Sally Rymer

Off I go!

2011-09-23T08:11:00.001-05:00

Just a quick, happy note to say I'm off to England. I'll write again soon after I get settled in a bit. He're we go!

Here is campus preparing for us to come:

This is going to be fun :-)

I'm back (and about to be off again)

2011-08-28T16:41:00.000-05:00

After a long absence from this space, I'm finally back again. The past few months have been a wonderful extended summer and it's finally beginning to feel like it's drawing to a close.

After graduation, I spend two months in continental Europe. For the first month, I stayed with my room mate from MUWCI who is from Sweden. We relaxed, cooked, had plenty of long breakfasts (and midnight snacks), travelled a bit, and generally enjoyed some peace after all the stress of IB testing. Our Swiss friend met us in Sweden and then we all headed off together for The Netherlands where we stayed in the lovely town of Delft. From there, we went to Berlin, where we met up with a Malaysian friend who joined us for the rest of the trip. Our next stop was Basil, Switzerland for a night on our way to Taize, France. Then, we spent a few days camping in Dijon, France before heading down to Italy to stay with a close friend from school (and eat way too much amazing food). Our last stop was a small village near Bern, Switzerland where we stayed with our Swiss friend's family. Quite an adventure, I'd say!

After all those travels, I was ready to stay put for while. I've now been back in the US for about a month and a half. Here, I'm staying with my parents and working in a local coffee shop in the wee hours of the morning. Other than working, I've been catching up with old friends and getting ready for University (read: buying a lot of stuff). Most of those preparations are finished by now, and I'm feeling fairly ready for school to start.

One of the things I'm most excited for is to be part of a learning community again. I've done plenty of reading this summer, so it's not that I haven't been learning, but I miss being surrounded by a community of other people who are also interested in learning about similar things. I miss writing, too. I'm beginning to recognize this reoccurring summer-time feeling. It makes me think that I might forever more be at least a part-time student.... I'm also excited to settle into a place for longer than a few months. That, and being done with these early mornings! I have my schedule and it looks wonderful. I have class on Tuesday and Thursday 10am-4pm plus a couple of tutorials. I'm trying to fit in a Gender Studies class on top of my Social Work courses, but other than that how I use the rest of my time is up to me. I love being a student :-)

Between now and Uni is a 10 day trip to San Francisco to visit my sis. 10 days in San Francisco with your twenty year old sister: how could that not be a fantastic time? I haven't seen her since our early-March meetup in Brighton, so it'll be fantastic to have a non-skype conversation with her again (loads of them actually!).

How to wander

2011-05-14T04:33:00.001-05:00

The other day a friend was asking me about my University plans. I told her that I'm going to study social work in the UK. She looked at me with confusion on her face and asked, "Wait, do you live in the US or in England?" I opened my mouth to answer, but then found that I wasn't sure what to say. I finally shrugged and said, "I'm not really sure..." At this point, saying I live in the US is a bit of a stretch. I've spent all of 2 months there in the past 2 years. But, it'll still be awhile before I move to the UK.

Where are you from? Where are you going? These typically aren't hard questions. But, anytime I am asked these questions, I find myself bracing for a long, complicated explanation. I have several versions, depending on who I'm talking with. Sometimes it's just, "I'm an American and I'm traveling." Other times I answer more honestly and say that I'm an American who is studying in India. If I have even more patience and time, I explain that I'm an American who grew up in several different countries, but doesn't have plans to move back to the US in the near future-- and I happen to study in India at the moment. Other times (when I'm fairly sure the person asking knows little English beyond "Name?", "Which country?", and "Very cheap, Madam"), I'll entertain myself by making something up: Ubekerstan or even Jupiter.

I've grown accustomed to this geographic ambiguity. I can deal with it quite well most the time, and I often find myself filled with joy in moments when my many roots come together (example from the other day: Me--an American--opening up a letter from a UK University which has Hindi writing on the envelope whilst listening to one roommate talk on the phone in Swedish and another in Malayalam).

