Well, it’s been ages since I updated this thing and there have been several news worthy events that deserve to be written about. Firstly is the marriage of my host sister, Ramneet (Neetu).
To summaries past events; Neetu met her husband in early December in an arranged situation. The majority of Indian weddings remain arranged by family members or friends, though now the couple has more say in the matter. Some second-cousins-nephews-wife’s-brothers-sister-in-law, (or whatever) of the bride-to-be happens to be married to or know someone who also happens to know the groom-to-be and the two of them put their heads together and decide if they thing the two would make a ‘good match’. Then the parents of both the bride and groom are contacted and if they agree that it could potentially work out then pictures and basic information are exchanged for the young man and woman to see and determine for themselves if they want to actually meet the other person. If so, then a meeting is arranged and the families of the two people meet and talk and the girl and boy get sent off to a semi-privet place where they can try to get to know each other in a few minutes. After talking for a while, they return to their respective sides and everyone breaks into little groups to discus and gossip and then a decision is made, whether or not to continue on or not and if so, then arrangements are made. This is all according to my observation of Neetu’s engagement but, I’m sure that this sort of thing varies greatly depending on the families involved, the religion, and the region in which it takes place.
The wedding and surrounding ceremonies were simply amazing. The first ceremony/party was the Shagun that happened on the 7th of February. This was the one event fully hosted by the groom’s family and it took place at a small, but quite fancy privet party hall. IT was a relatively small gathering of close family members from both parties, yet there were still well over 100 people there. Our side came bearing MANY gifts and my host parents actually gifted all members of both party’s new suits men and woman’s). The dowry, including large amounts of money, clothing, furniture and sweet boxes for everyone, was given and everyone ate and danced. I left early with my host sister Harmeet (Meetu) and several other cousins and such, so we could go home and get our henna done with Neetu (brides do not attend their Shagun). Sometime later, all of the masi’s and uncles arrived and the party continued at home, until well into the morning.
The next day, everyone dragged themselves out of bed and started getting ready for the reception party in the evening. The party was held at a very large privet party hall and there were over 500 guests. Neetu had to stay in ‘The Brides Room’ until after Harshdeep (Harsh) and his family arrived. Harsh arrived on a horse and was accompanied by a band, despite the light rain. There was a small prayer held outside and gifts of gold jewelry were given to several very close members of Harsh’s family. Before Harsh could enter the building, the brides sisters, brother, cousins, aunts, and whoever else pleased, blocked off the entrance with ribbon and refused to let Harsh pass before he paid them. This part was quite fun and there was lots of friendly pushing, shoving and bargaining, before Harsh finally got through. Once Harsh was situated on his (for lack of a better word) throne, Neetu entered the hall and there was a small precession to where she and Harsh would sit. The bride’s brothers and male cousins hold up the four corners of a canopy that the bride, followed by her sisters and close friends, walks underneath. I was lucky enough to be a part of that and walk under the canopy with Neetu and Meetu. The party went until almost 3 am, when dinner was served and everyone went home to get what sleep they could before the wedding ceremony, later that morning.
The wedding was actually rather simple, compared to the parties of the previous nights. It was held at a nearby Gurudwara and meals were served before and after the ceremony on location. There were no more than 200 or so guests and the ceremony took around an hour, I think. After the lunch was served, most guests left and family members retuned to our house to send Neetu off. Everyone said a tearful good-bye, the band played and the (overly decorated) car drove off. Neetu and Harsh honeymooned in Goa and then moved to Bangalore.
There wasn’t much time to miss Neetu before new projects came up to keep everyone busy. My family sold our house and bought another less than a week after the wedding, but I’m not sure if we will actually move while I’m still here. On top of that, I had my final exams in school and am now done, at last until this September, when I start 12th grade back in the States.
After my school finished, my family, now Mom, Dad, Jasdeep (Honey), and I, went on an amazing 10 day vacation in Kerala, South India. We took a train to Cochin (on the south western coast) and then travel by bus throughout the rest of Kerala. The train ride down was a painfully boring 47 hour ride, but the rest of the trip more than made up for my suffering.
