Ok so I dont have much time to write because I'm at an internet cafe adn my friends are leaving soon and this keyboard stinks so I'm just going to highlight somethings. First off, I'm going to be back in the U.S. in 10 days!! Whoa! I dont think I'm ready for that....I'm ready to see all of your lovely faces but not ready for everything else.
I'm in Darjeeling now-googleearth it-its awesome! ...and really cold actually...I may have to invest in a sweatervest :) Tomorrow we are going to go to Tiger Hills and we might see Mt.Everest if it's clear out-how crazy!?! Then on the 19th we shall go to Varanasi then Agra then Delhi before coming back to M-lore before the U.S.A.
Kolkata was awesome-an eye-oping experience for sure.
ok sooo now they are leaving so now I am too....
Monday, April 19, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
My Friday
Well I wasnt planning on blogging so quickly after just blogging but I feel like a lot happened today.
I started my day off by going to Vishwas and celebrating Felseys birthday with watermelon and a spicy treat with chutney on the side. This chutney had coconut, chili pepper and some other stuff too :) Then I was able to talk to one of the older men there who spoke really good English. He has 2 sons, one in Australia and one in Kuwait. So then I was sitting there in my pajama pants (which I recently found out that the pants that I wear every week to field placement are basically sweat pants or PJs. Thanks guys for telling me. hahaha ohh India) when Olinda, the director, asked me what I was doing. Well, I had been sitting on the couch talking and twidling my thumbs for a while and she had been watching me so I was a little confused at the situation. So I just mumbled something incoherent. This is when she invited me to a Hindu wedding...in 5 minutes. Hahaha so of course I went :)
At 12:30 we left for this Hindu wedding which was supposed to start at 12:20, so naturally we left at 12:30. IST time. Indian Standard Time also equals Indian Stretchable Time. We arrived and the bride actually came right up to us. I found out later this was interesting because Hindus usually just sit on the stage and don't interact with the guests right away. This bride was from a tribe but had become educated and was getting married. It was an arranged marriage. She is doing really well for herself and has gone through a lot of schooling. Her tribe used to be in the jungle a while ago but now they are integrating more with others and that's how she was educated. So then the actual ceremony was sometime in the past 5 days, it was apparently a 5 or so day celebration. So we got there and went up to the stage and sprinkled rice on each of their heads and then shook their hands to give them our congrats. Then of course, we got our picture taken with the bride and groom on stage. Sadly I did not get this picture but they had a professional photographer taking them....so I will forever be in their wedding album...in my PJS. the white girl who came to their wedding. :) But then we ate delicious food and left. We ended up only being there for maybe 50 minutes or so but it was really neat seeing all the colorful and sooo beautiful sarees.
Then I went back to Vishwas and I got to watch a guy climb a few coconut trees. The house across the street was having some of the coconuts taken down because they fall onto the house and cause a ruckus of sorts. I'm actually not entirely sure that is what was going on but that's my hypotesis. I tried asking some people and no answers were given. The people saw me creeping on them and offered me some mango though. sweeet!
After that fun thing I went home, tried to pack, failed, then returned to Vishwas for dinner. Annie and I went over and we ate with Olinda, Jacinta, Selina and this guy who is a law student in Mangalore. It was a nice little dinner with yet again, delicious food! yum! We had chicken with something curd-like on top, this rice dish with cashews and rasins in it, a curry made of dates and onions nad rasins and other stuff and we had homemade wine. Everyone makes their wine here.
Now its night time and I only have tomorrow until 7ish at night left here in this house...and guess who still has a loooot of packing to do? Hmmmm. Well, I shall sleep now and pack tomorrow. Then Bangalore here we cooooooooooooooome!
