Sunday, September 26, 2004

Village Women

 
 Posted by Picasa

Under a Tree

 
 Posted by Picasa

So Much to Say!

Last Thursday afternoon instead of having a traditional Hindi class, Rajul took us to her house to cook for us and show us her house and family. Her house is by far the largest and nicest I have been in in India, and the food she cooked was not my favorite by any means, but it was interesting. What I found most interesting were the "gods" that sat on her kitchen counter. I have been trying painstakingly to not divulge myself in anything related to Hindu idol worship because I would consider it a huge conflict of interest in my personal beliefs, but it is SOO DIFFICULT because hinduism permeates so much of hospitality and lifestyle here. My homestay mom gave a little Ganesh idol for my birthday and told me she prayed to him that I would have a good birthday (which was kind). Last Saturday I accidentally ate a sweet that had been a sacrifice for Ganesh, and I have encountered numerous other instances where Hinduism and hospitality collide. With the immense respect that Indians have for religion, I am sure that I could reject their offers on religious grounds, but with the language barrier I don't know whether they would understand that I am rejecting their god, not their hospitality and kindness.

Friday was our first field trip. We drove out of Jaipur for an hour to an NGO that does work with villages. We met the most incredible women there who single handedly built a reservoir that provides water for livestock and crops. One of the most influential books I have read on India was written by my teacher, Gloria Raheja, on rural women, their identities, and folk songs that reflect their spirit and hopes. Friday these women sang as a group for us, a type of call and response form that was truly incredible. During the last song one of the women danced for us, and it was the first time I wish I had a camcorder so I could have recorded it. Luckily I think Arwen got a copy and hopefully I can pass it on to you. The field visit made me really excited for my internship, and really hopeful that I will have a life enriching experience. I think that in villages like the one we saw is where the real culture of India is the most beautiful. It is people living life as they always have done and finding joy in it. One of the remarkable stories the women told us was when a liquor store moved into their village. It was basically a shed, but the men hung out their all the time late into the night when they should have been with their families. In the middle of the night this group of women got together and tipped over the shed. That was the end of the liquor store, and men are now home at a resonable hour. These women knew how to take charge! That night a bunch of us went out to dinner at Niro's. Dinner in India is generally served at 8:30-10, but we decided to meet early, at 7 since some of the group (not me)wanted to go out to a disco(club). When I got back home from the field trip I quickly changed clothes and hopped in a rickshaw to get there on time. When I glanced at my watch as we arrived, I realized that it was 6, not 7. I was an hour early and all on my own as it was getting dark. I calmly tried to figure out where to go, and spent some time in a bookstore and coffee shop till I met my friends. It was a minor crisis in my mind, but noone bothered me (except for street vendors and street kids). Dinner was fun, there is something devious about being out after dark here, like we are breaking the rules.

Yesterday Krista and I spent the day in the old city. We had to go there that morning to pick up our passports from the Foreigners Registration Office. Since we each had year long visas we were required to register here in Jaipur. We went to the office with P.P.(Prem Prakash) from the MSID office here. He is an interesting character, very quiet and shy but always watching over all of the students here. I think his shyness is due to a insecurity about his English, but the few times I have spoken to him he has been very clear and understandable. Anyway, when we went last week to register we had to leave our passports there and pick them up a week later. When you think of a registration office like this, I would picture a place like a courthouse, very official. Instead it was very shady, like a basement. Both Krista and I agreed that we would NEVER have left our passports there if we were alone and didn't know we would get them back. Retrieving them yesterday turned out to be no big deal, and Krista and I explored City Palace, a museum, before we headed out shopping. We hopped a cycle rickshaw to take us to Bapu Bazaar, where there are good clothing stores. Our cycle had other ideas though, and quickly got us lost while trying to take us to a shop where he had a commission. We finally yelled at him to stop and jumped out to get a driver that would take us where we wanted to go. Why does this stuff always happen when I am with Krista? At the end of the shopping excursion I had a couple new salwaar suits, kind of. I bought material for the shirt, pant and scarf suit and they are being tailored as we speak. After spending the day out and about, I was looking forward to a quiet evening, but then Anthony called. He was having people over, and wanted me to come. My hostmom walked me to an auto and I was off, with one small hitch. I had never been to Anthony's house, and it was dark. I had gotten directions, but the driver was persistent that he knew the way, and proceeded to get us lost. Eventually we got there, but I survived another late night India adventure.