Cochin was colonized by the Dutch and is still a very important port for the trade of South India’s various spices, teas, and coffee. Cochin is home to India’s only Synagogue, vast amounts of spices and a large population of street goats. We spent one day in Cochin and did a lot of walking because there was a state wide strike on auto rickshaws and busses. The next morning, we took an early morning bus to Munnar, one of India’s major tea growing regions. The bus ride was about 6 hours of uphill driving and hairpin turns. The best part was that the drivers were really good at their jobs, but that was a bit hard to keep in mind when they were taking hairpin turn at full speed and you looked out the window only to notice that there was no guard rail. We spent two beautiful days in Munnar and I could have stayed much longer. It was rolling hills and mountains of bright green tea bushes, flowering trees, blue skies and gorgeous sunsets. Munnar has to be one of the most idyllic places in the world.
We left Munnar in the afternoon and then it was another 4-5 hour drive up and down mountains to Thekkady. Thekkady is best known for Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve. We unfortunately were unable to go on a safari in to the reserve to see the tigers, elephants, and many other kind of wildlife, but we were able to go out on Periyar Lake and spend a lovely afternoon in the park. From Thekkady, we took one last bus to Kottayam. Kottayam is near part of the Kerala backwaters, so we took an auto to reach the nearest section of backwaters. The backwaters are fresh water waterways that are eventually connected to the Arabian Sea. We rented a houseboat for the rest of the afternoon until the following morning. The house boat was amazing! The boat was maybe 36-40 feet long, (but I’m totally guessing on that) and had a bedroom with a double bed, bathroom and shower, TV and A/C. There was also a kitchen in the back where the crew of 3 cooked our meals (so good!) and a dining table, arm chairs, and lots of lounging area in the front of the boat, where we spent most of our time. The backwaters were so serene and relaxing, despite the other house boats on the water way. In the early evening, we stopped for the night and Honey and I were allowed to swim in the warm water as the sun set. That was the highlight of the trip for me. I enjoyed the water so much that I went swimming again at dawn, when there was still some mist on the water. Unfortunately, we had to go back to Kottayam and hang around at the rain station for 4 hours until out train to Bangalore arrived.
We only stayed one whole way in Bangalore to visit Neetu and Harsh. While we were there, they celebrated their 1st month as a newly married couple. We sadly did not get much time in Bangalore with Neetu because we flew back to Delhi the afternoon after we arrived. Flying domestically in India is actually quite pleasant and everything about our flight was on time and relaxed. It was the first time my Mom and Dad had ever traveled by plane, so I was really glad that they got such a nice impression of air travel.
Now I’m back in Delhi, finding ways to spend my last month and a half. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. It’s so hard to imagine leaving India in just over 6 weeks. Part of me really wants to get back to my family and friends, but the other half would be quite happy to say here forever and keep exploring.
This is all for now, but I’ll try to update this at least once more before I leave and once more
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEARS!
Ok, it's been ages since I've updated this, but I have a pretty good excuse. My host sister, Ramneet, is going to get married in February! It's an arranged marriage and has been fixed for about a month now. Her fiances name is Harshdeep Singh and he currently lives and works in Bangalore, south India. This means that my sister will be moving to Bangalore after the wedding. I'm really going to miss her.
The preparations for an Indian wedding are very extensive and this one is happening in a very short amount of time, so everyone's very busy running around getting everything ready. There are several large parties or ceremony's that make up an Indian wedding. The Ring Ceremony (sort of like getting officially engaged in front of several hundred people and then having to take pictures with all of them) happened in the beginning of December, about a week after the match was fixed. The next major even, Shagun, doesn't happen until February 7th. That day, the brides family, minus the bride, go to the grooms family and deliver the dowry. Also that day, a close female relative of the grooms personally delivers a small amount of henna that has been blessed to the brides family. This henna is mixed in with all the henna used on the bride. Then on the 8th is the night reception/party at a big party hall (sometimes the reception is before the wedding, sometimes after, whichever is more convenient). I think that there will be about 500 plus people there. This is less then half the amount of people who attended the reception for Harmeet, Ramneets twin sister. She opted to have a larger, outside reception. That party ends sometime between 2 and 3am and then the actual wedding ceremony in a Gurudwara happens later that morning. After that the bride leaves her family and goes to live with the groom and they go off on their honeymoon a short time later. This wedding will cost somewhere around 15-16 lak (1 lak is about $2,200). The average Indian wedding costs 8-9 lak, some cost up to 1 crore ($220,000) or more!
I'm about to leave for my school trip to Goa, south India, tomorrow. It's a 6 day trip (Jan 4-10th), but about 3 for those days will be spent on train travel! I don't have anymore time to add to this, but I'll post something once I'm back!