I started my day off by going to Vishwas and celebrating Felseys birthday with watermelon and a spicy treat with chutney on the side. This chutney had coconut, chili pepper and some other stuff too :) Then I was able to talk to one of the older men there who spoke really good English. He has 2 sons, one in Australia and one in Kuwait. So then I was sitting there in my pajama pants (which I recently found out that the pants that I wear every week to field placement are basically sweat pants or PJs. Thanks guys for telling me. hahaha ohh India) when Olinda, the director, asked me what I was doing. Well, I had been sitting on the couch talking and twidling my thumbs for a while and she had been watching me so I was a little confused at the situation. So I just mumbled something incoherent. This is when she invited me to a Hindu wedding...in 5 minutes. Hahaha so of course I went :)
At 12:30 we left for this Hindu wedding which was supposed to start at 12:20, so naturally we left at 12:30. IST time. Indian Standard Time also equals Indian Stretchable Time. We arrived and the bride actually came right up to us. I found out later this was interesting because Hindus usually just sit on the stage and don't interact with the guests right away. This bride was from a tribe but had become educated and was getting married. It was an arranged marriage. She is doing really well for herself and has gone through a lot of schooling. Her tribe used to be in the jungle a while ago but now they are integrating more with others and that's how she was educated. So then the actual ceremony was sometime in the past 5 days, it was apparently a 5 or so day celebration. So we got there and went up to the stage and sprinkled rice on each of their heads and then shook their hands to give them our congrats. Then of course, we got our picture taken with the bride and groom on stage. Sadly I did not get this picture but they had a professional photographer taking them....so I will forever be in their wedding album...in my PJS. the white girl who came to their wedding. :) But then we ate delicious food and left. We ended up only being there for maybe 50 minutes or so but it was really neat seeing all the colorful and sooo beautiful sarees.
Then I went back to Vishwas and I got to watch a guy climb a few coconut trees. The house across the street was having some of the coconuts taken down because they fall onto the house and cause a ruckus of sorts. I'm actually not entirely sure that is what was going on but that's my hypotesis. I tried asking some people and no answers were given. The people saw me creeping on them and offered me some mango though. sweeet!
After that fun thing I went home, tried to pack, failed, then returned to Vishwas for dinner. Annie and I went over and we ate with Olinda, Jacinta, Selina and this guy who is a law student in Mangalore. It was a nice little dinner with yet again, delicious food! yum! We had chicken with something curd-like on top, this rice dish with cashews and rasins in it, a curry made of dates and onions nad rasins and other stuff and we had homemade wine. Everyone makes their wine here.
Now its night time and I only have tomorrow until 7ish at night left here in this house...and guess who still has a loooot of packing to do? Hmmmm. Well, I shall sleep now and pack tomorrow. Then Bangalore here we cooooooooooooooome!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Recently in Mangalore....
Guess what happened today?!?! IT RAINED!!! It was the first time since I've gotten here and it was awesome!! There had been dark clouds for most of the day off and on and then we started hearing thunder around 6 pm....we checked outside and realized it was just the motorcycle shop next door. Bummer. Then about a half an hour later Mary, one of my roommates screams 'RAIN' at the top of her lungs and we all bolt outside and just soaked up the rain. It only lasted a few minutes but it was cooler rain than I expected.
I got back from Goa 2? days ago and it was fabulous :) Goa. A beautiful, very toursity part of India. It's kinda tourist season for the Indians right now and so there were plenty of them there. We were expecting to see a lot of white tourists there but alas, since it isn't really holiday time for the Americans/Europeans/Australians right now, we saw a few hippies but mostly just Indians. Saturday evening we all went to Easter Vigil mass at this outdoor church. It was huge and there were so many people there. It was a catholic service and it started at 11 pm. It was longer than I thought it would be...they let out around 2:30 am...but it was cool being there at night. The sky is always beautiful here so I loved that. They had a choir too and they used a keyboard to accompany us all. Haha it was great. Easter day we spent at the beach which was like out of a commercial. Ridiculous. However, since it was a BCA excursion, BCA pays (well they pay what we have already paid them) for everything except for any souveniors we want. So we decided to live it up. We all felt so pampered. We had food on the beach-with the sand under our feet-and I just got to sit there and read while soaking in the rays. Crazzzzy awesome! Ok so then Monday we went to 2 NGOS. One was called SCAN which stands for 'Stop Child Abuse Now'. They seem to be very proactive and are trying to bring a lot of awareness to Goa. They help adolescents mostly-some that are juvenile deliquents and some that are being abused. Then we went to an NGO that helps women who are being trafficked or were trafficked. They help get them out of the vicious cycle and back on their feet. They have a rehab center for them where they work and do laundry for big corporations. They looked like they were both doing a lot of good work. We ended the trip shopping for hippie clothes :) Hahahaha I plan on coming back dressed like hippie to the max! haha ohh yeah!
