Namaste! (By the way, this means, "I salute the divine in you")
This week has been pretty busy- but here's the latest update. I am so happy with my host family- Papa Ji and Mami Ji (you add Ji for respect) are in their late 60s and they are so so sweet. MJ (I will abbreviate) hardly speaks any English, so by the end of the first full day with them, I was physically exhausted from pushing my brain through an obstacle course of speaking Hindi. PJ is very helpful and I have already learned so much! Learning another language is a thrill to me. PJ reminds me of the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding- he tells me to put Detol (a soap) on my bug bites and he LOVES to explain Indian culture. Here's an example of my average day: wake up at 5:55 (auspicious numbers and things are big here) and I go for a walk or run. I love seeing so many people out on the roads and there are always new things to experience: monkeys leaping around my house, a peacock strutting in someone's yard, or a camel loping down the road, pulling a cart. My neighborhood has a lot of the old "pink" (really an orange-pink) walls with white designs and soft trees hanging over them. I come back to the house, drink chai with PJ and MJ outside while they read the paper, then get ready for school. I walk to school with another girl, we have 2 1/2 hours of Hindi, with tea breaks, then a lecture for about an hour, then lunch. Lunch is always delicious and we sit on a wide balcony and eat. After lunch we are free to do work, explore the city, shop, see Bollywood movies, etc. I come home around 6-6:30, have tea, read or work on Hindi, watch bizarre TV shows, bathe, help MJ make dinner, eat, sleep by 10. About bathing- I have a bucket bath and a little scooper-I love it. I feel like a very large baby who can bathe herself. We should all try bucket baths- not only are they refreshing...BUT they also save a ton of water.
For future reference, we will be in Jaipur for about 2 months, with some excursions and workshops in there. In November we will embark upon our individual ISPs (Independent Study Projects) for one month. Right now I'm thinking about researching community alternative energy. An organization called the Barefoot College trains semi-literate and illiterate women to install solar home lighting systems intheir communities and beyond. They train and work during the day and go to school at night. What issues does this address? Women's literacy. Check. Rural employment. Check. Alternative, sustainable energy. Check. It's just exciting to consider the opportunities and freedoms that such a program creates...and to evaluate what it can offer as a development model for other communities.
Oh! By the way, today we are going to some place called...oh I forget...umm...oh WAIT...the TAJ. MAHAL.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This week has been pretty busy- but here's the latest update. I am so happy with my host family- Papa Ji and Mami Ji (you add Ji for respect) are in their late 60s and they are so so sweet. MJ (I will abbreviate) hardly speaks any English, so by the end of the first full day with them, I was physically exhausted from pushing my brain through an obstacle course of speaking Hindi. PJ is very helpful and I have already learned so much! Learning another language is a thrill to me. PJ reminds me of the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding- he tells me to put Detol (a soap) on my bug bites and he LOVES to explain Indian culture. Here's an example of my average day: wake up at 5:55 (auspicious numbers and things are big here) and I go for a walk or run. I love seeing so many people out on the roads and there are always new things to experience: monkeys leaping around my house, a peacock strutting in someone's yard, or a camel loping down the road, pulling a cart. My neighborhood has a lot of the old "pink" (really an orange-pink) walls with white designs and soft trees hanging over them. I come back to the house, drink chai with PJ and MJ outside while they read the paper, then get ready for school. I walk to school with another girl, we have 2 1/2 hours of Hindi, with tea breaks, then a lecture for about an hour, then lunch. Lunch is always delicious and we sit on a wide balcony and eat. After lunch we are free to do work, explore the city, shop, see Bollywood movies, etc. I come home around 6-6:30, have tea, read or work on Hindi, watch bizarre TV shows, bathe, help MJ make dinner, eat, sleep by 10. About bathing- I have a bucket bath and a little scooper-I love it. I feel like a very large baby who can bathe herself. We should all try bucket baths- not only are they refreshing...BUT they also save a ton of water.
For future reference, we will be in Jaipur for about 2 months, with some excursions and workshops in there. In November we will embark upon our individual ISPs (Independent Study Projects) for one month. Right now I'm thinking about researching community alternative energy. An organization called the Barefoot College trains semi-literate and illiterate women to install solar home lighting systems intheir communities and beyond. They train and work during the day and go to school at night. What issues does this address? Women's literacy. Check. Rural employment. Check. Alternative, sustainable energy. Check. It's just exciting to consider the opportunities and freedoms that such a program creates...and to evaluate what it can offer as a development model for other communities.
Oh! By the way, today we are going to some place called...oh I forget...umm...oh WAIT...the TAJ. MAHAL.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love your descriptions...feel like we are right there with you! Your project topic sounds perfect for you! Can't wait to hear more. Safe travels today to the Taj. Everyone I have ever talked to who has been there says that they can't begin to describe the beauty, serenity and majesty of the Taj. Being a monument created out of love holds a mysterious, eternal sacredness. Breathe it all in, sweetheart!
ReplyDeleteis that the monkey from your car seat cover?
ReplyDeletethis is amazing!!!! so excited for you and so glad to hear you're doing so well.
ReplyDeletemuch love,
jess
that sounds like so much fun. are they the same monkeys or different monkeys? do they know you yet? how hot is it?
ReplyDeletemonkeys! i've only had the pleasure of seeing them once. but i hope they come back. they didn't seem to care much for me.
ReplyDeleteit is pretty hot here- in the 90s usually?
the taj was ethereal for sure.