The preparations for an Indian wedding are very extensive and this one is happening in a very short amount of time, so everyone's very busy running around getting everything ready. There are several large parties or ceremony's that make up an Indian wedding. The Ring Ceremony (sort of like getting officially engaged in front of several hundred people and then having to take pictures with all of them) happened in the beginning of December, about a week after the match was fixed. The next major even, Shagun, doesn't happen until February 7th. That day, the brides family, minus the bride, go to the grooms family and deliver the dowry. Also that day, a close female relative of the grooms personally delivers a small amount of henna that has been blessed to the brides family. This henna is mixed in with all the henna used on the bride. Then on the 8th is the night reception/party at a big party hall (sometimes the reception is before the wedding, sometimes after, whichever is more convenient). I think that there will be about 500 plus people there. This is less then half the amount of people who attended the reception for Harmeet, Ramneets twin sister. She opted to have a larger, outside reception. That party ends sometime between 2 and 3am and then the actual wedding ceremony in a Gurudwara happens later that morning. After that the bride leaves her family and goes to live with the groom and they go off on their honeymoon a short time later. This wedding will cost somewhere around 15-16 lak (1 lak is about $2,200). The average Indian wedding costs 8-9 lak, some cost up to 1 crore ($220,000) or more!
I'm about to leave for my school trip to Goa, south India, tomorrow. It's a 6 day trip (Jan 4-10th), but about 3 for those days will be spent on train travel! I don't have anymore time to add to this, but I'll post something once I'm back!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Playing catch-up
Well, once again I find myself way behind in keeping these things updated. I was originally hoping to have an updated post at least once a month, but I guess that's not going to happen. Since it's been almost 2 months since my last post this is just going to have to be an over view and not too overly detailed.
I have now been in India for over 4 months and the time just seems to be flying by faster and faster! I've also done a little bit of traveling around the area in the past months, but it's nothing compared to what I have to look forward to! In the very beginner of next year I'll be going on a trip to Goa (south western India) with my 11th grade at school. It's a 7 day trip and only costs about 5,500 rupees, which is somewhere around the $130 range at the most, so it was just too go an opportunity to pass up! Then my family is going on a 12 day trip to Kerala( just about as south as you can go in India and no end up in the ocean)after school here gets out. My school will end here in the very end of February! It's s strange to think of school being over in February, that means that I'll have about 6 full months of no school before my 12th grade will start in America, but I'm not sure if this is entirely a good thing in some ways!
About a month ago my family took a day trip to Karnal. Karnal is only a 2-3 hour car ride west of Delhi and is where my family lived before moving to Delhi. Karnal is basically a big town in a very agricultural area, known for having some of the best quality rice in India. My dads side of the family actually sort of co-owns a farm in Karnal, so we got to visit that, as well as some relatives who live in Karnal. When we were walking around the farm, we got to see a cobra, not 4 feet aways from us! It just slithered into its hole, but it was still pretty cool to see a cobra in the wild!
More recently I went on a weekend trip with my siblings and a few older cousins. We went to a Gurudwara ( Sikh temple) in Paonta, which is about a 7-8 hour (including traffic and road conditions) west and a little north of Delhi. We went because it was going to be the first Sikh gurus birthday on Monday. It was in a very beautiful area and right alongside the Yamuna river. It felt really nice to get out of the city and be in such a naturally beautiful area. There were lots of hills and forests around and the river was spectacularly clear.
It's starting to get a little cooler here and everyone has starting unpacking all there winter cloths. Indians are very funny about cool weather, they have a ridiculous amount of really heavy sweaters and coats and even several pairs of long underwear. It's a little over the top, seeing as the weather never even makes it to freezing here! I also had to buy my winter uniform for school recently. The new items include long sleeved white blouses, a gray sweater vest thing, longer socks and a navy blue blazer, which I am in no way looking forward to wearing!
I have my AFS mid stay orientation next week. It's in Baroda ( just about as far west as you can go in India, before running into Pakistan) and all of the exchange students in Delhi (about 4 of us) are taking the train to get there, so that should be about a day and a half train trip one way. I'm not really looking forward to it, but maybe I'll have something nicer to say about it after I get back from it. We'll see, but until then, this in enough for now!
