanksgiving (early I know, but I might not have internet again until after then) to everyone in the states! Eat LOTS of stuffing and such for me. 

I AM ALIVE!

Dearest, darlingest readers,


I wanted to give you the quickest of notes to let you know that I am, in fact, alive and I haven't (and will not) abandoned you. Fear not, two papers and lots of travel have kept me away from you but (at least for now) I'm here to keep you up-to-date on my adventures in India. 


Tomorrow I promise (and this will not be a politician's promise) a lovely blog post detailing my past couple days in Mysore as well as the last few in Pune. We started on a trip this past Sunday that will take us to about six different locations in southern India over the period of two weeks, starting with Mysore and ending in Goa. 


Until tomorrow, my dears
Christy 

The Festival of Lights

Yesterday, while heading home from class, a group of us girls we were asked if we wanted to partake in getting henna. Henna, or Mehendi as they call it here, is a type of temporary tattoos that is commonly drawn on women here for festivals and weddings. One girl had her lower arms completely covered in a really ornate design--it was incredible. Some college students from a marketing college were doing a fundraiser and it was only Rs.50 (about $1) for a line. 

My good friend Laura gets her tattoo done

The designs varied for each hand and the artist wasn't using a stencil so I imagine she was just coming up with them on the spot. Very impressive I must say. Each design looked slightly similar but they were definitely all quite unique.


As we were finishing with the process of getting our tattoos, it started to rain. By the end when everyone had wet ink on their skin, the drizzle had turned into a downpour. We're talking monsoon level here. Oh, did I forget to mention that the Mehendi has to dry for at least 20 minutes? After that you can scrape off the black solid and see the orange dye underneath. Some women wait as long as five hours...and let me tell you after waiting 40 minutes, I can't imagine what those women do with themselves without the use of their hand(s). I guess before you get married you have a day filled with sitting and waiting for your tattoos to have their full incubation period. 


Luckily enough we called and managed to get the hotel to pick us up in a car but they pulled up right next to a raging river (the kind formed by the monsoon rains) so we all got soaked. When we got back to the hotel we had a special Diwali lunch and, for the first time, I ate an entire meal like an Indian. To clarify: Indians usually eat with their left hand in their lap, they never use it to touch their food or to shovel delicious morsels into their mouths. They do this because they have a different method of cleaning themselves after using the restroom that leaves them thinking this hand represents filth and should not touch food or maybe even other people for that matter. Anyways, I was quite proud of myself for managing to eat an entire meal (in which the hands are used with the puri or naan or other bread) with only the use of my right hand. 10 points for Christendor. 

These would certainly not be legal in the US

Now onto Diwali!! The festival of lights brought so much celebration and generally happiness, I've never experienced anything like it. We spent a lot of time setting of copious amounts of fireworks and sparklers, most of which I've never seen the likes of before. Why, you might ask...oh, right- because they are most commonly thought of as causing certain death in America. And perhaps this is very legitimate seeing as I did spend the whole time jumping away from things that looked as if they were on the verge of explosion. And of course, they were. While as far as I saw there wasn't anything that killed anyone, there was an incident with a passerby. We shot off this one explosion that sent sparks soaring extremely high. When they shot back to the earth one made its way directly into the purse of a passerby. She was very upset and came over complaining that there was now a gaping hole in her purse. hehe. 

Sparkler Shape!

After all the sparklers and celebration we enjoyed a lovely Thali dinner out with our professor, TA, and Hindi professor (they're quite the adorable trio).

Delicious thali dinner

 Diwali continues on until Sunday night so I want to leave you with another wish for a very Happy Diwali!!!

A design made of power on the floor of the entrance to our hotel

HAPPY DIWALI!!

I promise full details of our festivities and celebration in Pune tomorrow, but for now I wanted to wish you a very happy Diwali! It's the festival of lights for those of you who don't know and it's the biggest festival of the year in these parts. Think Christmas meets New Years- without those awkward six days in between. Well, I'm off to celebrate! Have a great one. 

Lights, camera, action! Mumbai and Pune in action

Those photos I promised....here they are! I blame our hotel's internet connection (or lack thereof) for the delay. 

early morning on the Ganges

The sun rises over the boats of tourists 

At a silk factory in Varanasi, making the VERY detailed silk hangings

Up close and personal: These patterns are memorized by the artists when they're youngsters. Tres impressive. 