Despite that, the prospect of this coming summer has me feeling rather uprooted. I'm still trying to figure out how to approach this summer. It will different from most of my past summers for a few reasons:

It's going to be really long. 4 months.
It'll be the first summer in 4 years when I'm not interning/volunteering/doing something school related.
I'll be in between two homes (India and England) and spending some time at another home (my parent's house).
I generally go somewhere and stay for most of the summer: Boston 3 years ago, DC after that, and Calcutta last summer. This time I'm wandering around Europe and the US.
When I was in Boston I was taking classes and DC and Calcutta were both internships. I won't really be doing much of anything this summer. I have 6 weeks of working in a coffee shop planned, but that's about it for planned productivity.

Generally I approach summers as a time to discover a new city, learn from whatever work I'm doing, and contribute in some way to the organizations I work with. This summer won't be like that, so I have to figure out how to mentally approach it in a different way. I need to learn how to wander.

For awhile, the prospect of a wandering summer was really freaking me out. It felt too unfocused, lacking in obvious purpose, and fightingly transient. I like homes-- making them, sharing them, even leaving them. It scares me have 4 months ahead of me in which I will have left one home and not yet established another.

Luckily, I think my attitude is changing. I realize that I may never again have this sort of freedom to meander for 4 months. I also realize that I'll be traveling with 3 incredible friends who are a huge part of my home here. I'm not sure I could deal with leaving MUWCI and them all at once.

I think I will try to look at my summer as a time to very intentionally be "in between". I want it to be a time to reflect on everything that's happened over the past two years and prepare for the next stage. But, I don't want the summer to just be a pause between two chapters in my life. It should be a distinct time of its own, filled with reflection, enjoyment, sorrow, grief, excitement, fear, and learning. I want to process everything that's changed while I've been here and think about what I want to focus on in the coming years. These past two years have flown by, and I still have a lot of thinking to do. Rarely does life give you time (4 months!) to pause, reflect, and plan.

The Beginning of the End

2011-05-05T22:55:00.000-05:00

Here on campus, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the end of the year is near. We're taking final exams, beginning to pack up our things, having loads of end-of-the-year dinners, and starting to get excited for our summer plans.

I'm a bundle of mixed feelings at the moment.

On one hand, I will be incredibly sad to leave this place. MUWCI has been a place of incredible growth, acceptance, safety, laughter, and love for me. I'll miss my friends, many of the teachers, the activities, and even some of the classes. I'll miss late evening chats over cups of tea (or lemonade in this heat), early morning sunrises, and mid-day activities. On the other hand, I know it's time to leave. I have gained so much from my time here and now it's time to move on. Re-entering the "real world" is exciting and scary. Luckily, I am really happy with my future plans.

Over the summer, I'll be traveling through Europe for 2 months with some close friends. I already have a bunch of books on my Kindle to read over the summer, and I'm working on a list of restaurants to visit. Then, I'll be working for 6 weeks in a coffee shop near my parent's house. After that I'll be off to San Francisco to visit my sister, who is doing research there this summer. Then, I'll be going to England to settle in at University of Sussex, where I'll studying Social Work for the next three years.

I was lucky enough to get to visit University of Sussex earlier this spring when I traveled in the UK over my spring break. I couldn't be more excited to embark on my next phase of life there. I adore Brighton, the city where the school is located. It's a lively, open, energetic, and quirky place. The Uni is located 4 miles from the city and is surrounded by the South Downs National Park-- an area of incredible natural beauty. I can't wait to be close to a city again and I'm very happy that I won't have to give up living in an area of natural beauty, which I've come to love about MUWCI. I'll be an hour away from London, with the rest of Europe just a train/plane ticket away. The university itself is innovative, not too big, progressive, and has a wonderful social work program. Being able to study social work intensively will be wonderful. After three years of IB, I am really, really ready to focus my studying on social work.