Which brings us to, TODAY! I am finally caught up. I spent this morning reading, something I have been doing alot lately. I have made my way through an Amy Carmichael biography, two fiction books, and I am almost through with Hillary Clinton's autobiography, which I bought here. I also wrote postcards and rested. Then I took off with Krista (again!) to Gaurav Towers where I, ta da!, finally have a mobile phone. The MSID office found some secondhand phones for the students to purchase, but they have been working only intermittenly and I figured my parents would rather have me spend and extra $25 and get a nice one that will work well than one that only works sometimes. I can get texts as well as phone calls, so no one has an excuse not to get in touch with me!

I think that is it for now. Hope you enjoy my adventures!

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Week 2

Ok, everyone. My little game of catch up is still ensuing, but hopefully my updates will fully be up to date after writing this today.

Last Friday was the last day of the full week of classes. I was so exhausted after all the exploring we had done that week that I just went home and chilled, reading and napping.

Krista and I had made plans for the next day, Saturday, to go shopping in the Old City, which is the part of Jaipur that is walled and is painted pink. The Old City makes Jaipur India's Pink City. Anyway she and I wanted to go shopping while the rest of the group of students went to a Ganesh fair at the temple. It is apparently the time of the year to celebrate Ganesh, so everyday it seems they are doing something special for them. At this fair there are apparently thousands of people, which was only one of the reasons I was less than enthusiastic about going. So Krista, who is from Buffalo, NY and goes to Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and I went shopping. I bought a few things, but I was mostly trying to see what they had. After we finished we headed up M.I.Road to the McDonald's next to Raj Mandir, the movie theater. McDonalds here is very different than in the states. First off, since eating cows is strickly taboo, there are no burgers. Secondly, since most of India is vegetarian (or veg) there are alot of different option than there are for veg people. It was quite an adventure picking out what to eat, and she and I apparently caused a tad of a spectacle. We decided to eat by a window, a bad idea in a mostly touristy area. We had numerous rickshawallas and street children waiting for us when we left, and we had to repeatedly say no to them, until our little crowd abandoned us.

Sunday the whole group of students went sightseeing in the Jaipur area. We spent the day at numerous places: Amber Fort, Jaigarth(the site of the worlds biggest cannon, I can hear your ooh's and ahh's), Jal Mahal (a palace built in a lake), Hawa Mahal(the wind palace), and Jantar Mantar (an astrology park, its the only way to describe it). Of all the places we saw I think Hawa Mahal was the most interesting. It was built when women in India were still under purdah, which is the act of veiling publicly. The wind palace has large lattice windows and screens, so women of the palace could watch what was happening in the street without breaking purdah. It was very interesting, and I am not sure whether it is called wind palace because wind can blow through the crack, or perhaps it was named because the women would speak amongst each other and it sounded like wind. Who knows!

On Monday it was my 22nd birthday. My host mom was very gracious and all 13 students came over to my house after school to celebrate. We had samosas and pokaras (Indian Appetizers/snacks) and after the day was done I had had two birthday cakes. Mrs. Singh is such a sweetheart. That morning she gave me a marigold garland, which is used I think to celebrate a special event. She also gave me a necklace and earrings set, bindis, "birthday bangles", a purse and a pair of sandals. She was also the hit of the party with the other students, and it has prompted everyone to say randomly all week how sweet she is.