Our weekend in Mumbai turned out to be pretty uneventful. However, I did have a very memorable near death experience. We were on an architectural tour of the city and we were making our way through a street that didn't seem to have cars. I was walking along chatting with someone and (seriously out of the blue) a huge SUV rushed by me--literally so close that my foot hit the tire as I attempted to move away. After some seriously deep breathing to blow off the adrenaline rush that immediately ensued, it was time to cross an actual street with cars going in every direction. I attempted to stay as close as possible to the group and somehow I managed to survive. Yes, I'm talking about crossing the street. If you're confused you should see these streets. They're completely terrifying. 


I had a really interesting experience today doing the very simple task of sending a package. Well, actually, because this is India, this process is going to take three days and hopefully I'll be able to actually send off the package. 


Day 1- I attempt to find the post office. No dice. I consider asking people on the street but I'm pretty sure they won't understand me. I can't say "post office" in Hindi yet.


Day 2- I found the post office. Excellent. Then I get some sort of form where I fill out the contents of the box, their value, and the to and from addresses. I'm also told that I must make three copies of this form. So I return to my hotel, fill out the form, get the copies made, then book it back to the post office. It's 4:30 by the time I get there. They close at 5. I walk up to send my package but then the postman informs me that I must get the contents wrapped, I can't just buy a box there. So I walk down the street and make the motion of packing a box to attempt to find this packing man I'm supposed to go to. Finally I find him; it's a bit hard to grasp that he's going to give me a box because he seems pretty busy selling coconuts. I'm serious. I convey to him that I need a box. Oh, did I mention this man has the hairiest ears I have ever seen in my entire life. I'm not sure how, but hair was growing (we're talking at least three inches in length here) from the outer edges of his ears. Back to the box. He picks up an empty box that's quite flimsy and a bit damp, which he then proceeds to fill with the things I'm shipping. He seals this box with some duct tape and I'm sure the operation is over. I'm very wrong. He then cut a large piece of cloth and covered the box with it as if it had been wrapping paper. At this point I'm thinking he'll secure that with tape and we'll be done. What really happens is, after selling some coconuts, he takes out a spindle of string. Ok, so he'll tie some string around the cloth. That's fine too let's just get this over with. But no. Then, I see it. He takes out a needle, specifically a huge needle. And yes, you guessed it, he proceeds to sew the cloth around my box. Then I wrote on the cloth "to" and "from" addresses. When that's all said and done he tries to fit the official form on the box and it's not looking like it will fit. Shouldn't that have been considered in the first place?? Of course by now it's five after 5pm and I can't send the box because they're closed. Hopefully tomorrow goes smoothly, for now the little box sits in my hotel room. Tune in later to see what goes down and if my box ever makes it's long journey. And I can't help wondering--is this what Julie Andrews sang about with the lyrics "brown paper packages tied up with string"? Because that process was definitely not one of my favorite things. 


Also, I discovered I can write in हिंदी (that says Hindi, but the script is actually called Devnagri aka देवनागरी) on the blog. Amazing! 

For whoever happens to be tuning in and hasn’t read the previous post, coming up is a telling of my adventures on our (our being the five other girls I was traveling with) trip to Delhi, Agra, and Varanasi. You've tuned in just in time to catch my tales of an Indian bus ride (sleeping train, to be exact) and my exploits in Varanasi. 

Choo choo train....So I realized that I've never been on a train before. Ok sure, I have been on that MetroRail thing that takes you from Disney park to the parking lot--but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count. So I had my very first train experience here in India. The train stations here are insanely busy; a perfect manifestation of how overpopulated this country is. (Oh jeez, I ended a sentence with a verb--English majors, look away!) So after weaseling our way around the station and finally arriving at Platform 9 (we stood between 9 and 10, unfortunately I couldn't find a magical wall to run through to get us to 9 3/4's but I'm pretty sure the Hogwarts Express doesn't stop in Delhi). Once we arrive at the platform, we wait. We were about an hour early so by the time 6pm rolls around we're ready to get moving. But of course the train is late. 2 hours late to be exact. Luckily enough, we meet a nice Indian family while waiting that help us find the right car when the train arrives. Mind you there's no announcement that the train is the right train and it seems impossible that we could have found the train car on our own. Our ticket said 1st class A/C but it turned out that the train wasn't equipped with such luxury so we were really in 2nd class A/C. 