I have now been in India for over 4 months and the time just seems to be flying by faster and faster! I've also done a little bit of traveling around the area in the past months, but it's nothing compared to what I have to look forward to! In the very beginner of next year I'll be going on a trip to Goa (south western India) with my 11th grade at school. It's a 7 day trip and only costs about 5,500 rupees, which is somewhere around the $130 range at the most, so it was just too go an opportunity to pass up! Then my family is going on a 12 day trip to Kerala( just about as south as you can go in India and no end up in the ocean)after school here gets out. My school will end here in the very end of February! It's s strange to think of school being over in February, that means that I'll have about 6 full months of no school before my 12th grade will start in America, but I'm not sure if this is entirely a good thing in some ways!
About a month ago my family took a day trip to Karnal. Karnal is only a 2-3 hour car ride west of Delhi and is where my family lived before moving to Delhi. Karnal is basically a big town in a very agricultural area, known for having some of the best quality rice in India. My dads side of the family actually sort of co-owns a farm in Karnal, so we got to visit that, as well as some relatives who live in Karnal. When we were walking around the farm, we got to see a cobra, not 4 feet aways from us! It just slithered into its hole, but it was still pretty cool to see a cobra in the wild!
More recently I went on a weekend trip with my siblings and a few older cousins. We went to a Gurudwara ( Sikh temple) in Paonta, which is about a 7-8 hour (including traffic and road conditions) west and a little north of Delhi. We went because it was going to be the first Sikh gurus birthday on Monday. It was in a very beautiful area and right alongside the Yamuna river. It felt really nice to get out of the city and be in such a naturally beautiful area. There were lots of hills and forests around and the river was spectacularly clear.
It's starting to get a little cooler here and everyone has starting unpacking all there winter cloths. Indians are very funny about cool weather, they have a ridiculous amount of really heavy sweaters and coats and even several pairs of long underwear. It's a little over the top, seeing as the weather never even makes it to freezing here! I also had to buy my winter uniform for school recently. The new items include long sleeved white blouses, a gray sweater vest thing, longer socks and a navy blue blazer, which I am in no way looking forward to wearing!
I have my AFS mid stay orientation next week. It's in Baroda ( just about as far west as you can go in India, before running into Pakistan) and all of the exchange students in Delhi (about 4 of us) are taking the train to get there, so that should be about a day and a half train trip one way. I'm not really looking forward to it, but maybe I'll have something nicer to say about it after I get back from it. We'll see, but until then, this in enough for now!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
another late entry
So, apparently I'm not so good with keeping to dead lines, since i was planing to write an entry at the beginning of each month, if not more frequently. But, as you can see, this one is a little late. I just realized how much has happened since I last wrote. I'm going to have to summarize like crazy to fit most of in and I'm only going to included important things.
My family went on a weekend trip to Jaipur about a month ago. i had been planing t devote a blog just to that, but i guess i never really got around to it. We took a night bus to get there and left at about midnight or so. the traffic was absolutely crazy on our way out of Delhi, it was independence day weekend, so everyone was either coming into the city, or leaving it. The bus was really cool, literally. I think that there was something wrong with the A/C or something, because it was almost sub-arctic in that bus! We arrived in Jaipur early in the morning and took an auto rickshaw to our hotel. We had the same auto and drive the whole weekend, so that was nice. i must say that 5 people in one auto for long amounts of time it a tight squeeze, but still pretty fun!
it was SO nice to get out of the city! I've never lived on a city of any time at all. I've adjusted now, for the most part, but it's still hard sometimes. i never really appreciated just being able to walk out my door and go up town, or walk across my street and be in the woods, but trust me i do now!
Jaipur in in Rajasthan, an near by state in India. it is well known for its arts and crafts and we got to spend some time at craft stores and galleries. the land is also painfully beautiful. there were lots of dense green hills and everything seemed so majestic and rugged. one of my favorite parts of the trip was the day we went to the fort and palace. both are at the top of hills and very near by to each other. there is also and extensive wall that runs along the ridge, surrounding a sort of valley that had a lake and temple at the base of it. the wall reminded me sort of a scaled down great wall of China, because of how it ran along and cut thought the hills. we took a jeep up a long and winding road to reach the fort. I'm not one for motion sickness, but our driver was crazy, the road was really steep and spiraled up and up, and i was hanging out the back of a jeep. but the view was completely worth the wooziness! from the walls of the fort, you could see all of the valley and surrounding hills. i also saw some monkeys swinging in the trees below, which was really cool! the fort contains the worlds largest cannon. it was only ever fired once, because the noise was so intense and the walls of the fort actually started to crack! after the fort we went to the palace. it was anther steep uphill drive and then walk to reach it. the people who lived there must have had legs of steel! the palace was beautiful and huge. all of the painting on the walls were original, and still as vibrant as the day they were painted on. this is because of the type of paints that were used. they were (and still are) made from plant extracts. we did some other stuff in Jaipur, including a trip to the observatory, the city palace, and this kind of permanent cultural fair thing, which was all really cool.
