Closing Time

Sorry for the long lull in blog posts. My charger recently blew out so I didn't get to use my laptop as frequently as I'd have liked :\

Yesterday was the last day of our program. It was truly a bittersweet moment. While I was happy to be done with all of our academic tasks, the thought of never seeing many of the people that went through this experience with me was very saddening. It takes a very special, very motivated individual to want to study in India, and that really showed. Each person that came on this trip has a very unique quality about them, and it was amazing to get to interact and explore India together. I also realized that I'm really bad at saying goodbye. I didn't know what to say to anyone without feeling awkward. poohie.

On a lighter note though, I got to perform a kathak piece at the closing celebration and it went pretty well! I did mess up a bit, but it definitely could have been a lot worse :P pictures from the night shall be posted shortly.

Tomorrow I'll be on my way to Mumbai and then to Delhi. More fun awaits :)

So here's what I did in the past week:

Over the weekend, a small group of us watched Cocktail, the summer's "most anticipated Bollywood release". Though not as amusing as the last Bollywood movie we watched, it was still very enjoyable. The movie had a lot of catchy dance numbers and was also very modern (filming took place in London, and in Cape Town! :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GYi4n_gHUc <-- one of the songs from the movie.

We also got to check out the local Papa Johns in Pune. It was really cool. Papa John's in India is like a sit-down restaurant instead of a fast food place. Waiters serve you pizza, and bring out plates of creamy garlic sauce and ketchup. There was even a round of Akon songs playing the whole time we were eating our meal, which made the whole event even funnier.

At Kathak, I learned some actual dance moves! It was really exciting, but I'm still fighting the urge to dance like I used to when I took Bharatnatyam lessons. Hopefully I'll be able to practice it well enough to perform next week!

I also went on 3 field visits at my internship. We mostly visited pregnant womens' homes, where I asked them questions about their prenatal diets and care techniques. I really enjoy this part of my day. It's always so interesting to listen to these womens' stories, and to see how and where they live. The women we talk to are also often very excited to answer our questions, which makes the interview that much more engaging. One woman even made us tea! It was a really nice gesture.

Sitting in on one of the MOMS committee meetings within the community.

Bismila, Asha, and Nisha [our field workers], with the nice lady that made us tea!

a picture of us walking through the community 

This area is usually submerged during monsoon season. However, since the rains have been late this year, the area is very barren. I just thought it was an interesting image to capture.

Baramati

This past weekend, our group journeyed on a village 'trek' to Baramati, a town 2 hours east of Pune. While there, we got a slice of agro-business life in India, and saw many different types of factories including a silk processing factory, dairy farm, and a sugar cane farm among others. Here are some pictures from the trip:

At the silk processing factory; silk is made from silk worm cocoons. Each one of those cocoons has a hibernating worm inside :o

Weaving silk on a loom

DUCK!! This was during a tractor ride we took

Mandai

Our host mom Swapna recently took us to Mandai, Pune's largest vegetable market. She wasn't joking when she told us about its size. It was HUGE. We literally walked through warehouses filled to capacity with onions, potatoes, beets, chili peppers, tomatoes, you name it. It was also really interesting to note that despite the time we went at (6:30AM!), the market was very lively and was already catering to paying customers. Here are some pictures below:

Ajanta Ellora Caves

This weekend was absolutely fantastic. If you ever get the chance to make the trek over to the Ajanta and Ellora caves, DO IT. Despite how old the caves are, the sculptures and monuments are still very well preserved and very, very well detailed.

A little history before I post my pictures: There are a total of 29 caves at Ajanta, dating back to the 2nd century BC. They are all influenced by Buddhism, and depict many variations of Buddha and his disciples. The caves also have fresco painting depicting different aspects of Buddha's life and path to enlightenment. Ellora, on the other hand, has 34 cavse/temples, and presents a mix of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture. Construction began around 6th century AD, and continued until somewhere around 11th century AD.

Here are some pictures below:

Look at the sheer size of those sculptures! This entire Hindu temple was carved out of one single rock. (Ellora)

Taken at Ellora, in cave no. 1

Main Hindu temple, Ellora. Again this was all carved out of a single rock!

Ellora elephants

Outside one of the Buddhist caves at Ajanta

Inside cave 26, Ajanta. This is the area's best preserved cave.

giant sleeping Buddha!

me! :) It started monsooning while we were at Ajanta

the entrance to Ajanta

And of course, there were monkeys EVERYWHERE :)

this monkey was not very pleased... :o

Here are some other random pictures from the trip: 

These ladies were really nice :) They let me click a picture of them while we were driving with them through traffic. 

We also visited the Bibi-Ka-Maqbara (or...the poor man's Taj) It had a very similar layout to the Taj Mahal but was a little smaller. 

out whole group!

Random Update

Greetings from Aurangabad, a city approximately 5 hours north of Pune. Some people from my program have trekked here to see the famed Ajanta-Ellora caves; I'm actually really excited about it and will definitely post pictures as soon as we get back from our trip.

This post doesn't really have any set topic, but it's more just to document some of the things I've taken up or done since being here.

Along with my internship and contemporary India class, I've now enrolled in Kathak classes and Yoga classes. Kathak is a dance style from northern India that encompasses intricate footwork with story telling. At first, I was expecting it to be a lot similar to Bharatnatyam, a south Indian dance style that I'm more familiar with. I was SO wrong, haha. Kathak is very lucid; it incorporates consecutive spins, fluid hand movements and consistent foot tapping. B-nat, on the other hand, is a lot more stiff in the sense that the basic position used is a squat, more jumping is required, and hand movements are jerky. While learning Kathak the first day, I actually found myself resisting the urge to use Bharatnatyam hand positions :P It's a lot of fun though, and a really interesting way to understand regional differences in culture within India.

As mentioned before, I've also picked up Yoga. This is something I've always wanted to give a try but never found the time to until now. I've only been to one session so far, but can definitely see why everyone is so crazy about it. After we had finished, I could feel that my body wasn't as tense as it normally is, which was awesome. I definitely do have to work on my flexibility, though, but hopefully this will improve with time :)

Happy 4th, ya'll!

I've officially reached the 1/2 mark of my program (just in time for Independence Day!) I wanted to share an article I found online yesterday that really resonated with me:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/monsoonmasala/2011/01/29/american-thoughts-on-living-in-india/

"India and I fight, we scream, we argue, we don’t speak for days on end, but really, deep down, we love each other. She’s a strange beast, this India. She hugs me, so tightly sometimes that I can’t breathe, then she turns and punches me hard in the face, leaving me stunned. Then she hugs me again, and suddenly I know everything will be all right."

Though I've been to India many times before, I feel like this trip has given me insight into this country that I have never realized before; I have never until this trip walked through a slum area, had the power go out on me while I was still taking a shower, or yelled at a rickshaw driver over 1 Rs change. At the same time, I've never until this trip, danced in monsoon rains, bargained for mangoes with local market vendors or smelled sweet strands of tuberose growing on trees at street corners. Every day in Pune is filled with its own unique mini-victories and minor struggles. I've been challenged beyond my limits but have also been encouraged to grow as a person. India has taught me the importance of patience, of flexibility, and most importantly of accepting that some aspects of life are just simply not under our own control (and learning how to be okay with that!). My experience here has truly been an emotional rollercoaster. However, at the same time, I know that as much as I may complain, pout, or whine, deep down I wouldn't expect or want to have it any other way. :)