Tuesday was a school day, as usual. Because of my birthday Rajul, the hindi teacher, had postponed a field trip in which we were to use our hindi. So, she took us to a local vegetable market where we were supposed to barter in hindi for vegetables we were pretending to buy (the sellers knew our negotiations were fake). When we got to the area, we ran a few errands first as a group, like to the post office. Even with my hindi I couldn't get across that I needed to buy stamps to send a letter overseas to America, so instead I just bought aerograms. Then the whole group of us students went across the street to the market. Just as we were starting our "negotiations" the police showed up and started tearing down the market and yelling at the subziwallahs (veg sellers). Turns out that the sellers just assume occupancy of a vacant lot to set up the market, which is illegal. So they are tearing things down, while Rajul continues to try to teach hindi! A few of the students (me included) were a tad uncomfortable being in such close proximity to a sting operation (I could literally SEE the headlines in the papers). It was just about this time that a group of 15-20 street kids noticed the group of Americans hanging out and decided to go up to us and beg. They were literally infiltrating our ranks, and Rajul started to ask the police for help. None of us students were moving because we hadn't been given permission, so it was such a crazy scene. Finally we were given the aok to move, and we all took off. I headed home to run some errands and debrief after the insanity that we caused.

Wednesday was a long, long, long, school day. Literally 6-7 hours of nonstop lecture. AWFUL!! I had been designated by the group to go to the rail station and pick up a copy of the schedule for everyone to use when we plan our trips out of town. Krista and I had a tough time finding an auto, and so we had to walk farther than anticipated. Once we were out of the train station we had another auto driver who seemed a little shady to us. Krista was lying through her teeth,
"Where are you from?"
"Canada"(not true)
"Why are you going to Raj Mandir?"
"To meet a friend."(not true)
"Canadian or Indian?"
"He's Indian" (not true)
"Do you need a ride back?"
"No, he has a car."(not true)
The entire time this guy talked to us and we were just a tad uncomfortable with that. We really feel like he was just trying to be nice, and we felt bad about being mean. When we talked with the whole group about it the next day, Kevin (from Colorado) said that maybe we were just mean enough to him that he thought he couldn't get away with something with us. I was telling Krista just today too about what my mom always says, to follow your intution. If something fells shady than follow that feeling and don't be nice just because you think you have to. When I got home, around 6:15, Mrs. Singh came in saying I was late and we had to go. She was also talking about how there is no answer on "her" mobile and how we are late. I was so confused, I didn't think we had anything to do. Turns out she had made arrangements to go to a fashion show/beauty pageant that night and I was late! She wanted Garland who lives around the block to come too. She was the "her" who wasn't answering her mobile. In quick action we headed out the door and hailed an auto to take us to the auditorium. Thanks to "Indian time" we weren't late at all, because the show started 40 minutes late. It was a very sweet thing for Mrs. Singh to do, but I was so tired by the time I got home (10 pm) that I just fell into bed and slept the whole night.

I think that is all for now. I am almost caught up with my days! I hope you enjoy these little notes about what is happening here.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

My Days

Hey everyone. Sorry it has been so long since my last email, but stops at internet cafes have been less than frequent. Hopefully things will settle down a tad soon with my schedule and all. Speaking of schedule, I am starting to have a little bit of a regular time frame of activities. My weekdays are pretty much like this.

7:00- I get up when the power goes out and take my shower from a bucket in the dark. Because of electric conservation everyday different sections of the city endure a scheduled power outage. At home, it is from 7-9 am, and then at school it is from 9-11 am. For 4 hours each day I am without power. It is not a nuisance, but with the ceiling fans not blowing-a must in each room in India-the classroom can get very warm.

7:30- Breakfast. Usually white bread American style with jam or butter. Sometimes I will have an egg or an “omlet sandwich” which I am becoming fond of. I always have chai, the real stuff, not the fake American stuff. I think that while I am here I will drink tons of Indian chai just to make up for the poor quality of any American coffeeshop chai.

8:00-I leave for school with Garland. She goes to the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and her homestay is just a block away from mine. There are so many people on this program who either go to school in Pennsylvania (Penn State, Allegheny College, University of Pittsburgh) or are from the state. Its crazy!

9-10:00-Hindi class. I mostly observe so far. My hindi is far more advanced than any that the class will study up to and the teacher, Rajul, does NOT know what to do with me. It is fun to see everyone learning Hindi, but Rajul moves so fast they are becoming lost and I am starting to be a pseudo teacher/tutor for those who are confused. I don’t mind at all because it is really good practice for me.

10-10:30-Chai break. Raguji, the employed man at the MSID office who isn’t quite a servant or a janitor, but who is a peer employed to make tea and look after the place, serves us all chai in little teacups and we get to socialize.