After we got back from Jaipur it was back to school, which leads me to the other worth mentioning event that has happened since my last entry, Teachers Day. Teachers Day is a national holiday and all the schools celebrate it. I was told, a week before it, that i had to help organize and dance in a piece for the teachers. myself, and the five other girls involved, had basically only four days to choreograph and learn the dance. it was supposed to be 'Indian classical and ballet fusion', so we just divided up the music between Indian and ballet and choreographed it in pieces like that. I was on charge of dividing the music, choreographing the ballet sections and teaching basic ballet to two other girls. I was so proud of them! ballet isn't just something you can pick up in a week, but they really did their best! in the end, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and we had a fun week of getting out of classes and rehearsing in the school basement.
Now i just have to survive the rest of this week and then i get a few days off from school, before we return for a bunch of tests in the beginning of October, we also get another short break in late October!
My family went on a weekend trip to Jaipur about a month ago. i had been planing t devote a blog just to that, but i guess i never really got around to it. We took a night bus to get there and left at about midnight or so. the traffic was absolutely crazy on our way out of Delhi, it was independence day weekend, so everyone was either coming into the city, or leaving it. The bus was really cool, literally. I think that there was something wrong with the A/C or something, because it was almost sub-arctic in that bus! We arrived in Jaipur early in the morning and took an auto rickshaw to our hotel. We had the same auto and drive the whole weekend, so that was nice. i must say that 5 people in one auto for long amounts of time it a tight squeeze, but still pretty fun!
it was SO nice to get out of the city! I've never lived on a city of any time at all. I've adjusted now, for the most part, but it's still hard sometimes. i never really appreciated just being able to walk out my door and go up town, or walk across my street and be in the woods, but trust me i do now!
Jaipur in in Rajasthan, an near by state in India. it is well known for its arts and crafts and we got to spend some time at craft stores and galleries. the land is also painfully beautiful. there were lots of dense green hills and everything seemed so majestic and rugged. one of my favorite parts of the trip was the day we went to the fort and palace. both are at the top of hills and very near by to each other. there is also and extensive wall that runs along the ridge, surrounding a sort of valley that had a lake and temple at the base of it. the wall reminded me sort of a scaled down great wall of China, because of how it ran along and cut thought the hills. we took a jeep up a long and winding road to reach the fort. I'm not one for motion sickness, but our driver was crazy, the road was really steep and spiraled up and up, and i was hanging out the back of a jeep. but the view was completely worth the wooziness! from the walls of the fort, you could see all of the valley and surrounding hills. i also saw some monkeys swinging in the trees below, which was really cool! the fort contains the worlds largest cannon. it was only ever fired once, because the noise was so intense and the walls of the fort actually started to crack! after the fort we went to the palace. it was anther steep uphill drive and then walk to reach it. the people who lived there must have had legs of steel! the palace was beautiful and huge. all of the painting on the walls were original, and still as vibrant as the day they were painted on. this is because of the type of paints that were used. they were (and still are) made from plant extracts. we did some other stuff in Jaipur, including a trip to the observatory, the city palace, and this kind of permanent cultural fair thing, which was all really cool.
After we got back from Jaipur it was back to school, which leads me to the other worth mentioning event that has happened since my last entry, Teachers Day. Teachers Day is a national holiday and all the schools celebrate it. I was told, a week before it, that i had to help organize and dance in a piece for the teachers. myself, and the five other girls involved, had basically only four days to choreograph and learn the dance. it was supposed to be 'Indian classical and ballet fusion', so we just divided up the music between Indian and ballet and choreographed it in pieces like that. I was on charge of dividing the music, choreographing the ballet sections and teaching basic ballet to two other girls. I was so proud of them! ballet isn't just something you can pick up in a week, but they really did their best! in the end, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and we had a fun week of getting out of classes and rehearsing in the school basement.
Now i just have to survive the rest of this week and then i get a few days off from school, before we return for a bunch of tests in the beginning of October, we also get another short break in late October!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
after a month and a week (or something like that)
Its been over a month since my last entry, so naturally a whole bunch of stuff has happened. The most important one it that I started school. Yay. My summer break lasted a mere 5ish weeks. the good news though, is that when I return, my summer will be 3 1/2 months!
