A morning bike ride

So most mornings, I go for a run and then to yoga. But some mornings I go for a bike ride instead of the run. Because it is so hot here in general and heats up so quickly once the sun rises, I usually leave around sunrise for these activities (around 5 am). Last Friday, I went on a bike ride with my camera so that I could take a picture of a sign that I had seen on an earlier ride. I left earlier than normal, because the trip was pretty long and the crowded roads and strong, hot sun make the ride unpleasant if I leave too late. . .

The way out of Lucknow is beautiful, with fields and trees and before dawn everything is quiet. On my way, around the earliest part of dawn I came across a striking scene of the moon over the trees. The picture below doesn't do the peacefulness or the beauty of the ride justice, but I thought I'd put it in anyway, to give a hint at what I saw.....

Finally, I arrived at the sign I wanted to take a picture of (see below). It says (in Hindi) Panchayat Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is the state that I live in. A panchayat is political system which groups five ("panch") villages. Each village has appointed tasks and responsibilities, such as cart-making or basket-weaving. The central village, usually the largest of the Panchayat, traditionally handles food storage and meeting-places for officials, as well as their residences. ‘Panchayat’ literally means assembly (yat) of five (panch) wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the village community. Traditionally, these assemblies settle disputes between individuals and villages. I really am not sure what the picture has to do with this form of political organization of the town in particular, but I thought the picture was quite funny.

The ride out and back is a nice one. I live close to the edge of Lucknow, and early in the morning there are very few people, maybe a truck or two, and no cars. However, the journey was not without its dangers. When I arrived at the wall were the painting was, I squatted on the side of the road to take pictures. As I tried in the dawn's poor light to get a good view, I kept feeling twigs hitting me on the head. Assuming that the wind was knocking these twigs off the tree, I kept photographing and did not look up. Finally, after getting pretty squarely knocked on the head, I looked up. In the tree were quite a few monkeys (including a lot of baby monkeys) throwing twigs at me, laughing, and staring with interest. They were also playing around my bike. I have a sort of love/fear of the monkey (I love the idea of monkeys hanging around but do not like them too close or eating my cookies). I decided to leave while the leaving was good - i.e. while most were still in the tree and not on the bike - and headed back to town. Below is a picture of a monkey scurrying away from my bike (isn't my bike beautiful? I think it was made 80 years ago in China and it weighs almost as much as me, but its a fun way to get around , has a lovely basket, and I feel pretty attached to it....)


On the way back to Lucknow, the roads fill up with men who ride their bikes into work in the city. This line of bicyclists - usually 2-4 people deep, consistently fill the road all the way into the city. I can't help but think it must be a rough ride home on their way back from work, as even after nightfall the temperatures at night are hot (in the mid to high 90s). The fields of many shades of green are colored with the blues, oranges, reds, purples, and yellows of women's saris and the rivers also fill up with dhobi walay (washers) washing clothes (see picture below).

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone is having a happy day! Here, we celebrated a non-traditional Easter lunch. I made vegan brownies, refried beans (with pinto beans), and vegan carrot walnut muffins. Two housemates helped me cook and another made a delicious salsa. We rounded out our very healthy meal with some Easter candy a housemate's parents sent. Afterwards, the power went off and we sat in the kitchen, sweat up a storm, wished for the fans to work, and played a game. It was an enjoyable afternoon, but now the power is back and I am off to work!

An article about the state I live in and its up-coming elections

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6528675.stm

Some thoughts.... (and sadly, no pictures)

As the program is winding down and the summer is setting in, I am feeling nostalgic for home yet super reluctant to leave India. As the temperatures exceed 100 degrees everyday now and the general weather condition is haze (from the burning of the garbage and leaves that fall in the spring, not the winter), I sometimes question my sanity in not wanting to leave. Yet, I really do enjoy being here, I love the friends that I've made and enjoy speaking, listening to, and writing Urdu.

Regarding the language learning, I am feeling super self-conscious right now about my ability to communicate. I wish that I was better at the language. But I need to remind myself that I have made improvements over the past year and developed a real love for the language (and for language learning in general) that will sustain my Urdu learning when I am not here....

I think that language learning has also been good for me as I grow as a person. One way is that I've become much more comfortable with ambiguity. For example, I was speaking on the telephone with a friend about our day's plans and my visit to his home. For me, phone's are much harder than in-person conversations to understand - maybe its the lack of visual clues or maybe its because people don't have an immediate reminder of my "foreign-ness" and forget to speak slower. As we made the plans, I knew that I was definitely either eating or not eating with his family, but I was unsure of which. Instead of going over the plan for a 5th time, I decided to grab a granola bar and head out the door. If food came, then that would be ideal (his wife is a great cook), if no food, then I would not starve. Luckily, this time food came!

The other thing it has helped with is coming to terms with not being able to speak my thoughts clearly and, therefore, sounding like a dunce often. Its hard to discuss ideologies and vague concepts when your vocabulary is not so developed and strange to have big ideas in my head that I can't communicate. The thing I find most frustrating about this is that your ability to communicate is often used by others as the main indicator intelligence. So, one day I was in class and my teacher was telling a story about Indian politics and stopped to ask me, in particular, if I knew who Indira Gandhi was. Now, I understand that many of you probably don't know who she is (but she was India's 5th and 8th prime minister and a huge force in Indian politics), but I don't imagine that any one working on a ph.d. in Indian history and anthropology doesn't now a lot about her - it would kinda be like an American historian not knowing who Nixon was. At the time I was concerned that he would think that I would not know who she was, irritated, and embarrassed by the fact that he had singled me out. For me, learning to positively use these situations, to feel less enraged or ashamed, and trying to use them as another gateway to learning the language, has helped me think about a lot of things - and is a project I am still working on.

Ok, I do have more reflections, but I imagine that the may not be the most interesting and, also, I am completely drenched in sweat - its 9 am and already hot. This is made worse by the fact that to type, I can't sit directly under the fan (the computer has a short power cord) and I have to have the computer on my lap and the computer generates a ton of heat. So I am going to move the computer from my lap, sit directly under the fan, and do some Urdu paper writing!