But, I'm not there quite yet. I still have exams, which means studying during the day, but not too much, of course. I'm soaking up all the dinners with friends, cups of tea, chats with teachers, and evenings walks that I can. I'm painfully aware that they're coming to an end very quickly. Tomorrow will be my last trip into Pune, the last time I spend a few hours in an Indian city before I leave. That idea still seems crazy to me.

I feel more whole, more myself, and more optimistic as I look towards my future than I have in a long time. Wonderful things are coming to an end, but there is so much more left to discover.

Memories

2011-04-19T04:53:00.000-05:00

Here is a set of memories caught on film. Most are nice memories, and if not nice they are at lease entertaining.

Playing with the Manvya kids

Many, many cups of tea

In the studio this summer

Lots of dishes. Always.

Fresh veggies each week from the organic farm in the valley

My second-year kitchen

Oven-closing contraption (1st year kitchen)

Bursts of Colour

Clare's birthday dinner in the tree house

Sometimes monsoon is a pain, but it's certainly beautiful

A crab climbing inside my bedroom window. Weird in so many ways.

Dr. Sues plant

Dancing Isis

A frog on the toilet.

I think I'll end with that :-)

40 things

2011-04-13T04:16:00.000-05:00

20 Things I’m excited for in University:

Internet which works properly all the time
Things in general functioning most of the time
A real kitchen!
Social work classes
New friends, professors, flat-mates, etc.
Living in a city again
Being done with Indian heat
Living in a much less sexist society
Interacting with society again (we’re really isolated here)
Soft beds
Clean feet (impossible in India--don’t bother trying)
Understanding conversations others are having around me
Public transport that I understand
Cheese
Showers that don’t electrocute you (actually, just not being electrocuted in general)
Art exhibitions, plays, concerts, etc.
Drinking being legal-- not so much so I can drink, more so that we don’t have to constantly deal with faculty-student conflicts about drinking-- but also so that I can drink (legally) :-)
A change away from the neurotic “I have to do EVERYTHING” attitude which is fairly ubiquitous here
Autumn
Shopping for my flat

20 Things I’ll miss while I’m in University:

My friends from MUWCI
Banana chips and mango juice (together, preferably)
Never worrying about what I wear
Always wearing tank-tops without ever getting cold
Amusing dis-functionality (very different from the annoying kind)
Sleeping outside
The sacredness of my first self-created home
Not having to worry about: rent and other such adult things
Incredible views of stunning natural beauty
Cool evenings spent in a hammock with a good book
Crazy cheap, incredibly fresh, local organic veggies delivered to my door every week
The creativity I’m forced to have by my less than ideal kitchen
My house and all the people who fill it
Wada Pow in Pyrungut
The Manavya kids, Ram and Banu in particular
Feeding people who normally just eat the horrible caf food
Incredible amounts for freedom
Lots and lots of sun
Amusing you-must-be-kidding-me moments almost every day (ex. Why is the gardener watering the stones?)
Fitting inordinate amounts people into vehicles

2011-03-24T09:06:00.001-05:00

Around here, there is a real sense that things are beginning to end. Friday marks our last day of classes before trial exams and review weeks begin. The heat came with a bang, reminding us that summer is coming quickly. Evenings are more lovely than ever now since they are not only a break from the day’s work, but also from the heat. Afternoons, on the other hand, have become a useless time when it’s too hot to sleep, but also too hot to do just about anything else.

