Hello, hope all is well. Sorry, again, for the delayed writing. I've been on vacation and blissfully reading books and walking in mountains and ignoring modern things such as computers. Well, this is not really true. Since leaving for vacation, I have had my first hot shower since arriving in India and watched my first bit of T.V. (both amenities provided by the hotels I've stayed at). And I have come to the conclusion that I really like hot showers. A lot.
I first went up into the Himalayas and visited a hill station called Mussoorie. There, I stayed in a hotel that was once a home to a British colonial official. Because it is currently the off season (i.e. it rains very hard all the time), the hotel was quite affordable and very beautiful. One wall was made of windows that looked down into a valley. The windows were great, except they allowed a perfect entrance for the monkeys that decided that they liked to break into my hotel room. It seems like the monkeys would begin their day by running and playing on the tin roof of my hotel room. The men at the hotel would shoot at the monkeys and the monkeys would hide until I left for a walk or cup of coffee and then they would open closed windows and eat any food they found in my room. Thankfully, the hotel management were good enough to chase the monkeys out for me, as I am a little intimidated by them.
After spending some peaceful and fun-filled monkey days in Mussoorie, I headed to Rishikesh, which is Mecca to the hippies in the world, the place where the Beatles hung out with their guru, and near the beginning of the Ganga. My main reason for going was that I hoped there would be tofu there - and I was not disappointed. The River was beautiful and split the city in half. In order to get from one side of the river to the other, one needed to cross a footbridge. The bridge was fun, crowded, and afforded good views of the mountains and the fast moving river. It was also always full of monkeys. Before I had traveled to Rishikesh, a friend of mine told me that she had been mugged by the monkeys (they stole her grilled corn - a delicious food cooked on a fire and flavored with lime and spices, it is sold on every street in northern India right now and I think I am addicted). Thanks to her warning, I kept my food safely hidden when crossing the river and managed to avoid further monkey contact.
Now I am in Delhi, where they have supposedly have monkey problems
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4623890.stm
but I have only seen a few monkeys, always near the train station. I wonder if they ride the trains?
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Fancy Hands and Last Days
Today *sob* is the last day of the summer language program and I am very sad that all of the wonderful people that I met this summer are returning to the States and leaving me....
Today, I am also leaving Lucknow and heading to Delhi. I'll stop there for a day or two and then head to the mountains in a valient attempt to escape the heat and find some quiet. I amvery excited.
Yesterday, my roommate (who is wonderful but is leaving *sob*) and I went to Hazrat Ganj (a shopping district in Lucknow) and got mendi. I took a picture and put it here for you to see. The man who did it was extremely fast and drew the designs in henna on my hands with a tool that looked like a cake decorator. Getting mendi on both hands cost less than a dollar. Amazing.
Afterwards, I couldn't touch anything for 5 hours. I didn't know about the extremely long waiting period after the design and thought it would only be an hour. This misunderstanding caused a little confusion, as I got the mendi just before dinner (which is at 8:30pm) and was quite hungry. My host-mom, being the nicest woman ever, actually fed my roommate and I dinner. We then sat and chatted until it was time to rub the henna off our hands. A very fun night.
Today, I am also leaving Lucknow and heading to Delhi. I'll stop there for a day or two and then head to the mountains in a valient attempt to escape the heat and find some quiet. I amvery excited.
Yesterday, my roommate (who is wonderful but is leaving *sob*) and I went to Hazrat Ganj (a shopping district in Lucknow) and got mendi. I took a picture and put it here for you to see. The man who did it was extremely fast and drew the designs in henna on my hands with a tool that looked like a cake decorator. Getting mendi on both hands cost less than a dollar. Amazing.
Afterwards, I couldn't touch anything for 5 hours. I didn't know about the extremely long waiting period after the design and thought it would only be an hour. This misunderstanding caused a little confusion, as I got the mendi just before dinner (which is at 8:30pm) and was quite hungry. My host-mom, being the nicest woman ever, actually fed my roommate and I dinner. We then sat and chatted until it was time to rub the henna off our hands. A very fun night.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Long time, no me
Hello, everyone, sorry that it has been so long since the last update. I had a little sickness, but not to worry, I am rapidly improving (due mostly to the attentive and patient care of my host family and the assortment of vitamins and delicious foods they regularly bring and, actually, I think I am becoming spoiled from all the attention). I’m now back to classes and looking forward to trying to make vegan muffins in a toaster oven this weekend – there are no ovens in India (or clothes dryers) – so wish me luck!