Anyways, I attend Bal Bharti, one of the hundreds of schools in New Delhi. In India, once you get into 11th and 12th grade, you have to pick a stream, or group of subjects to take for both years. This system works for the very goal oriented people who know exactly what they want to do with their lives at the tender age of 16. I, however, have no idea what I want to do, so I find the system somewhat constraining. The amount and type of streams offed depends on the school. I was originally hoping to take Arts or Humanities, but it turns out that my school doesn't offer them, so I got to chose between Science (almost impossible, if you don't want to spend your whole year studying like a mad person), Computers (which I have absolutely no interest in) and Commerce (which was basically my only option). I was given the privilege of not completely following the stream though, because there were classes like accounts, informatics (typing strings of meaningless letters and numbers into a computer more then a decade old and hoping that you typed it in perfectly, because if you made even the slightest error (e.g. not placing a space after a parentheses) the information you wanted to pull up, say a chart, won't pull up and "ERROR" will pop up instead. I know that was a run on sentence, but who cares? Since I didn't want to take these subjects, and my family wanted me to have a low stress year, I got to replace the missing subjects with art, music, dance, and a few free periods. I'm actually quite happy with my schedule (which changes day-to-day), most of the time.
Art is kinda boring, but I know that its better then informatics, so you won't catch me complaining about it. My dance teacher is trying to teach me traditional Indian dance, but it turns out that 13 years of ballet can be a curse and a blessing. I actually really like my music class. My teacher is trying to teach me the Harmonium, and Indian version of an upright accordion. I have never done more then doodle around on a piano, so its all new for me, especially the whole play-with-your-right-hand-and-pump-the-accordion-thing-at-the-back-with-your-left. I still like it though and it's not quite as hard as I thought it would be, yet.
My three academic subjects are, Indian economics ( 1950-1990), English, and Hindi. Hindi is taught to me be two preschool teachers (my school is K-12 and has approximately 3,000 students), I get to sit one baby chairs and everything! My school is 6 days a week (yay), but for some reason I haven't actually attended school on Saturday yet. Past of this is due to the fact that I haven't been placed in a school house yet (there are 8 of them, and only one of me, so you'd think it would have happened after 3 weeks). This is important, because you wear a different uniform (yes, we wear uniforms) on Saturday, depending on your house. Normally the uniform consists of a white blouse, grey skirt, belt, grey socks, and these absolutely vile black sneakers (the boys, of course, wear gray slacks, instead of the skirt). In the winter we also wear a navy tie and blazer. On Saturdays, we are supposed to wear a white skirt and our house polo. My other reason for missing the three Saturdays so far, is that I honestly don't desire waking up at 6 on a Saturday to go to school, when my brother, who goes to a different school, doesn't.
I'm going to keep this entry mostly to school, but I feel that I should mention my trip to the Taj Mahal. I went on an AFS trip. We went on a tourist bus, which turned out to be great (even though I had been laughing at the same type of bus, they say "TOURIST" in huge white letters on the front, since I got here). The bus was really nice, which was good, because the trip took almost 5 hours one way. The Taj is absolutely stunning and 10 degrees hotter then anywhere else around. This is due to the large amounts of open space with no shade and the fact that the white marble reflects all of the suns rays right back at you, but it is totally worth the sunburned nose at the end. It you ever go, I highly recommend gratuitous amounts of sun screen and sun glasses (other wise you can't see anything because its all so white). It was so picturesque, so of course my camera had to die (I did manage to get 10 or so pictures, before it refused to turn on).
Naturally, more stuff has happened, but this will do for now.
Anyways, I attend Bal Bharti, one of the hundreds of schools in New Delhi. In India, once you get into 11th and 12th grade, you have to pick a stream, or group of subjects to take for both years. This system works for the very goal oriented people who know exactly what they want to do with their lives at the tender age of 16. I, however, have no idea what I want to do, so I find the system somewhat constraining. The amount and type of streams offed depends on the school. I was originally hoping to take Arts or Humanities, but it turns out that my school doesn't offer them, so I got to chose between Science (almost impossible, if you don't want to spend your whole year studying like a mad person), Computers (which I have absolutely no interest in) and Commerce (which was basically my only option). I was given the privilege of not completely following the stream though, because there were classes like accounts, informatics (typing strings of meaningless letters and numbers into a computer more then a decade old and hoping that you typed it in perfectly, because if you made even the slightest error (e.g. not placing a space after a parentheses) the information you wanted to pull up, say a chart, won't pull up and "ERROR" will pop up instead. I know that was a run on sentence, but who cares? Since I didn't want to take these subjects, and my family wanted me to have a low stress year, I got to replace the missing subjects with art, music, dance, and a few free periods. I'm actually quite happy with my schedule (which changes day-to-day), most of the time.