There is a lot of practical stuff to be sorted out in the coming months, and plenty to think about as well. I’m beginning to mentally prepare for a few things:

Exams! It’s time to study, study, study.
Leaving. When exams are over, I will leave my school. And India. And my first out-of-my-parent’s-house home. And many of the incredible friends I’ve made here. It’ll take me awhile to figure out exactly how to wrap my mind around this ending. I don’t think I’m looking for closure. Too much has changed for me while I’ve been here for it to be a chapter of my life that neatly closes before another bit begins. So many things I’ve learned here will come with me. But, leaving is still leaving...
A very long in-between stage. Over the summer, I’ll be spending 4 months floating around, not really staying anywhere for long. That’s relatively unusual for me. I tend to go somewhere and set up home right away with an intention to stay for at least a few months. Not this summer though. I’ll be distinctly in-between, almost constantly moving. After graduation (I’m graduating?!), I plan to travel to Sweden with my roommate. A few weeks into our time there, two other friends will meet up with us and we will start a month-long trip through Europe. We’ll be making our way through: Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland. After that, I’ll be spending six weeks living in my parent’s house and working at a coffee shop. Then, I’ll travel to San Francisco to visit my sister for a few weeks. In so many ways, I’m deeply excited for this summer. I will (probably) never again have the kind of freedom to allows me to float around and explore like this. I think all the moving around will be a good way for me to think about my transition from life here to life wherever I’m going next. Speaking of that...
Deciding where to go to university. First, a little rant about the application process: I think I managed to figure out how to make applying to University as difficult as humanly possible. The key is to apply in two countries, be an American, and apply to social work courses. The two countries thing is extra work for all the obvious reasons. Being an American means filling out a ton of scholarship applications. Applying to social work means heaps of extra essays, interviews, and criminal background checks. All said and done (finally!) the application process involved: tons of research about where to apply, taking SATs and SAT subject tests, writing more than 10,000 words in essays, interviewing with 4 schools, a week-long trip to the UK, writing list of my extracurricular activities about 100 times, 70 emails in my “Uni Apps” folders, 5 recommendation letters, 5 envelopes mailed to the US, heaps of stress, and over $900 in various exam and application fees. Now that all that is done (squeal of joy) and now that I’ve been accepted to several great schools (ditto), I get to decide where to go. I’ve made lists, had conversations, done plenty of research, and now I just need to sit with it for a bit and let my decision form. I’ll keep you updated :-)

But, enough of that reflecting, planning, and conceptual stuff. For the moment, life just keeps on going. That means wonderful things like birthday parties, cups of tea, tree house dinners, and movie nights. Here is a picture of the cake I made for a recent birthday party:

It also means some less wonderful stuff like the impending trial exams, mounting levels of stress, and truly awful heat. But, even these things have positive corollaries: exams mean no classes, which means extra time to chill out (in theory, at least) and the daytime heat makes the evening cool even better.

Lots is changing, lots is ending, and plenty is just beginning. I’d say that’s a pretty good place to be.

Hello Again

2011-02-27T02:04:00.000-06:00

Eek, it's been a long time. I really don't know where the past few months have gone.

After arriving back at school after winter break, I plunged right back into the hectic madness that is my school. Winter break was not quite as productive as I would have liked it to be, so I had some catching up to do before things even started. Last week was a week full of due dates for written work, so it's wonderful to have all that stuff done. I turned in plenty of assignment, including a large research project that has been in the works since last summer and several other smaller assignments. It feels very strange knowing that there won't really be any more large papers for me to write before graduation. Strange, but great.

Next week is the week of orals. Right now, I'm sitting at my desk outside, looking down at heaps of Hamlet notes for my English Oral, Hindi vocab for my Hindi oral, and Spanish notes for that oral. Those will all happen next week, and then I'm off to the UK for university visits. So my internet browser is full of tabs with info about the places I'm visiting, tabs which are reminding me that there is still a lot of planning left for that trip. Then, there is my email inbox, which is a place I both obsess over and am terrified of since it is where University acceptance/rejection letters will soon come. In other words, there is still plenty of work to do, plenty of plans to make and things to think about.