The beds in this train were 6 to a section which means that two are parallel with a space between them, one perpendicular, and they're all topped off with another layer of beds (bunks). The problem is that the beds that are perpendicular are directly bordering the aisle, as in the general aisle that everyone uses to make their way around the train. We very unluckily ended up with six of these kind of beds. Did I mention these beds are also much thinner? I don't want to relive the experience in detail but let's just say I realized in the daylight that the toilet emptied out right onto the train tracks, there was a mouse or two meandering the train cabin, and I had a rough night mostly because there was no curtain to cover my bed so I slept on top of my bed with my knees nearing the aisle...and constantly being bumped by those selling things or going to the bathroom. Oh, and the windows were terribly useless. One of the reasons we decided to take a train was so that we could see the scenery of the countryside....but all I could see was yellow through the "window." I did manage the shape of camel at one point and I must say that was very exciting. The train went at snails pace and seemed to stop constantly so we arrived to the station in Varanasi four hours late. Alas. 

Our time in Varanasi was very interesting, to say the least. We took two boat rides (not a motorboat) on the revered Ganges River--one at night and one the next morning to see the sunrise over the Ganges. It was a much wider river than I had imagined and, at sunrise, it was extremely crowded with people bathing in it at every possible area on the river's edge. 

People immersing themselves in the Ganges

We also paid a visit to the Crematory (via our boat on the river), which I found fascinating. Everyone is cremated here and there ashes are then sprinkled into the river. This process allows their remains to be "purified," so only those who are already pure are not cremated. In this category are kids younger than 10, pregnant women (because they're housing such children), and holy men (monks). These parties are tied to a large rock and sink to the bottom of the Ganges. There is a particular set of families that attend to the crematorium, and only these families are authorized to do so. The men of the families of the deceased come to watch the cremation (the body is wrapped up in foil, we saw one sitting on a set of stairs near the eternally-burning fires), but the women of the family are not allowed to attend as they are clearly too fragile to witness such things. 

I'll put up some more pictures on Sunday night (my time) but now I must rush to my Hindi quiz and then to Mumbai for the weekend- it'll be our second field trip there. Have a great weekend! 

Delhi and Agra: Arches, arches, and more arches

Study abroad is like a big fat lie you tell the registrar. “Oh, yes,” you tell them, “I’d like to broaden my horizons and study abroad.” It sounds so noble and worldly. Thing is, we all just want an excuse to travel, or for some to escape Chicago. We’re lying when we say, “study” because (while most of us don’t want to fail our classes here), we’re all here with one purpose in mind: to see as much of India as possible, to live in India. I’m not saying that we don’t work hard; I’m just saying that moving campus to India and studying until our brains explode is not what we’re here for. At least that’s certainly not what my intentions are here. I want India overload for three months. This past week, that’s just what we got. And you know how the saying goes….careful what you wish for…

The first couple days of our 9-day break I had a staycation, recuperating from my bout of dengue fever. But on the fourth day, I picked up and headed to Delhi. I went to join my five friends (all female) who were also going to Delhi after a short stay in Mussoorie. They saw the very tips of the Himalayas and say it was quite beautiful. 

DELHI...upon first impression seemed so tame in comparison to the other cities we've seen in India. At least as far as the roads were concerned. There was a median between lanes of oncoming traffic! Not only a median, oh no, there were even efforts to have landscaping (!) on the median; plants that were actually intended to be there and maintained! I thought I was in the States for a bit. Then we arrived at the house we were staying at...which was awesome! We were so lucky one of the girls had a connection that let us stay in this great place for a couple of days. We were also lucky enough to be treated like princesses--there was a small staff that cooked for us and drove us all around Delhi and to Agra for a day-trip. 

Our first night in Delhi, the capital city of India, we did some shopping and had a nice dinner with one of the girl's parents. We also passed by the presidential mansion and houses of parliament. The presidential mansion was immense but the most exciting sight turned out to be monkeys that made their way on the top of the gate and jumped (they really looked like they were flying) around the grounds. 