I finished my exams today too. We had one yesterday and 2 today....each 3 hours long...uggh. But they are done so I'm happy! Tomorrow I go to Vishwas all day and I think they're having a tea party for us. Then Saturday I go there in the morning and then at 7:45pm we all board the train for Bangalore for our last excursion. It's going to be crazy there, like always. We are visiting Mysore for a day, visiting a few NGOs one day and shopping another day. Then I embark on the trip up north until the end of April...I can't believe it's April already! So then I come back for one full day and then I'm leavin' on a jet plane :)
I got back from Goa 2? days ago and it was fabulous :) Goa. A beautiful, very toursity part of India. It's kinda tourist season for the Indians right now and so there were plenty of them there. We were expecting to see a lot of white tourists there but alas, since it isn't really holiday time for the Americans/Europeans/Australians right now, we saw a few hippies but mostly just Indians. Saturday evening we all went to Easter Vigil mass at this outdoor church. It was huge and there were so many people there. It was a catholic service and it started at 11 pm. It was longer than I thought it would be...they let out around 2:30 am...but it was cool being there at night. The sky is always beautiful here so I loved that. They had a choir too and they used a keyboard to accompany us all. Haha it was great. Easter day we spent at the beach which was like out of a commercial. Ridiculous. However, since it was a BCA excursion, BCA pays (well they pay what we have already paid them) for everything except for any souveniors we want. So we decided to live it up. We all felt so pampered. We had food on the beach-with the sand under our feet-and I just got to sit there and read while soaking in the rays. Crazzzzy awesome! Ok so then Monday we went to 2 NGOS. One was called SCAN which stands for 'Stop Child Abuse Now'. They seem to be very proactive and are trying to bring a lot of awareness to Goa. They help adolescents mostly-some that are juvenile deliquents and some that are being abused. Then we went to an NGO that helps women who are being trafficked or were trafficked. They help get them out of the vicious cycle and back on their feet. They have a rehab center for them where they work and do laundry for big corporations. They looked like they were both doing a lot of good work. We ended the trip shopping for hippie clothes :) Hahahaha I plan on coming back dressed like hippie to the max! haha ohh yeah!
I finished my exams today too. We had one yesterday and 2 today....each 3 hours long...uggh. But they are done so I'm happy! Tomorrow I go to Vishwas all day and I think they're having a tea party for us. Then Saturday I go there in the morning and then at 7:45pm we all board the train for Bangalore for our last excursion. It's going to be crazy there, like always. We are visiting Mysore for a day, visiting a few NGOs one day and shopping another day. Then I embark on the trip up north until the end of April...I can't believe it's April already! So then I come back for one full day and then I'm leavin' on a jet plane :)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Valadictory...
Okey dokey so tomorrow I leave for Goa and classes are officially over. I have finals when I get back from the beach which shall prove interesting seeing as studying on the beach is one of the last things I like to do while attempting to tan and swim but we'll see.