But, despite all that work, it's hard to miss the wonderful things that surround me. Beneath all those notes on my desk is a table cloth made by the incredible women I worked with over the summer. This week, I received news that their first pieces of jewelry have gone on sale! You should have a look here; they are stunning. On the corner of my desk is a vase of flowers that Stina picked for me. Next to me is a cup of wonderful tea that I brought back with me after winter break. I also have webpages open with Spanish recipes since later tonight I'm making dinner with a Spanish friend as "research" for my Spanish oral. In other words, I'm happy and things are good.

In the Kitchen (and other updates)

2010-11-26T06:16:00.000-06:00

Since arriving back to school from Calcutta, I've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen-- for two reasons. First, I really missed it over project week. Secondly, it's Thanksgiving week! I've long loved Thanksgiving. I was particularly excited about this Thanksgiving because my last Thanksgiving was pretty awful. It was before I was very close to anyone here, and the food was nothing compared to what I was used to eating for Thanksgiving. I mostly just spent the day being homesick. So, this year celebrating Thanksgiving signified for me how far I've come in making this place my home. My relationships here have grown so much in the past year, and I was definitely able to make sure the meal was better this year than last. The food planning started early and included a four-page spread sheet. I was more than just a little excited.

I spent almost all of Thursday in the kitchen preparing for dinner. We had a TON of food, all delicious. I had a wonderful time making it and loved providing a meal for my friends. Someone took a few pictures, so I'll get those from her and upload them later. The table was a spread of many traditional dishes (sweet potato cassarole, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, etc.) and some not-so traditionally thanksgiving foods (stuffed tomatoes, pumpkin gnocchi, and a chickpea baked omelette). Many of the Americans are vegetarians, so it was also totally veg meal, which was fun.

On another note, I've been taking an online cooking class. It's being run by one of my favorite food bloggers-- Jules Clancy who writes stonesoup. Her focus is minimalist cooking; she writes about simple foods and most of her recipes have less than 5 ingredients. The simplicity of her recipes is perfect for someone like me who has limited access to ingredients or for anyone who wants to cook great food simply and quickly. She recently opened her virtual cookery school, through which people all around the world can learn more about minimalist cooking. The class I'm taking now focuses on simple dinners that involve only 5 ingredients and take 10 minutes to cook. She gives us heaps of recipes tailored to your dietary requirements along with with instructional videos and troubleshooting guides. We also get a longer video each week that focuses on a theme like how to stock your pantry, how to shop for fresh ingredients, or how to adapt recipes. She hosts two live webinars each week so that we can ask questions and a flickr group allows the members of the class to interact with each other. She also did a great class on simple Thanksgiving foods and has several new classes planned. I'd highly recommend having a look at her blog and the virtual cookery school.

That's about it for kitchen news. School is a bit crazy at the moment with only two weeks left until winter break. I'll be heading back to MO for the first time in a year, which evokes in me both excitement and a bit of anxiety. The climate change alone will be a huge shock-- I still wear tank tops here as temperatures in MO continue to plummet. The culture change and the change in my surroundings will provide me with plenty to think about. Earlier this week, I stood with my bio class in a rice field in a local village, learning about the science and economics of small-scale rice production. We talked about the difficulties of farming and particularly about the recent unseasonal rain, which has destroyed a lot of crops. Rain like this can mean the difference between having enough money to feed the kids or the family going hungry for local farmers. Two weeks from now, I'll be standing in big grocery stores where such rice is sold in shinny packages, completely detached from the farmers who grew it. I'm interested in how I will learn to bridge the immense gap between these two lives that I lead.

Calcutta, take 2

2010-11-14T11:10:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm back in Calcutta. We have a 10-day break from school, and I'm spending mine in Calcutta. I'll once again working in the jewelry studio. I can't wait to see the girls and see all the progress they've made with their jewelry. I've already gotten to spend some time with the people I worked with over the summer. I love spending time with them again and catching up on everything that has been happening.