AGRA....was our first full day. We woke up at some ungodly hour and drove for hours. Sleeping in a car isn't usually difficult for me, but when the roads are often unpaved and beeping is a way of life...well, you get the point. So after the mildly painful drive over we picked up our guide and headed for the famous Taj Mahal. Which, by the way, is not pronounced the way you've been saying it all your life. It's a two-syllable name pronounced as if you were saying "taj mawl." I'm sure you all know what I'm taking about but for you visual people I've included a photo. Overall, I was mildly impressed--more impressed by some aspects than others. The details on the inside of the building were rather incredible- some small floral carvings (maybe 2" across) had 16 different tiny pieces of marble inlaid in a larger slab (maybe 5' x 3'). It's possible that I appreciated these details more because 1) you're not allowed to take pictures inside so you're forced to actually look around and observe (what a shame) and 2) it was shady inside and given that we toured the Taj Mahal at midday, shade was a welcome thing. Agra is the temperature I'd imagine hell to be, plus or minus a couple degrees. Oh, and 3) I'm sorry but I just can't accept that this building was at all necessary. Ok, it's mildly romantic that some guy built this to house his beloved (third) wife but really it's a total and complete waste. I'm sympathetic to religious structures, but a mausoleum that took twenty thousand workers twelve years to complete?! C'mon. (Sorry if I just ruined the building for you, it's overrated anyways). 

Behind some greenery

A slightly different view

Some of the details on the outside resemble those within--note the colorful floral adornments at the base of the arch

After the Taj, we'd really worked up an appetite so we headed to a restaurant. We then decided that said restaurant was too expensive and we should try for a cheaper option. Along the way to the restaurant, we'd passed a McDonalds. And yes, I'll admit it, I'll even profess it proudly, we did indeed visit that lovely home of the famous golden arches. It. was. delicious. And a cultural experience, I might add. A couple of us feasted on McAloo Tikka sandwiches which have fried spicy potato (in lieu of a burger), some red sauce that's not ketchup, and tomato. Maybe I was just overly famished but it tasted amazing--I've never been so impressed with McDonalds before. (Well, aside from when they had really awesome toys that came in my Happy Meal and I got to swim around in those playground pools of plastic balls...back when I was too young to consider the germs involved.) We also all feasted on brownie sundaes afterwards and I've got to say having one of those (even Micky D's quality) after more than a month of withdraw was quite fulfilling. I've got to say, McDonalds definitely provided me with a very happy meal. 

McAloo Tikka with fries (India does fries well, by the way)

We passed by Agra's Red Fort after lunch but we were all so exhausted from the heat that we ended up just taking pictures outside and saving ourselves the Rs. 250 entrance fee. Ok, so that's less than $5 but we had just paid Rs. 750 to see the Taj Mahal. I suppose the entry prices wouldn't be upsetting if the price wasn't so outrageously different for Indian Nationals. At all these "World Heritage Sights," tourists end up paying at least Rs. 250 and the locals pay Rs 10 or 20. Why am I not more tan?? 

Our second day we saw more of the sights of Delhi. This included Delhi's Red Fort (they seem to be big on those in India), the Gandi memorial, and Lodi gardens. The Red Fort was reminiscent of the Taj Mahal with similar inlaid marble work. As for the Gandi memorial, I'm not sure Gandi would have wanted one...? I feel like that wouldn't be part of his very "Golden Mean"-esque life...but who am I to question the memorial-maker? Lodi gardens was a nice place, we stayed just long enough to snap this picture. 

In the name of not overwhelming you (or giving you too much to distract from whatever you should be doing), my next post will bring details of our journey via train to Varanasi and our adventures there. And, of course, anything else that might happen that I think will entertain you. Stay tuned! 

J-walking: A way of life

I'm doing much better these days, thanks for asking. I had my blood sucked out of me for the third time in this country today and--drumroll please--my platelets are now in the normal range!! This is very exciting news because it means that I can travel! So tomorrow I hop on a plane to Delhi and we'll see where it takes me. 


I did manage to venture out a couple times in this weekend of serious R and R and I learned a couple things. One thing I learned from the comfort of my hotel room was that the festival of Dassera took place this weekend. More on this festival here. I didn't realize that I didn't need to read the newspaper to find out there was a festival. I went out and...bam! Flowers. Everywhere. I must admit that normally you find a flower shop every three doors down but this was very different. Rows of bright orange carnations with alternating dark green leaves were strung on every passing rickshaw and car. These flower lines also graced the entrance to shops and even the hospital. I saw a couple bicyclers (we're talking pedal pushers, not motorcyclists here) with flowers in the spokes of their tires. I'm not sure what the significance is of the orange flower, but it's clearly loved. 


I also learned that before 10am on the weekends, the roads are not such a terrifying place. Before 10am on a weekday (when we make the daily pilgrimage to class) the roads are, to say the least, dangerous death-traps. Ok, so I've never seen a pedestrian get hurt or a car crash of any sorts but I'm convinced it's only a matter of time. Crossing the street here is unlike crossing the street in any other country I've been to. Cross walks are few and the only way to cross is via j-walking...which is really j-weaving. You make your way across the street by compromising with all the people on the road. You move forward, they slow down a little. Usually this involves much honking and a sudden rise in my desire to know how to curse in Hindi. 