The Valadictory was 2 days ago on Tuesday afternoon. We had classes in the morning and then I went over to Andreas house with Annie, Alison and Andrea to get dressed up. I had bought my saree last week and gave it to the tailor and then picked it up Monday night...hoping it would fit me. Thankfully it did :) It's a dark greenish color-with a hint of blue in it-and a brown/maroon blouse. I like it a whooooole lot...although I still don't know the correct way to wear it so who knows if I'll be able to wear it at home. I did take a few pics at this photo shop place because I was feeling cool so I decided why not-I'll get a few professional pics. haha So we'll see if any of those pics turn out or not.
The Valadictory was a really fun program. The underclassmen were in charge. They performed a few dances, songs and games for all of us. We were also served some snacks and ice cream during the performance which I've found is a pretty Indian thing to do. It was delicious :) Then we took a bunch of pictures which I need to get from my roommates. They wanted ones of all the BSW students all together and so they had people standing on sketchy chairs and desks hahaha thankfully, no one fell down.
I've been trying to get everything together and situated but it's harder than I thought it would be. I need to write field reports, study for classes, pack my bags, and get all the loose ends tied up together in a beautiful bow.
Love you!
The Valadictory was 2 days ago on Tuesday afternoon. We had classes in the morning and then I went over to Andreas house with Annie, Alison and Andrea to get dressed up. I had bought my saree last week and gave it to the tailor and then picked it up Monday night...hoping it would fit me. Thankfully it did :) It's a dark greenish color-with a hint of blue in it-and a brown/maroon blouse. I like it a whooooole lot...although I still don't know the correct way to wear it so who knows if I'll be able to wear it at home. I did take a few pics at this photo shop place because I was feeling cool so I decided why not-I'll get a few professional pics. haha So we'll see if any of those pics turn out or not.
The Valadictory was a really fun program. The underclassmen were in charge. They performed a few dances, songs and games for all of us. We were also served some snacks and ice cream during the performance which I've found is a pretty Indian thing to do. It was delicious :) Then we took a bunch of pictures which I need to get from my roommates. They wanted ones of all the BSW students all together and so they had people standing on sketchy chairs and desks hahaha thankfully, no one fell down.
I've been trying to get everything together and situated but it's harder than I thought it would be. I need to write field reports, study for classes, pack my bags, and get all the loose ends tied up together in a beautiful bow.
Love you!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Past few days...
A busy past few days is what I have had. Now I will write :)
A few nights ago Andreas mom (Andrea is a third year BSW at Roshni) came over to our house and made cocomut chutney, sambar and neer dosa with us so we could attempt to write down a recipe of what she was doing. The food she made was delicious and I've decided I love making neer dosa...we'll see how well we can make it by ourselves when we get back to the states. Neer dosa is bascially rice and water blended together and grilled up. It tastes good with the coconut chutney and sambar and peanut butter excellently enough. Yes :)
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday I had field placement at Vishwas Trust and there were some interesting moments for sure. Thursday afternoon I ate pani-puri and masala-puri at a roadside stand. Now I was slightly scared because we were warned about the roadside places a little bit but we were also warned about buses and the water and I'm still fine I figured I'd go for it. I'll admit, it wasn't one of my better ideas but it tasted good and it's 3-4 days later and I am still fine so it's all good. On Friday we had a send off/farewell gathering with the MSW students in the afternoon and one in the morning with the elderly. It was Anisha and Sister Rosalies last day at field palcement and in the afternoon they recognized Annie and I for coming too. Annie (my direct roommate) has been coming with me the past few Saturdays and has/will come the following Fridays as well. Her placement was at a school but the school has exams now she needed somewhere to go. Anyways, they put a garland of jasmine around us as a token of thanks and gave us a nice card too. It was really sweet.
