Laughing Monks and the Golden Temple

Hello, all, sorry about the late post, I returned safely from my trip to the north and then had computer/internet trouble for a few days, so alas, the post is late.

For the first leg of our journey, we headed to Delhi for two days of siteseeing and sleeping. I skipped out on a lot of the siteseeing, but I did visit the Taj Hotel (a very fancy hotel chain in India) where I ordered a salad (that cost more than I usually spend in a week in Lucknow) and was given 1 leaf of lettuce and a sliced tomato. Very dissappointing, but it was soon forgotten when I ate the food near our (much cheaper) hotel. We stayed a little outside of the main city in an area called the Tibetan Refugee colony and I had a really wonderful time staying in a little bit quieter part of the city. I put a picture of my and woman that I met there. As you can see, the area has a lot of small roads/foot trails that meet in squares with canopies to protect from the heat. And there are a lot of Tibetan monks (they are the men wearing the red outfits).

After our short visit in Delhi, we took a 12 hour bus ride to McCleod Ganj. This small hill station was absolutely fantastic. Being in the mountains the weather was quite cool and I was even able to take a few hikes around the village area. The mountains were spectacular, and supposedly one is able to see snow-capped peaks from where we stayed, but it rained often and the mountains obscured the view. McCleod Ganj is also home to the Tibetan Government in exile and has a wonderful monastary/temple complex. I really enjoyed visiting the temple complex. There monks filled the courtyard laughing and debating issues and inside the temple, they played music and chanted. The place truely seemed full of joy and the welcoming nature of the area was increased by the fact that no spaces of the temple were off-limits to visitors. In McCleod Ganj I was able to eat even more yummy Tibetan food and I think that I have developed an addiction to momos (steamed dumplings filled with veggies). I also really enjoyed meeting and talking with the refugees from Tibet living in the area. These conversation (like many things in India) put the world into a new perspective and I was fascinated to hear about thier 1-2 month journey over the Himalayas and that many of them are seperated from their friends and family.

After 5 peaceful days in the mountains, we headed to the plains of the Punjab and visited Amritsar. Amritsar was an exciting place to visit because there we were able to eat excellent punjabi food. We also were able to stay inside the visitor complex of the Golden Temple, which is a the most famous pilgramage site for Sikhs in India. The temple is in a beautiful courtyard made of marble and inside the courtyard is a pool of water. In the middle of the pool of water is the temple. The base of the temple is made of marble and inlaid with precious stones and the upper part is gold. The site is truly amazing and especially so at night when it is lit up and reflects in the pool of water. The most unfortanate aspects of Amritsar were the heat and the fact that most people spoke Punjabi and I had a hard time communicating....

After these wonderful adventures, we headed back to Lucknow. It is wonderful to be home and I am enjoying school immensly.

Culinary Arts and Impossibilities

While I was writing my post yesterday, I just couldn't really think of anything exciting that was happening to me, so I was having trouble writing. Now I am feeling my life is more adventerous and that I could share some stories about food in Lucknow. . . .

Pizza Hut: So I ate at Pizza Hut. I haven't eaten at any other American restaurant that I can recall, but I went to Pizza Hut with a friend from Lucknow who took me there and claimed that he thought it was the best restaurant in the world. I do think the pizza was significanly better than the pizza in Pizza Huts in the States, you can get a pizza spicey and full of fun veggies (most of the veggies I can't even identify). It was expensive (for India) but good. However, as everyone knows, I'm not so big on the cheese and asked the waiter (in my funny Urdu) if there could be no cheese on the pizza. He was immediately taken aback and insisted that this was "impossible" (using the English word impossible to add stress I think to the inconcievability of the request). As I continued to insist, more and more waiters arrived at the table to find out about this strange lady who wanted a pizza that was not a real pizza. "How can a person eat pizza without the cheese, the vegetables will tumble!" Finally, they were kind enough to accomodate my strange-ness and the waiters agreed to ask the cooks if they could make a pizza without cheese. All 5 of the waiters went to the kitchen and returned less than a minute later to inform me (in English) "Madame, it is possible." When my personal spicey veggie pizza minus cheese was delivered to the table, the whole staff and some restaurant patrons arrived to watch me take my first bite and ask how it was. I must say, it was quite delicious.