I haven’t done much of anything since I was ill, but the Saturday before last, I was able to visit a tomb of a Sufi saint just outside of the city limits of Lucknow. The saint’s name was Syed Haji Waris Ali Shah, and the shrine is called the Deva Sharif. The experience was fantastic. When we arrived, we had to walk down a crowded bazaar street to reach the shrine. Once inside the gate to the shrine, the space opened up and the crowds lessened. The contrast between the very crowded and noisy street and the calm of the shrine was very dramatic. The gate surrounds courtyard and in the center is a building in which the Sufi prophet was buried. Sufism is a branch of Islam that focuses on mystical methods of approaching God. Before the door of the shrine qawwali singers were sitting in front of the entrance. [As a side note, I have really come to appreciate qawwali music, the devotional music of Sufis, since I’ve come to Lucknow. At school, we’ve had two different qawwali groups visit and at the shrine in the graveyard near my house has qawwali every Thursday evening, an event I really enjoy attending, despite its slightly different setting. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is perhaps the most famous qawwali singer ever. This is a link if you’d like to hear/see what his music sounds like http://nusrat.info/category/videos/.] At the shrine, we were able to listen to qawwali both inside and outside of the tomb area and were given flower petals to toss on the gravesite. Outside of the shrine, a gentleman associated with the shrine told us the story of the saint, who traveled during the 19th century throughout India and Europe preaching about peace and teaching about the love of God. After this lecture, we were able to meet the head of the shrine. He gave us sweets and told us that the saint had ordered these sweets (i.e. that a devotee had brought them to the shrine) and they were unsure what event these sweets were for, but once we had arrived, they knew immediately that they were for us. This story made us feel like honored guests. The sweets were good, in the very sugary way that Indian treats are. When we were preparing to leave, the head of the shrine also gave us pra
yer clothes scented strongly with incense. The one I received is brown with gold-colored fringe. He said they would help bring us clarity if we prayed with the cloth over our heads and that if we asked God a question, the first thought that came to our minds would be the answer. Overall, the experience was enchanting and worth the 25 kilometer trip down the bumpy roads to get there (interestingly, the trip took over an hour - I guess cars don't go that fast here, although they seem to be fast when I am in them) . I’ve put a picture of my roommate and I in front of the shrine. As you can see, the shrine is quite beautiful and beautifully painted and maintained.
Next week, the summer part of the program ends (I can’t believe how time passes! it seems like its been forever and just a day). All of the students that I’ve met over the summer are leaving Lucknow, so I’ll miss the friends I’ve made. I am looking forward to the short break between the summer and year-long session, I hope to catch up on some sleep and reading as well as maybe see the mountains again. I’ll keep you updated (hopefully more frequently) on the adventure...
I haven’t done much of anything since I was ill, but the Saturday before last, I was able to visit a tomb of a Sufi saint just outside of the city limits of Lucknow. The saint’s name was Syed Haji Waris Ali Shah, and the shrine is called the Deva Sharif. The experience was fantastic. When we arrived, we had to walk down a crowded bazaar street to reach the shrine. Once inside the gate to the shrine, the space opened up and the crowds lessened. The contrast between the very crowded and noisy street and the calm of the shrine was very dramatic. The gate surrounds courtyard and in the center is a building in which the Sufi prophet was buried. Sufism is a branch of Islam that focuses on mystical methods of approaching God. Before the door of the shrine qawwali singers were sitting in front of the entrance. [As a side note, I have really come to appreciate qawwali music, the devotional music of Sufis, since I’ve come to Lucknow. At school, we’ve had two different qawwali groups visit and at the shrine in the graveyard near my house has qawwali every Thursday evening, an event I really enjoy attending, despite its slightly different setting. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is perhaps the most famous qawwali singer ever. This is a link if you’d like to hear/see what his music sounds like http://nusrat.info/category/videos/.] At the shrine, we were able to listen to qawwali both inside and outside of the tomb area and were given flower petals to toss on the gravesite. Outside of the shrine, a gentleman associated with the shrine told us the story of the saint, who traveled during the 19th century throughout India and Europe preaching about peace and teaching about the love of God. After this lecture, we were able to meet the head of the shrine. He gave us sweets and told us that the saint had ordered these sweets (i.e. that a devotee had brought them to the shrine) and they were unsure what event these sweets were for, but once we had arrived, they knew immediately that they were for us. This story made us feel like honored guests. The sweets were good, in the very sugary way that Indian treats are. When we were preparing to leave, the head of the shrine also gave us pra
yer clothes scented strongly with incense. The one I received is brown with gold-colored fringe. He said they would help bring us clarity if we prayed with the cloth over our heads and that if we asked God a question, the first thought that came to our minds would be the answer. Overall, the experience was enchanting and worth the 25 kilometer trip down the bumpy roads to get there (interestingly, the trip took over an hour - I guess cars don't go that fast here, although they seem to be fast when I am in them) . I’ve put a picture of my roommate and I in front of the shrine. As you can see, the shrine is quite beautiful and beautifully painted and maintained.Next week, the summer part of the program ends (I can’t believe how time passes! it seems like its been forever and just a day). All of the students that I’ve met over the summer are leaving Lucknow, so I’ll miss the friends I’ve made. I am looking forward to the short break between the summer and year-long session, I hope to catch up on some sleep and reading as well as maybe see the mountains again. I’ll keep you updated (hopefully more frequently) on the adventure...
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