The Jeppu meeting was next on the agenda for Friday. It is about a 5 minute walk from Vishwas although walking the speed of most Indians it takes about 10 minutes to get there. There were 6 elderly women there. Some MSW students sang a song of prayer to start the meeting off. Then they talked about adjustment...in Kannada. And then came the fun part! I was in charge of the activity and I couldnt think of what to do with a few elderly women...then I got it....thumb wars! Hahaha it was fabulous. I taught them all how to do thumb wrestle and they loved it. Who woulda thought I'd teach thumb wrestling in India to a some elderly women? Hahaha and then what we did next was crazy too! They wanted Annie and I to sing an American song or do an American dance. We tried to tell them we are from different places and don't really have dances or songs that we all know or are traditional but they wouldn't buy it. So guess what we sang? Oh, you know, Summertime by New Kids on the Block. Hahahahaha!!! Yeah, we had written down the lyrics in anticipation of having to sing something at the farewell thing with just the MSWs...and we didn't think we would actually have to sing something. So yeah, we sang a hip hop song about girls in short shirts on the beach thinking about her summer boyfriend. Ohh India.
Friday night we went out for the first time to an actual Indian club. It's called Pegasus and one of the guys at school is friends with the owner. 4 of us went with 2 guys from Roshni. They were so cute because they were being so protective of us and kept telling us to be cautious and asking us if we were comfortable. We were. No Indian men tried to 'make to move' and so it was fine and dandy. We got to dance a little bit which we havent been able to do since we got here so it made us all happy.
Saturday after field placement we went to the beach with Andrea, Tony, Dennis and Sonia (all students at Roshni) and attempted to fly a kite. They had made it earlier that day but then it had to travel on 2 buses and a ferry to the beach and soooo it didn't quite fly. We got it up a few feet and then it would come down.
A few nights ago Andreas mom (Andrea is a third year BSW at Roshni) came over to our house and made cocomut chutney, sambar and neer dosa with us so we could attempt to write down a recipe of what she was doing. The food she made was delicious and I've decided I love making neer dosa...we'll see how well we can make it by ourselves when we get back to the states. Neer dosa is bascially rice and water blended together and grilled up. It tastes good with the coconut chutney and sambar and peanut butter excellently enough. Yes :)
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday I had field placement at Vishwas Trust and there were some interesting moments for sure. Thursday afternoon I ate pani-puri and masala-puri at a roadside stand. Now I was slightly scared because we were warned about the roadside places a little bit but we were also warned about buses and the water and I'm still fine I figured I'd go for it. I'll admit, it wasn't one of my better ideas but it tasted good and it's 3-4 days later and I am still fine so it's all good. On Friday we had a send off/farewell gathering with the MSW students in the afternoon and one in the morning with the elderly. It was Anisha and Sister Rosalies last day at field palcement and in the afternoon they recognized Annie and I for coming too. Annie (my direct roommate) has been coming with me the past few Saturdays and has/will come the following Fridays as well. Her placement was at a school but the school has exams now she needed somewhere to go. Anyways, they put a garland of jasmine around us as a token of thanks and gave us a nice card too. It was really sweet.
The Jeppu meeting was next on the agenda for Friday. It is about a 5 minute walk from Vishwas although walking the speed of most Indians it takes about 10 minutes to get there. There were 6 elderly women there. Some MSW students sang a song of prayer to start the meeting off. Then they talked about adjustment...in Kannada. And then came the fun part! I was in charge of the activity and I couldnt think of what to do with a few elderly women...then I got it....thumb wars! Hahaha it was fabulous. I taught them all how to do thumb wrestle and they loved it. Who woulda thought I'd teach thumb wrestling in India to a some elderly women? Hahaha and then what we did next was crazy too! They wanted Annie and I to sing an American song or do an American dance. We tried to tell them we are from different places and don't really have dances or songs that we all know or are traditional but they wouldn't buy it. So guess what we sang? Oh, you know, Summertime by New Kids on the Block. Hahahahaha!!! Yeah, we had written down the lyrics in anticipation of having to sing something at the farewell thing with just the MSWs...and we didn't think we would actually have to sing something. So yeah, we sang a hip hop song about girls in short shirts on the beach thinking about her summer boyfriend. Ohh India.