In addition to my pizza foray, mangos are in season in Lucknow. This means that you can buy 1 kg of mangos for about 40 cents. Not bad, although I am eating a ton of mangos. I never knew that there were so many types of mangos, some sweeter than candy and others so juicy that you just cut a little hole and suck on them. Amazing and wonderful. When I go to the vegetable market (called Sadar Bazaar - literally translated to President Market), I visit tons of vendors and always return to my home with some combination of mangos, guava, papaya, and bananas. The only fruit I remotely miss are berries, but the fun of the other fruits seems to keep this small lack managable. The vegetables are also fantastic and I buy the vegetables I eat daily. However, most of the vegetables I am unfamiliar with and occassionally I return home with a mystery vegetable that I need to ask others how to prepare. So far, though, everything has been great. The wife of one of my fellow students also lives in my home and she is teaching me to cook Indian food as well as helping me with the language associated with cooking. Maybe by the end of the year I will be a halfway decent Indian chef?

All is well with me

Hello, I hope all is well with everyone. I am doing pretty well. I am deeply saddened by the attacks in Bombay, but Lucknow is on the other side of the country, so no immediate effects are seen here.

The rains have finally begun in Lucknow and it is raining once or twice a day, almost everyday. The great part about the rains coming is that the weather seems to have cooled considerably (although I only know the temperature when Uncle Tom emails me). With cooler weather, I am sleeping better at night and enjoying my walks in the morning more and more. The downside to the rains is that everything seems to be a little damp and it sometimes gets a little humid.

School is going well and I am continuing to slowly improve my Urdu. Next week is the school break and I am going to head up to the hills (in search of a little cooler weather, the mountains, and maybe some fancy shawls). I am going with three other girls in my program, and we should have a lot of fun. I probably won't have internet access while I am gone, so expect the next update early the following week. It should be an interesting one, with fun adventures and pictures included!

A short update on daily life

I feel as though I am finally settling into a routine in Lucknow, and it is making my adjustment to living in India easier and easier. I am still constantly amazed at how long it takes me to accomplish the smallest errand and sometimes frustrated by the fact that buying a small item (a notebook or a pair of socks) takes me an entire afternoon, but I think that my time here will be very good for my patience and I am really beginning to appreciate and find joy in the process of doing things.

In addition to falling into a routine, I am also beginning to find a few activities that I enjoy participating in and meeting people outside of the school. My daily schedule (not horribly exciting) involves me waking around 5 am and walking either in a garden or a walking path. After that, I return home, shower and breakfast. I then go to classes at school from about 9 am until 1 pm. At 1 pm we eat (a very large, delicious, vegetarian) lunch, and then I study (either at school or home) until about 5. After that I make dinner, visit with some friends, and head to bed between 9 pm and 10 pm. I am really enjoying the morning times, especially the walks. The weather is a little cooler and the city a little quieter. This weekend, I am going to visit a few yoga studios to see it any seem like a place I'd like to practice yoga in the mornings. I tried to join a gym, but found that exercise in India is thought of differently than exercise in the United States and decided not to join. The biggest difference is that at the gyms in India, one is NOT ALLOWED to run for more than 5 minutes, because running for more than 5 minutes is considered detrimental to one's health. Its a little too hot to run outside and I have not seen any woman running in Lucknow, so as of now, I am sticking with the fast walks and hoping the yoga works out.

On the weekends, I am taking a little bit more time to explore the city (I've put some pictures I've taken around Lucknow in the blog). Lucknow has many historic areas (that I've read a lot about with my research) and I am really enjoying the site-seeing. There are also a few wonderful bazaars that I enjoy visiting. One is near my home and sells many vegetables and fruits. Another is a little farther and has many fine cloth stalls. It is amazing, but I have had a tailors make me a few very nice outfits for about $3 per outfit (pants, long shirt, and scarf). When I am tired of bargaining or the heat, I head to the mall. Its a little pricey, but it has a movie theater that is very comfortable. I've gone to see 2 Bollywood films - I think they must be good language practice and its a fun and relaxing break in the day. I have also had the opportunity to hear some live music and enjoy the cultural happenings of the city. Qawaali, the devotional music of the Sufis, is a type of music that really enjoy and that is performed in Urdu around Lucknow quite a bit.

classes, dal, and the eternal persuit of the perfect roti

It is amazing how one's environment can change so radically, yet their level of work remain the same. Classes began yesterday and I already have enough work to keep me busy all night and all day (its like I never left my apartment in Ann Arbor if you just think about books and dictonaries.) There is relatively easy access to the internet, so my usual procrastination techniques are also available. There is also a mall relatively close to my school, and I have been there quite a bit lately. This is mostly because the mall is air conditioned and I can buy clothes without having to bargain. I enjoy bargaining, but no matter what, you are told after that you paid too much (kinda like buying a new car) and sometimes, especially after 5 hours at school, bargaining is a little overwhelming and taxing on the soul. The mall also has a cafe and there you can get as close to a cup of coffee as I have found in India. I am currently on the (not very fruitful) search for a french press, if I find that (keep your fingers crossed), then I get to start looking for coffee beans. It is funny how much I enjoy coffee and how coffee powder just doesn't seem to be doing the job.