Coming back to Calcutta also offers me some time to reflect more on my summer and attempt to reach some sort of closure with the city. When I left after summer, I was so excited to go back to school that I don't think I had a chance to really say goodbye to the city. So much changed for me while I was here. I had a summer full of intense experiences and heaps of solitary time to think about those experiences (and life in general). It was a great but difficult mixture.

Calcutta is a place of countless contradictions. It's also a place in which I came face to face with many of the contradictions inside myself.

Extreme poverty right next to extreme wealth. Loneliness and fulfillment. Ambition and apathy. Optimism and obstacles. Beauty and pain. Joy and sadness. Fascination and boredom. Confusion and clarity.

I spent much of my time this summer attempting to figure out these contradictions. I think I eventually came to the conclusion that they couldn't be "figured out" or explained. Rather, I needed to experience them, think about them, and come to terms with them. This trip will be another chance for me to do just that.

My Life Lately

2010-10-19T03:27:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. Sorry about that. But, to make it up to you, I'll add some pictures to this post :-)

First, my kitchen. I've cooked in some pretty lousy kitchens. For the first half of last year, I had to cook in our common room using a completely non-functional oven and borrowed supplies. Later, we turned our storeroom into a kitchen, I bought my own tony oven, and I brought back supplies that were given to me over winter break. Over the summer, I cooked in an equally tiny kitchen with even fewer supplies (I had to leave most of my stuff here in storage over the summer). The oven there also had a habit of shocking me (as did the shower) so I was a little afraid of it. Back at school again, my roommate and I combined our two corners into one and made the other corner into a kitchen. Although it is makeshift, it is the best ones I've had to date-- excluding my mom's, of course. One of my favorite parts of this kitchen is its huge windows that overlook a path behind my house. Every so often, I see a bunny hop by while I'm cooking.

Inside this kitchen, we have made loads of lovely things. We're fortunate enough to have an organic farm nearby that delivers fantastic veggies each week. They are beautiful and incredibly delicious. In the picture, you'll see lots of pumpkin. I've been making and plan to make a lot of pumpkin stuff lately. So far: pumpkin bagels and pumpkin gnocchi. In the plans for the next couple of weeks are: pumpkin doughnut holes, pumpkin cake, and pumpkin scones.

Every Thursday (and many other days), I make dinner with two of the other American girls on campus. Last week, we made bean burgers. When I put the beans in a bowl to soak overnight, I was struck by how pretty they were.

The inevitable result of a lovely evening...lots of dishes

Lastly: Goa. We Monday off of school this week, so I traveled with friends down to Goa-- a popular beach city just south of us. We took a sleeper bus on Friday night and arrived on Saturday morning, a little groggy but excited for our weekend. The beaches were beautiful and it was wonderful having some time to rest.

The Girl Effect

2010-09-29T02:02:00.000-05:00

Over the summer, I learned a great deal about the harsh reality faced by many girl children. Young girls are some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Many societies look at them not as children who should be cherished, but instead as bodies that can be used for a myriad of exploitive purposes. Yet, girls grow up into women who hold together the fabric of society. Girls have incredible potential to change the world. A 2003 study found that when girls and women earn an income, they reinvest 90% of that income into their families. Men, on the other hand, invest only 30-40% of their incomes into their family. I point that out not as a jab to men, but as an illustration of the impact made when we invest in girls and women.

I recently saw a short video produced by The Girl Effect about these issues. Take a look here. (Really, watch it-- it's incredible.)

Pretzals

2010-09-23T02:44:00.000-05:00

One thing I've learned over and over again here is that I can make many of the things I want. I don't have to buy them. I can make them. This realization first came when I started really missing certain foods from the US. As I explored recipes, my "I can make that list" rapidly expanded. I'm now to the point where I rarely feel like I need to buy packaged foods. It's far more fun making the foods anyway. Plus, I like feeling more connected to the things I use and eat.