Friday night we went out for the first time to an actual Indian club. It's called Pegasus and one of the guys at school is friends with the owner. 4 of us went with 2 guys from Roshni. They were so cute because they were being so protective of us and kept telling us to be cautious and asking us if we were comfortable. We were. No Indian men tried to 'make to move' and so it was fine and dandy. We got to dance a little bit which we havent been able to do since we got here so it made us all happy.
Saturday after field placement we went to the beach with Andrea, Tony, Dennis and Sonia (all students at Roshni) and attempted to fly a kite. They had made it earlier that day but then it had to travel on 2 buses and a ferry to the beach and soooo it didn't quite fly. We got it up a few feet and then it would come down.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Very Random Update :)
So it's been awhile since I've blogged and so I am going to write one now :)
I have been in Mangalore since January 1st and it is already March 24th...talk about time flying by...time grew wings bigger than a jet plane and it soaring around like it owns the place. Haha but that's besides the point. Anyways, let's see what I've done since my last post about the crazy Kola festival...
Today I got a lot of errands done such as going to one of the many many shoes tailors and getting my green suitcase fixed and 3 shoes. I bought shoes in Kerala and one shoe fits and the other is too big and it slips off every time I try to wear it so I don't know what he is going to do but I find out tonight. I got one pair of shoes stiched an extra time so they don't break and my suitcase I have a feeling is going to end up looking pretty rough and gangster. It broke in the middle-during the plane ride over here-and so when I arrived and collected it, it had been saran wrapped like crazy and I didn't know if I was going to be able to fix it. Luckily, there is someone here who specializes in whatever you want done so I'm hoping he puts on a new zipper or something. We shall see.
Then I went to the tailor to get my sleeper sack made (a bed sheet folded in half with 2 sides sewn so I can sleep in it during the many up coming train rides I will have), well it took a long time to try and describe that to them but I find out tomorrow if I have a sleeper sack or not.
Lastly, I went to the beauty parlour because I decided that I needed a haircut. I haven't had one since late August and I know the weather wasn't being kind to my hair so I went for it. I told them I wanted it cut and once they understood I didn't mean colored, they asked if I wanted a 'U shape'. I don't know what they meant by that so I went for straight. They said ok. So that was all fine and dandy and then they asked how I wanted the front-I went for it and said layers. Then I was asked to remove my specks. Now, luckily, I am a pretty laid-back girl who doesn't really care that much about my hair because removing my specks which makes me bascially blind and letting 2 Indian women cut my hair when they only speak broken English is kind of nerve-wracking. I said layers and she said something back that was kind of English and then nodded and so I guessed she knew what I was talking about. In the end, it was a fine haircut. It was nothing too special but it got the split-ends out of the way and now I can contiune growing it out for locks of love so I can chop it all off at the end of this year or early next year.
A few days ago I bought a saree :) We have our validictory on Wednesday I believe and all the girls wear sarees and so hopefully the tailor will be done by then. It's a darker teal color with a maroon border. I'm so excited to wear it! I just hope I am able to learn how to put it on so I can show all of you when I return.
I finally caved and got my legs waxed as well. I hadn't shaved since I left 30. Dec and I went for it on St. Patty's Day hahaha-that's a PR (personal record) for sure :) The beauty parlours have all sorts of stuff for cheap and so I am experiencing a lot of first there like a manicure and pedicure-although they didn't do as well on the actual paint part of it-the pre-paint stuff felt good. And I got my legs waxed for the first time, my eyebrows plucked with a string and a facial. hahahaha it's riduclous.