Classes are pretty good and I think I am getting better at understanding Urdu and speaking Urdu, although I still have a long way to go. Free time has been quite enjoyable, too, and I have done some very interesting things. Most of these interesting things revolve around shopping for clothes, but I hope that I now have enough conservative Indian outfits to last the summer and can take a break from clothing buying. The clothes are amazingly important on how people talk to you and react to you. Yesterday, I wore a long skirt that I brought from America. I guess it looks a little bit like a sari petticoat, and two different women stopped me and asked me (basically) why I was outside in my underwear. :)

On Sunday, two friends and I went to an older part of Lucknow and looked around the bazaar. It was beatiful, with vendors selling many wonderful items, narrow streets, unique homes, and nice people. While we were there, the monsoon rains (finally) came and we got very wet riding on the bicycle rickshaw back to the house. The rains have cooled the weather a little and everyone seems to be in a carefree mood.

I miss you all a lot and think about you often. The next time it doesn't rain, I am going to bring my computer to school to post my pictures, so keep an eye out.

Finally in Lucknow!

I am sitting in my room in Lucknow, eating the breakfast that my auntie-ji just brought to my room. I arrived in Lucknow on Monday, on Tuesday arranged to begin living in my room, and made the move on Wednesday. The family I am living with is very friendly and very patient with my painfully small amount of Urdu and my (probably constant) rude manners as I struggle to remember all the little things that indicate that I am a polite person. It is hard to remember everything, especially when I am constantly struggling to put together a rudimentary sentence. I am finding these beginning moments in my language immersion process to be challenging and fun.

Regarding my living situation, I live very near to my school and only have a minute walk to classes in the morning. I think that five family members, in addition to myself, live in the house. I live in the room on the second floor. My room is very nice and comfortable. One wall is windows – this gives me the option of opening the windows and using the ceiling fan or turning on the AC. Yesterday it seemed quite hot and I used the AC. I am looking forward to the beginning of the monsoon, when the weather breaks a little and the rains and winds come. The windows in my room open to my veranda and look out onto the street. In the morning, I eat breakfast alone in my room, look out onto the garden, and watch people on the street. In the evening, I eat dinner with my auntie-ji. I am looking forward to the time when my conversational Urdu has improved to the point where our dinner conversation is not punctuated by long silences and confused stares. The food here, as at the school, is very good. I am happy here.

Since my arrival in Lucknow, I have spent time quite a bit of time at my school, but classes have not officially begun yet – they will begin today. HOORAY! I have explored some of the shopping areas of Lucknow, but I have yet to see the historic monuments. The city seems delightful.

Before I came to Lucknow, I was in Delhi. I had a wonderful first visit Delhi - despite the heat and smog. My friend and I went shopping and purchased some salwar-kameez – the pajama pants, long shirt, and scarf worn by many Indian women. These clothes are much cooler in the heat than any of the clothing that I brought and I am wearing them almost exclusively. We also went to quite a few historic monuments including Raj Ghat, the place where Mohatma Gandhi was cremated following his assassination, and the Lotus Temple, a Baha’i temple shaped like a lotus. We also visited Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, it was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the mid 17th century. While we were at the Jama Masjid we climbed the minaret and we rewarded with a fantastic view of the city and of the Red Fort. The pictures in this entry are of me on the steps of the masjid and of the view of the Red Fort from the minaret. We also visited the Red Fort, also built by Shah Jahan, it was very impressive with a beautiful garden and intricate detailed buildings.

Well, I guess I should start this

In less than a week I am heading to India to stay for about a year. While I am there, I am going to study Urdu and (hopefully) attain a pretty good level of fluency by the end. Currently my Urdu could be confused with the unintelligible sounds an infant makes when hungry, so this is a necessary and exciting excursion, as well as an execllent opportunity. I am looking forward to crazy adventures, new friends, and challenging happenings. Today, however, I am a little bummed to be saying goodbye for a year to so many people that I adore.....