I've had one close call. On one fine Wednesday, I came to the realization that I must cross the street. Needless to say, I don't like making this realization. I walked up to the curb and started making my way into the street. The street seemed one-way so I made sure that to the right of me the cars were clearing up. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a motorcycle zoomed by literally two inches from my feet (coming from my left). Not such a one-way road after all. The thing is it's often impossible to tell because the lines on the street are ignored completely. I honestly wonder why they're there...someone must be very optimistic. I survived the motorcycle incident with a new appreciation for taking my time to assess the situation before dashing across the street in haste. 


And, speaking of haste...I must make haste and hit the hay. Have a great week, I'll be back Sunday hopefully with stories galore. Stay away from those mosquitoes! 

You give me fever

I want to start by saying that I'm very sorry to have paused my blogging and gone on a short hiatus like I did. Thing is, I'm sure you wouldn't want to read about the exciting adventure of brushing my teeth or my daily battle over which conservative (and clean) shirt to wear. One more thing, and this has nothing to do with readership...I simply didn't feel up to it. Whew. That aside, let's get started. 


The last couple days have been completely surreal. I'm in India, that's no longer surreal to me. I'm 20, OK that one is a little harder to grapple with. Two decades?! No, can't be. What's most surreal, however, is hearing you have managed to contract an illness you were previously deathly afraid of. 


Last Sunday, sitting in Mumbai in the hotel lobby, I could feel that I was running a fever. Like a good pre-med student, I popped a couple Advil and waited it out. By Tuesday, the fever was still carrying on and refused to take a hint from all the meds and get out of town. With our 10 day break/vacation on the horizon, I started to get worried that I wouldn't be better for it. So I headed to the doctor to see what was going on. 


Indian emergency rooms (or at least this one) are very odd places. In general, Indians have this thing about being barefoot. It's much more common here to walk around without shoes (even if you can afford them), usually indoors more so than outdoors. The hospital is no exception. The nurses wear shoes but the other employees run around barefoot. The doctor's office also cannot be entered unless one goes in barefoot. Another thing that's odd: the waiting room is never full. Think of an emergency room in the states. From my experience, they're always packed full of people--usually hypochondriacs like myself who go there because they had one shooting pain in their abdomen and they're now convinced their appendix is going to rupture at any moment. This emergency room waiting room is sometimes empty. To think! Empty! Enough about this. 


Oh, and I must give a moment to Indian blood-taking methods. In the US (and in Peru, I might add, in fact I thought this was universal), a needle is inserted into your arm and small tubes are attached to it and switched off...tubes with different colorful caps. This lovely tubes have a slight natural vacuum that allows your blood to simply flow into them. They work perfectly. In India, the syringe is used. Let me clarify. A syringe with a PLUNGER. What this means is that they open the plunger when it's attached to the needle that's in your arm and they literally suck the blood out of you. Like vampires. It's very unpleasant. 


So to condense a long story and four visits to this emergency room, I've been diagnosed with dengue fever. Also know as the "bone crushing" disease because of the pain it causes, dengue is a tropical virus transmitted by mosquito. Currently, it's estimated that about 2.5 billon people, two-fifths of the world's population, is at risk for contracting this illness. One of the problems with dengue is that it lowers your platelet count, it also lowered my WBC (white blood cell, for you non-premeds) count. 


From what I understand, the first time you get dengue it's not so awful. However, unlike other diseases where you body builds an antibody, dengue weakens your body's immunity and hits harder the second time. What I'm saying is that dengue is a middle school bully that steals your lunch everyday then keeps adding to your punishment for just being a scrawny kid. 


My experience with dengue has been unpleasant, but not too bone crushing. The first five days brought fevers and a very achy body. A couple days in my ears, face, and body started getting redder and yesterday I started with some bone symptoms. It feels like growing pains all over again, aka short-lived shooting pain in isolated areas. 


So my friends have all left for their vacation in which our plan is to see Mussurie, Delhi, and Varanasi. I'm hoping that I will be able to meet up with them when they're in Delhi. In the meantime, I stay here in Pune trying to grow platelets and WBCs. 


I'd like to leave you with my classified add.