My 2 roommates and I, are almost done booking everything we need for up north-like trains, planes and hotels. It's going to be an adventure for sure because we got hotels but who knows if they are going to be what they say they are. We have only stayed in 1 hotel in India thus far and that was the first couple days in Mangalore when we didn't have our house yet and BCA was paying for it. All of our excursions so far we have stayed in homestays so who knows what the India standard is for a cheaper hotel hahahaha I bet really good :)
I only have a few more days of classes and then I am all done with those. I have Thursday and then a few days next week. Then we leave for an excursion to Goa where we will spend Easter. Then we return and have to take our 3 finals as well as pack up our stuff and get everything ready to go because we leave for Bangalore, our last excursion, and then 3 of us aren't coming back until the end of April! We figured it would make the most sense to go directly from B-lore to Calcutta and start our travels north. I have a feeling April is going to be crazy and zip past me.
I hope all is going well with each one of you. I think you should send me some updates so I know what's going on in your lives since you don't all have blogs. Love you!
I have been in Mangalore since January 1st and it is already March 24th...talk about time flying by...time grew wings bigger than a jet plane and it soaring around like it owns the place. Haha but that's besides the point. Anyways, let's see what I've done since my last post about the crazy Kola festival...
Today I got a lot of errands done such as going to one of the many many shoes tailors and getting my green suitcase fixed and 3 shoes. I bought shoes in Kerala and one shoe fits and the other is too big and it slips off every time I try to wear it so I don't know what he is going to do but I find out tonight. I got one pair of shoes stiched an extra time so they don't break and my suitcase I have a feeling is going to end up looking pretty rough and gangster. It broke in the middle-during the plane ride over here-and so when I arrived and collected it, it had been saran wrapped like crazy and I didn't know if I was going to be able to fix it. Luckily, there is someone here who specializes in whatever you want done so I'm hoping he puts on a new zipper or something. We shall see.
Then I went to the tailor to get my sleeper sack made (a bed sheet folded in half with 2 sides sewn so I can sleep in it during the many up coming train rides I will have), well it took a long time to try and describe that to them but I find out tomorrow if I have a sleeper sack or not.
Lastly, I went to the beauty parlour because I decided that I needed a haircut. I haven't had one since late August and I know the weather wasn't being kind to my hair so I went for it. I told them I wanted it cut and once they understood I didn't mean colored, they asked if I wanted a 'U shape'. I don't know what they meant by that so I went for straight. They said ok. So that was all fine and dandy and then they asked how I wanted the front-I went for it and said layers. Then I was asked to remove my specks. Now, luckily, I am a pretty laid-back girl who doesn't really care that much about my hair because removing my specks which makes me bascially blind and letting 2 Indian women cut my hair when they only speak broken English is kind of nerve-wracking. I said layers and she said something back that was kind of English and then nodded and so I guessed she knew what I was talking about. In the end, it was a fine haircut. It was nothing too special but it got the split-ends out of the way and now I can contiune growing it out for locks of love so I can chop it all off at the end of this year or early next year.
A few days ago I bought a saree :) We have our validictory on Wednesday I believe and all the girls wear sarees and so hopefully the tailor will be done by then. It's a darker teal color with a maroon border. I'm so excited to wear it! I just hope I am able to learn how to put it on so I can show all of you when I return.
I finally caved and got my legs waxed as well. I hadn't shaved since I left 30. Dec and I went for it on St. Patty's Day hahaha-that's a PR (personal record) for sure :) The beauty parlours have all sorts of stuff for cheap and so I am experiencing a lot of first there like a manicure and pedicure-although they didn't do as well on the actual paint part of it-the pre-paint stuff felt good. And I got my legs waxed for the first time, my eyebrows plucked with a string and a facial. hahahaha it's riduclous.
My 2 roommates and I, are almost done booking everything we need for up north-like trains, planes and hotels. It's going to be an adventure for sure because we got hotels but who knows if they are going to be what they say they are. We have only stayed in 1 hotel in India thus far and that was the first couple days in Mangalore when we didn't have our house yet and BCA was paying for it. All of our excursions so far we have stayed in homestays so who knows what the India standard is for a cheaper hotel hahahaha I bet really good :)
I only have a few more days of classes and then I am all done with those. I have Thursday and then a few days next week. Then we leave for an excursion to Goa where we will spend Easter. Then we return and have to take our 3 finals as well as pack up our stuff and get everything ready to go because we leave for Bangalore, our last excursion, and then 3 of us aren't coming back until the end of April! We figured it would make the most sense to go directly from B-lore to Calcutta and start our travels north. I have a feeling April is going to be crazy and zip past me.