10:30-12:30-We have one of our core classes during this time: International Development Theory, Cross Cultural Perspectives, or the India Country Analysis. This hour is either very interesting (globalization theory) or very boring (ancient Indian history which I don’t think is very relevant).

12:30-1:30-Lunch. Everyday our host family packs us a lunch for school. I usually get chapattis with some sort of vegetable and a green citrus fruit that I eat like an orange. I don’t know what its name is, but from the outside it looks like a big lime, but it is sweet like an orange and is becoming one of my favorite Indian things to eat.

1:30-2:30-Hindi again.

After 2:30 we are free to pursue what we want. So far this week my excursions have largely been to try to see parts of the city and get aquaitined with the environment. On Wednesday I went to Gaurav Towers, a shopping plaza (like a mall) that has tons of different stuff (McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, grocery store and department store). MSID had shown us Gaurav briefly while it was closed, so it was nice to see it all in action. We were told its quite the "hopping" place at night with the young crowd. It was really nice to go there, but it is slightly far away and I can't go there all the time.

Last Thursday I went to see a Bollywood movie at Raj Mandir. We went to see DHOOM. It was all in Hindi and most of the girls that went don't speak very much Hindi, so I was trying to understand enough to tell them what was going on. If you have never seen a Hindi movie, you should rent one. In and of themselves they are a crazy crazy thing. The dancing, the singing. Plus, there weren't many women there and no other non-Indians, so we got stared at alot by all the men. I was so happy that they have separate sections for men and women in the theater (and separate ticket lines too) so that I wasn't sitting next to some shady Indian man. We got out of the theater to find out that it was raining, and had been for 2 hours. The streets were flooded and everyone found an autorickshaw except for me. So here I was, alone and in the rain. I was negotiating with a rickshaw driver about a ride when a little street girl, covered in mud, started pulling at me begging. Even though he was asking too much, I jumped in the auto trying to escape what seemed like, to me the CRAZIEST situation.

I feel bad because I am always playing catchup with this weblog, but I will update it soon, with all the news about last weekend, and about my birthday (which was Monday for those who might have forgot!). Thanks to everyone for sending me messages telling me you remembered! I appreciate it tons.

These last two sections are papers I have written for school, kind of journal entries. I thought they might be interesting for you to read.

Leslie J. Jorgensen
POR #1
Cross Cultural Perspectives

On Wednesday of this week, a small group of MSIDers, myself, Alicia, Arwen, Jenny, Kevin and Anthony decided we wished to go explore a part of Gaurav Towers. Since there were so many of us be broke off into pairs and determined we would meet later at Coffee Day Café. Kevin and I wandered off to find an auto to take us there, and found a ride for the price we asked (Rs. 40).

Neither of us had ever been to Gaurav Tower, and so we wandered around trying to discover what there was to see. We went in and out of some stores without very much hassle or activity and proceeded to the small grocery store in the basement. We both needed some toiletry items and so we went in together.

The store has many front end employees to bag and ring up purchases, and they are all standing in the front. When Kevin and I came in they just stared at the two of us. I know that it is very unusual to have an Indian woman alone with a man her age, and so they may have been examining our interaction with each other. Personally, since I have found the stares and glares of men in India, especially on my walk home through the Raja Park neighborhood, to be kind of disturbing I felt a bit safer in Kevin’s company than I would have if I had been with one of the girls. Anyway, because of the surplus amount of employees in the store it seemed that there were 20 people who were watching the two of us, stalking our every move with their eyes. I don’t know whether we were the only actual customers in the shop or not, but it seemed that way. It was just a very odd experience to have.

The two of us made our purchases and left to meet the group at the café. We were a little early and the group was a little late, so it gave us time to discuss how weird the grocery store felt. It was especially odd since our new surroundings were so different.

In the café the only customers were our age. There were some young people who were in mixed company and all were wearing Western clothes (no saris or salwaars to be found). They were playing American music and had pop culture magazines to read. And the most obvious difference was no one was staring at the Americans. The entire time I have been in India I have always felt, and known, that my actions and interactions were being monitored by those around me. This was the first time I felt like the pressure was off, no one was judging me or examining me, I felt a bit freer than I have felt in days.