Dearest, darlingest mosquito population,


I despise you with a fiery burning passion. I attempted single-handedly to massacre your populations in the Amazon and I do feel that I made progress, but there is much more to be done. Your populations will be eliminated. Prepare for complete decimation. You wreak havoc everywhere you're found and no one likes a party pooper. I will find a way to wipe you clean off the face of the earth. Until then, I will continue my brutal methods of force and squish you to death every chance I get. 


Cheers to your death and utter destruction,
Christy 

Mumbai: a playground for 18 million

This weekend, I found myself in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. It's the capital of the state of Maharashtra (which I like saying because it sounds like Maharaja...the evil Maharaja to be more precise). Anyways, we went to this fabulous Asian restaurant for dinner and had some delicious dim sum. 


Sidenote: A little bit on drinking in India... Unfortunately, India seems to be very keen on having "dry days" where no alcohol is served even at bars. These often occur on celebratory days like Ghandi's birthday or the start of festivals. The caveat to this policy, however, is that four and five star places will serve alcohol. That being said, it was a dry day when we arrived in Mumbai but we luckily found Poly Ester's...a dance club right above our dinner spot.


Yes, I think for the very first time...I went clubbing. It was quite the experience. We talked our way into not paying the cover (so the entire group of us got in for free). Oh, and I haven't mentioned the best part of this experience: our professor accompanied us. Yes, this certainly means that our professor danced with us. It was fantastic.


The next day, far too early in the morning, we headed to an architecture school where we  learned all about the development of Mumbai. The commercial capital of the country, the city is home to around 18 million (the world's second largest city according to Wikipedia). To give you reference, New York City ranks at 14 on this list. The city started as a Portuguese settlement north of where the city currently stands. A Portuguese princess married a Brit and the dowry was the seven island archipelago that now makes up the city of Mumbai. The islands now form a peninsula as the swamp land separating them has be reclaimed (like Lake Shore Drive in Chicago!). The center of this metropolis started at the base of the peninsula and seems to forever press northward.

I also learned a good deal about "slums." When someone says the word slum, I think blue tarp and cardboard--I think of very temporary shelters erected for the purposes of housing extremely impoverished people. I was very wrong. A slum in India has a good deal of infrastructure. It's a place where people live and work, where life and culture center around the streets. Slums are home to nearly fifty percent of Bombay's residents but they only constitute five percent of the land in the city. Needless to say, they are extremely dense in terms of population. 

We visited Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia. It stretches over less than a square mile, yet estimates of its population reach as high as one million people. It's also home to around 15,000 one-room factories. Seeing the slum I was completely astonished that I could have had such a narrow view of the term "slum" and what it could encompass. People were definitely all on the streets; there were stalls where men cut up animals for food, stores selling jeans and men's shirts, and little children running around playing. Some stay in slums, according to our lecturer, simply for cultural or family reasons. We saw pictures of slum housing with flat screen TVs or a Mercedes-Benz parked outside. So much for blue tarp and cardboard.

Sunday we saw quite another side of Mumbai. We visited what once was a mill (perhaps a textile mill), which is now a huge mall--and a very fancy mall at that. And I've been to many, many malls in my day (too many, I'm sure). I don't think even the Indians are used to this intense luxury--we watched one woman have some serious trouble getting on the escalator until she finally gave up and walked away. 

I should also mention that poverty seemed much more obvious and tragic in Mumbai. I was walking around holding a pair of shoes for a friend (he needed closed-toed shoes for whatever reason) and a little girl walked up to me. She tugged on the shoes then pointed to her bare feet. It was awful. In reality, she'll never fit his shoes so she clearly didn't want them for herself but I felt really guilty....how many pairs of shoes do I own? I was wearing TOMS shoes so I felt slightly better about myself (this is my shoutout to TOMS, which are the greatest shoes and they support a fantastic cause: http://www.toms.com/international), but I still felt badly. The problem is how helpless I feel; I know I can't help everyone and it frustrates me that there are things like "Paw Spas" in America and these people are literally sleeping on the sidewalk. I've even seen people sleeping on the median--as in in between lanes of traffic on the highway. 

On a brighter note, yesterday was Happy Thoughts for World Peace Day and the Dalai Lama gave opened up the celebration here in Pune. Unfortunately we didn't get to see him but  I did think lots of happy thoughts for world peace. We got back into Pune last night after what seemed like an eternal bus ride (time does not fly when one has a fever). Our hotel has become our home away from home and the staff part of our study abroad family, so we were very grateful to come back and have a delicious dinner in the dinning room. Paneer masala never tasted so good--and, of course, masala chai (everyone's favorite).