My latest kitchen conquest is the perfect soft pretzels. I had some time to spare yesterday afternoon and a few friends were over, so we figured we'd give it a shot. I got the recipe here, and the only alteration I made was to boil them for a minute or two in water mixed with baking soda before baking them. This helps obtain the shiny, crisp coat on the outside while keeping them soft on the inside.

They tasted fantastic-- just like the ones you buy in mall in the US. We salted some, put cinnamon sugar on others, added cheese to a few, and even stuffed a couple with peanut butter (which we also made that afternoon). Yum!

On the note of food, a few other updates regarding my kitchen adventures:

First, my kitchen this year is much better than last year. For one, it's not in the storeroom, but instead inside the actual room. It is made up of two desks, a fridge, my tiny oven, a cabinet, and a shelf. Nothing fancy, but still highly functional. I also love that it faces a giant window :-) It has its problems, yet it is certainly an improvement.

Secondly, I'm now able to get organic veggies delivered to my door once a week from a local farm. Yay for that!

Labor Day

2010-09-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

To be honest, I didn't even realize that it was going to be Labor Day today until a couple of days ago. That's often how it works here with American holidays. Since we don't really celebrate them here, and we don't get the day off school, there is noting to remind us that they exist. But, by a series of rather unfortunate events, today ended up being my favorite Labor Day yet.

Swine flu is going around my school at the moment. It's a mild strain, and I'm fine, but as you can imagine, it has disrupted normal life a bit. Lots of classes are cancelled as are many meetings. For me, that meant only having to go to one class today. It also meant spending the day hanging out with friends. We watched loads of Gilmore Girls and cooked a wonderful dinner. We made vegetarian gyros and then apple dumplings.

For the gyros, we made pita, tzatziki sauce, and herb paneer (similar to tofu). The inspiration for the meal came from a blog post that a friend recently wrote. The finished product was incredible and consumed with great joy by all of us. We also delivered a serving to Stina (my roommate), who is in the Med with the flu.

After dinner, we ate apple dumplings covered with a crumble and ice-cream . We took Stina a serving too, which made some of the other sick students a bit jealous :-) We had leftovers, so I took them to check-in where they were consumed in about ten seconds.

Bad photo, wonderful dish

Good friends. Good food. What more can a girl ask for?

Long time

2010-08-31T22:08:00.000-05:00

I realize it's be WAY too long since I posted on here. For that, I'm sorry.

I'm back at school now and absolutely loving it. I learned a ton over the summer and had amazing experiences. But, I am also super happy to be back here at school. For one, it is a whole lot cooler. There is also fresh air and lack of constant car horns. I can't even put words to the sheer joy I felt as I was driving back up for the first time and saw all the beautiful plants and hills.

It's good to be back :-)

Refreshed

2010-08-08T12:59:00.000-05:00

Calcutta can wear you out. Between the noise, the pollution, the staring, the chaos, the daily power cuts, and all the delays, it can truly try your patience. Before coming here, I'd never really felt like my patience was about to run out, but there are days here when I feel like I might explode. On those days, I find that it is a major accomplishment to make it home without flipping off anyone who attempts to run me over :-)

On Friday, my patience was running really low. I love helping with the volunteer trip, but it is rather tiring. Plus, I get stared at enough when I'm alone, but when I'm with a whole group of white people, the staring and attempts to rip us off skyrocket. Luckily for me, on Friday night, I headed into a weekend of refreshment.

(Warning: the things that I get so excited about in this post might not make much sense to people who haven't lived in India)

It started with dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant. Paul (the other volunteer leader) and I were driven by one of the hired cars that we have for the volunteers. Being driven in one of those is totally different from driving in a cab. For one, it has AC. The windows are also closed which means less noise and pollution. Normally, I hate the ride to Park Street, but this one was quite nice. At the restaurant, I asked Paul if everything was actually what the menu said it was and became very excited when he said yes. Then, I laughed at the fact that I ask that question now. I ordered mushroom pizza and mozzarella focaccia bread. When they brought the food out, I literally sat speechless for a minute. It was real pizza!! Last time I attempted to order pizza from anywhere but Dominos, I got bread with bbq sauce and green peppers. The pizza on Friday night even had real mozzarella cheese and the focaccia had sage, two things I rarely find here.