This to me was the ultimate in contradictory experiences. Going from the grocery store where I felt exceptionally scrutinized to the café where no one looked at us (except for the fleeting glance) reminded me of how different it is here in India. At home, no one stares when you come in the door, and if they do they are extremely rude. Here, to stare seems to be the norm, especially when you are a white woman. It can even mean taking your scooter an extra turn around the block to get a second look. The Coffee Day Café gave me a sense of home from the other side of the world, and I really think I needed it.


Leslie J. Jorgensen
International Development
POR #1

I have been in India for two weeks exactly. The maximum length many tourists ever visit a country, and I have learned many things about life here and what it means, for me. This is a summary of some of my realizations.

1. I am capable of stereotyping. On the eve of my birthday here in India I was excited when I came home and my host mom was preparing homemade henna for me to put on my hands. I looked forward to the experience and the beautiful body art that comes from henna work. As we sat down with the bowl of henna, she pulled out some designs and I excitedly looked over them, decided which figures I wanted to adorn my hands. I pointed out what I liked and what she liked, and then decided on a pattern. She said, “Good!” and left the room, leaving me, an inexperienced henna applier to the task of creating the design myself. When she discovered I hadn’t begun my hand art yet, she started me off. This is when I learned that I was guilty of a stereotype. I had thought that all women were experts at henna, that it was something that was taught to all girls while growing up and that all girls were good at it. But, I was wrong. Maybe the henna was too thick, maybe my hand was too small. At any rate, I ended up with a second rate amateur henna job, done by myself, which I know I had to endure for two weeks until it disappeared. Perhaps it is my own fault for stereotyping.

2. I am a pompous American. What’s even worse is that I don’t think that I am a pompous American. I like to believe, and have often told my parents, that I hate America and all it stands for. I go on and on about how I wish that I could live in Europe where things are simpler and better. But yet, now that I am here, I find myself drawn by the comforts of America, like McDonalds. I rarely eat McDonalds at home, and yet I feel like I can be comforted every time I walk under those golden arches in any country. It especially applies here, since India is by far one of the most different cultural experiences of my life. Here I am, believing I am above it all and yet I run to my creature comforts, homesickness quietly numbed by the fries and soda.

Another time I experience this is in coffee shops. I love coffee shops when I am home, frequently staying until they close and midnight or one in the morning. Finding a coffee shop here is like finding a piece of home, a refuge. European/American espresso concoctions can always make me feel better, and I have found in my 1 ½ weeks here that I have searched more for a good coffee shop than I have a really good Indian restaurant. I like to preach ideology, but yet I run from it the moment I see or feel any urge to cling to the culture I know so well.

3. I am not the only white person in India. Sometimes it is very hard to remember this, but often it is not hard to discover the truth in this matter. This weekend, when all the students went to Amber fort, it was weird for me to see other tourists, other white people. I had become so accustomed to being the only one (or ones) around that I must have made a subconscious decision that this type of phenomena didn’t exist here. But yet I’m here. There obviously is an attraction for me to be spending 9 months of my life exploring a different culture, so why am I surprised to find that other white people share my curiosity.

4. I believe that Americans seriously under use the scooter (i.e., moped, vespa, autobike of any kind). My short time here I have seen enormous amounts of people on these little automobiles: 3 adults and 3 children, 2 Adults and 2 boxes, 4 young teenagers. All of these people on one scooter and all while driving in the most insane traffic conditions I believe I have ever seen. In India, it seems that traffic lanes, sides of the road, and traffic signals are all optional. The most important rule of the road is whoever has the loudest horn wins, because the car horn is the only thing that ever seems to dominate the roads.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

The Long Awaited Arrival

Hello from India! All is well here with me. I am safe and sound and getting well taken care of.