Art is kinda boring, but I know that its better then informatics, so you won't catch me complaining about it. My dance teacher is trying to teach me traditional Indian dance, but it turns out that 13 years of ballet can be a curse and a blessing. I actually really like my music class. My teacher is trying to teach me the Harmonium, and Indian version of an upright accordion. I have never done more then doodle around on a piano, so its all new for me, especially the whole play-with-your-right-hand-and-pump-the-accordion-thing-at-the-back-with-your-left. I still like it though and it's not quite as hard as I thought it would be, yet.
My three academic subjects are, Indian economics ( 1950-1990), English, and Hindi. Hindi is taught to me be two preschool teachers (my school is K-12 and has approximately 3,000 students), I get to sit one baby chairs and everything! My school is 6 days a week (yay), but for some reason I haven't actually attended school on Saturday yet. Past of this is due to the fact that I haven't been placed in a school house yet (there are 8 of them, and only one of me, so you'd think it would have happened after 3 weeks). This is important, because you wear a different uniform (yes, we wear uniforms) on Saturday, depending on your house. Normally the uniform consists of a white blouse, grey skirt, belt, grey socks, and these absolutely vile black sneakers (the boys, of course, wear gray slacks, instead of the skirt). In the winter we also wear a navy tie and blazer. On Saturdays, we are supposed to wear a white skirt and our house polo. My other reason for missing the three Saturdays so far, is that I honestly don't desire waking up at 6 on a Saturday to go to school, when my brother, who goes to a different school, doesn't.
I'm going to keep this entry mostly to school, but I feel that I should mention my trip to the Taj Mahal. I went on an AFS trip. We went on a tourist bus, which turned out to be great (even though I had been laughing at the same type of bus, they say "TOURIST" in huge white letters on the front, since I got here). The bus was really nice, which was good, because the trip took almost 5 hours one way. The Taj is absolutely stunning and 10 degrees hotter then anywhere else around. This is due to the large amounts of open space with no shade and the fact that the white marble reflects all of the suns rays right back at you, but it is totally worth the sunburned nose at the end. It you ever go, I highly recommend gratuitous amounts of sun screen and sun glasses (other wise you can't see anything because its all so white). It was so picturesque, so of course my camera had to die (I did manage to get 10 or so pictures, before it refused to turn on).
Naturally, more stuff has happened, but this will do for now.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
i think its been a week...
I've arrived!
Orientation in New York was kinda dull. There were only two of us going to India from America, as far as I know, so we didn't do much. We watched "inspirational" short movies, and played charades most of the time. We found out that we would be traveling alone to Heathrow and then India. Once at Heathrow, we realized that she was going to Mumbi, and I was going to New Delhi.
(Originally, we had thought that we would be going all the way to New Delhi together.
For some reason (not that I'm complaining) I got bumped up to business class on the flight to New Delhi. I got waited on and I had one of those big chairs that reclines all the way to a bed! It was really nice, but I felt kinda out of place.
It was about midnight or one something when I finally found the AFS people. It was me, a boy from Italy, and two AFS people.
The cab ride to the resort where the orientation was, was something I will never forget. The best way to understand driving in India, is to think of a video game, the kind with fast cars and no rules. It is said that if you can drive in Delhi, you can drive anywhere,and this is completely true. The average driver must maneuver around: other small cars, cabs, buses, trucks (large and small), motorcycles (sometimes with whole families on them), bicycles, auto rickshaws, rickshaws, pedestrians, the occasional horse drawn vehicle, and of course, cows. Remarkably, one gets used to this after only a few days.
Anyways, the orientation in New Delhi was cool. There were 6 of us. Three Germans (19, 22, 25), they were all in the volunteer program. There was also an Italian, 16, and a Kiwi, 17. There was supposed to be another girl (I'm the only one), from Italy, but her visa didn't come in time, so she's coming later.