I hope all is going well with each one of you. I think you should send me some updates so I know what's going on in your lives since you don't all have blogs. Love you!
Monday, March 8, 2010
The craziness of Mangalore: Kola Festival
Here he is biting off the head while it's alive and chowing down :)
Here he is dancing before he had his lunch...
Yesterday I experienced something that I will probably never see again and it is one of those things that I am ok never seeing again. It was sooo gruesome. My Sunday morning started at Dharma Jyothi, an NGO that helps empower women through self-help groups and helps educate them with vocational skills and they help people sponsor children and watch some of them, it was Women's Day and so we went to support them. We started by watching a street play that some students from Roshni were putting on about people with disabilities and helping them out. The whole thing was in Kannada but the crowd was enjoying and learning from it so it was fun to watch. Then we sat in a tent and listened to various women speak, about what I don't know because none of it was in English, but it felt good to be there anyway and support their cause. They enjoyed having us there even if we were only there for a few hours. Then we left to see a Hindu festival...we were not fully aware of what we were getting ourselves into at this point...
We arrive at a temple that is right on the highway and they sit us up front. This festival had been going on since sometime yesterday but at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday it was nearing an end and many people were there. A man was dancing around wearing a banana or coconut leaf skirt over loose pants, no shirt, had his face painted and was waving around fire burning sticks. He was said to be possessed by the spirit of one pariticular god that is special to Mangalore and only some Hindus in Mangalore. So he danced around for a while-I think he had been dancing for a long time before we got there but after maybe an hour of watching him he ran onto the highway. The highway was already blocked off for the festival so no worries there. So ran out and the crowd made a circle around him and passed him a live chicken. [If you have a weak stomach-stop reading now-you'd probably be able to handle it but I could be wrong] Then he proceeded to rip off the feathers and the head and then drink the blood of he chicken! I think he ate some of the chicken as well as drinking the blood. Then he tossed it to the ground and they passed him another one which he did the same thing to...and then another...and another...until he had about 5-6 chickens. He then ripped the chickens open and ate the livers and other assorted parts of this chicken that was alive a few minutes ago. My one friend Emily was sitting in the front row while the rest of us were on chairs behind and she said she saw him rip off the feathers of one chicken and drink some blood from the body and then when he tossed it back down she could see the heart still beating because the feathers were off of its chest and so she had a full view. The guy standing next to me explained that it is hereditary for who gets possessed and does certain festivals. This man has another job but he has to do these festivals because his dad did it and it was passed to him. He has been doing it since he was 14. He also gets fed this barley-esque type food, tender coconut juice and liquor. He can eat as many chickens as he wants until he is satisfied. Once he is satisfied the highway that the temple is next to will not have as many accidents. I think there might be another reason for the festival but I am not sure as the highwasy being safer was the only answer I got. It was a crazy sight to see for sure!
Yesterday was out-of-control and today class seemed a little dull in comparision to watching someone eat a live chicken. I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies today. I gave up packaged cookies for lent and so I havent had any cookies in a long time because I hadn't gottan around to cooking any in a while. So I threw some common cookie ingredients into a bowl and mixed them together and threw them on the frying pan...only one house I've been in so far has had an oven...and started making some delicious cookies. After one batch I decided I needed something more. I chopped up a green chili pepper and put half of it in-half a pepper/8 cookies about. I was slightly scared to try them but I did and they were amazing!! I never ever saw that one coming but they were so good and now I want to go home and make them for everybody! Yum :)
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