My journey started last Monday, when I left Madison. My mom, Leah, Dad and Jody saw me off. My firstflight went fine, but landing was a problem. We endedup circling the airport in the air because Dick Cheneywas trying to land to go to some campaign thing. TheAmsterdam flight was also very good, and I got ashower at the airport and met up with the group. Because of the delay in the air I only had a short layover in Minneapolis, so I wasn't able to scout outpeople who may have been in the program. The flightto India was pretty ghetto. The plane was really old, and I was so tired, I just wanted to be there already! I had a window seat next to this Dutch couple, so I was kind of crowded, but it was a clear day and I could see the ground and all the countries we were flying over. I think the first reality check for me about, "Hey you are going to India!" was when we flew over the Pakistan border. It was at night and the border was all lit up and (I assume) guarded. That
may have been the first time that I really thought "What are you doing!"

We landed in Delhi at 10:30ish and went throughcustoms. All my stuff got there fine and it was a pain to lug all of the really heavy bags, but I
managed with help. There were 4 of us on the groupflight, and finding the MSID India sign was a bit tricky because there were so many people and signs at
the airport. When we spotted him we camped out towait for another three girls. One showed up right away and the others were still missing. Anthony (he
is from WI and goes to U of MN like me)and I went back through security to look for them. They were supposedly on the group flight with us, but none of us
ever saw them. There was no trace of them and we were so tired (by this time it was 1:00)that we left the airport to go to the hotel. Turned out they had missed their flight. They came in the next day.

My first roomate was Arwen (Yes, from Lord of the Rings). We got to know each other really well in those first few days. She is from California, but
goes to school in Pennsylvania. Her parents are ex-hippies who gave their children the coolest names(Arwen, Tobias, and Dagan). We got along so well that I have missed rooming withher since we left Delhi.

Orientation was good. It was very general information, and alot of introductions, getting to know you stuff. It seemed really short, because almost as soon as we got there we were off to Jaipur.

On Friday the 10th we left for Jaipur. It was a 5hr drive even though it is only 265km away from Delhi. All the traffic just goes very slowly, which is good
because traffic is INSANE! Everyone is always beeping and trying to pass each other. The lanes on the roads are really more suggestions. Surjit says that you can drive however fast you want and park wherever you want. He calls is freedom, I call it fear. Anyway, the drive went safely. It was so pretty driving
through Rajasthan. All the travel guides talk about how colorful it is, and it is really true. All around were green fields with these colorful spots, women
working wearing their saris. All of them were different colors. Just beautiful.

We spent Friday night in Jaipur at a hotel. The next morning we had a tour of the city by bus and then we met our host families. My family lives in Adarsh
Nagar, near Raja Park (just if you are curious!). I live with an elderly couple, Mr. & Mrs. Singh. I haven't seen much of Mr. Singh, he is very frail and appears like he has Parkinsons, but Mrs. Singh is very kind. I am so happy I brought her a book about Madison because one of the first things that she did was show me all the different books her other host kids had brought her. There is a guy about my age who lives upstairs, his name is Robin (a nickname). I don't know whether he rents from them or what, but he eats meals with us. And another boy, Sujit, comes and
goes as well. Its all very ambigous at this point.

I have my own room with a large bed, which is nice cause I can spread out. I also have alot of storage: a bookself and a wardrobe. There is no shower head in the bathroom so I use buckets (which is an experience).

Thats all I have the time for now. Stay tuned for Part 2!

Saturday, September 04, 2004

Well, everyone its getting close. I am currently up to my elbows in packing, trying to figure out how to take 9 months of my life in India on the plane in 100 lbs or less! I keep picking up my bags trying to guess if they are too heavy or not. I called to confirm my flight yesterday and everything is a go. I am leaving at noon from Madison and flying to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Delhi. It will be a long haul, but I am very excited.

Leah, Mom and I went to JCPenney to get portraits done today. Very cute ones of the three of us. I was happy they turned out nicely. We were joking while we were leaving that if I were to go missing while I am gone they will have very recent pictures of me before I left the country to release to the press. That, of course, will not happen but it was a funny thought.

I spent today and will spend tomorrow trying to figure out what I should get my host family for a gift. Something small and easy to pack (since weight is an issue). I did just find this cute little book about Wisconsin at Half Price Books today, so that is something! Oy, I just hope I can get what I want and need in time!

The reality of just how long I am going to be gone is weighing on me now. 9 months has never seemed as long as it does right now. I am not afraid or nervous to go and I know I will be very busy and the time will fly by, and I will be just as reluctant to leave as am I right now to go.