There's too much to tell, so I'll have to summarize. Since arriving here, I have traveled in all modes of transportation (bus, car, cab, metro, rickshaw, auto rickshaw, foot) except for motorcycle and horse drawn something. I've taken a auto rickshaw to New Delhi (3 hours round trip) with my sister, Ramneet (Neetu). I've been to two religious ceremonies, in two different faiths, Ive been to huge markets, Gurudwaras, and tombs. I've eaten some of the best food ever, tasted Bengali sweets, and fruits and vegetables that I still don't know the names of. Had a "suit" custom made for me, and worn it to a ceremony. Planted "trees" in a small park with AFS. And a lot more I have forgotten to mention.
My family here is lovely. I have older twin sisters, Harmeet (meetu) and Ramneet (neetu). Meetu is married and lives aways from home. I also have an older brother, Jasdeep, who just got back from Montana around the time I arrived. I love it here, even though I'm still adjusting to so many things. The heat, extreme poverty, having maids, noise of the city, and the crowds of people and garbage.
This is already too long. India is something that must be experienced, not explained.
Orientation in New York was kinda dull. There were only two of us going to India from America, as far as I know, so we didn't do much. We watched "inspirational" short movies, and played charades most of the time. We found out that we would be traveling alone to Heathrow and then India. Once at Heathrow, we realized that she was going to Mumbi, and I was going to New Delhi.
(Originally, we had thought that we would be going all the way to New Delhi together.
For some reason (not that I'm complaining) I got bumped up to business class on the flight to New Delhi. I got waited on and I had one of those big chairs that reclines all the way to a bed! It was really nice, but I felt kinda out of place.
It was about midnight or one something when I finally found the AFS people. It was me, a boy from Italy, and two AFS people.
The cab ride to the resort where the orientation was, was something I will never forget. The best way to understand driving in India, is to think of a video game, the kind with fast cars and no rules. It is said that if you can drive in Delhi, you can drive anywhere,and this is completely true. The average driver must maneuver around: other small cars, cabs, buses, trucks (large and small), motorcycles (sometimes with whole families on them), bicycles, auto rickshaws, rickshaws, pedestrians, the occasional horse drawn vehicle, and of course, cows. Remarkably, one gets used to this after only a few days.
Anyways, the orientation in New Delhi was cool. There were 6 of us. Three Germans (19, 22, 25), they were all in the volunteer program. There was also an Italian, 16, and a Kiwi, 17. There was supposed to be another girl (I'm the only one), from Italy, but her visa didn't come in time, so she's coming later.
There's too much to tell, so I'll have to summarize. Since arriving here, I have traveled in all modes of transportation (bus, car, cab, metro, rickshaw, auto rickshaw, foot) except for motorcycle and horse drawn something. I've taken a auto rickshaw to New Delhi (3 hours round trip) with my sister, Ramneet (Neetu). I've been to two religious ceremonies, in two different faiths, Ive been to huge markets, Gurudwaras, and tombs. I've eaten some of the best food ever, tasted Bengali sweets, and fruits and vegetables that I still don't know the names of. Had a "suit" custom made for me, and worn it to a ceremony. Planted "trees" in a small park with AFS. And a lot more I have forgotten to mention.
My family here is lovely. I have older twin sisters, Harmeet (meetu) and Ramneet (neetu). Meetu is married and lives aways from home. I also have an older brother, Jasdeep, who just got back from Montana around the time I arrived. I love it here, even though I'm still adjusting to so many things. The heat, extreme poverty, having maids, noise of the city, and the crowds of people and garbage.
This is already too long. India is something that must be experienced, not explained.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
right.....7 month later
Its Monday and I leave Oberlin on Wednesday. My room isn't clean, the laundry isn't done, and my bags aren't packed. It's crunch time, but I don't feel it yet. I'm like that, and its really annoying. When had to send Isa home, I didn't realize how much she had meant to me and how much I'll miss her, until the bus she was on turned out of the parking lot and left, then I cried. I think its going to be like that when I leave for NY the day after tomorrow. I hope not.
I know that this is pathetic as far as posts go, but I must say it is slightly more difficult to do this with out a list of questions to answer. I probably won't update this for 2 or 3 weeks. Orientations and travel will take up the rest of this week. The next week will probably be spent meeting and getting to know my lovely family and experiencing "Delhi belly", Indian school, and culture shock. I'm also a bit of a procrastinator, as you either already know, or can probably tell by now. So it could be awhile. Thanks for bothering to read this.
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