After eating, we walked to Oxford Bookstore, a place that I love. It's a fun place with a great atmosphere and loads of wonderful books. Since I have bought way too many books here already, I headed up to the cafe and had a lemon tea while Paul shopped.

Once back at the flat, I got to talk to my sister, something I haven't done for awhile. She is in Argentina and I'm in India which makes it hard to connect. I miss her a ton and have been desperately needing some sister time.

The following day included time at a spa and dinner at a wonderful tapas restaurant. The spa time was super refreshing and very much so needed after three month in uber-polluted Calcutta. All in all, I feel revived and ready to face my last week in Calcutta!

Views

2010-08-07T23:26:00.000-05:00

The view from my window this week:

The view from my window next week:

Can't wait!

Volunteers!

2010-08-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I let so much time pass since my last post. Much has happened since I last wrote. I've had friends visit and leave, a really bad week at work, a really good week at work, and just recently our summer volunteers arrived. They are all from the US and will be spending two weeks in Calcutta, working in shelter homes.

They are a wonderful bunch of women. Each of them is enthusiastic about the work and brings her own set of skills and passions. One of the things I've most enjoyed about my time with them is the ability it has given me to see India through their eyes. Since I've been here a year, many of the incredible things about India have begun to lose their charm, and many of the awful things don't seems so awful anymore. I'll give you a few examples.

First, for the wonderful things. Several of the volunteers have made comments about how alive India is. Sometimes that liveliness translates into complete and utter chaos, but even then it gives India an authenticity that is rarely found elsewhere. They have noticed the hospitality and eagerness to help of Calcutta's citizens. Some of them have talked about the strength of the women here, something I am reminded of each day at work. Several have been struck by how economically diverse the people we interact with are. In the US, I think that we're often stuck in our own class, but as an outsider, we have access to people of many different classes and castes.

Their fresh eyes have also made me see and experience some unpleasant things that I've learned to block out by now. First, there is the begging. It broke my heart too when I first got here. But, to be honest, I think I've been hardened. I can't fall apart every time I interact with a beggar and still get anything done. I don't like the idea of having hardened, but I also realize that it just part of living here. The filth is another thing I've started to see with new eyes. At this point, I'm quite used to all the trash, pollution, and bugs (although I do still complain about them). But, compared to the cities and suburbs where most the volunteers live, these things are shocking.

I've loved seeing India through the eyes of the volunteers. But, my favorite part of working with them has to be helping them internalize and make sense of everything they are experiencing. Much of what they see is quite shocking at first, but they all have to take this trip and integrate it into their lives. That is the hard part: merging two incredibly different experiences (this trip and daily life in the US) into a more meaningful life. For as hard as it can be to live here, I find it infinitely harder to go back to the US and figure out who I am there in light of everything I've experienced here. But, unless we can take these experiences and integrate them into our lives, nothing will change for us or the survivors we're working with. It's a balance that I continuously struggle to establish, and I love helping the volunteers look for ways to strike their own balance.

So Spoiled

2010-07-16T07:38:00.000-05:00

Living at my school spoiled me in terms of exposure to natural beauty. The campus is filled with stunning plants, particularly during the rains. One of the things I have missed most from my campus while in Calcutta is nature. Although I'll miss the people here, I can't wait to get back to the beauty on campus. It makes me feel so alive. Since it is monsoon season now, everything will be extra lush. Below are a few pictures form the beginning of last school year. I don't have any Calcutta pictures for comparison, but just imagine a street filled with trash, cars, rickshaws, and lots of people. See why I'm excited to get back to school?

A valley that is about a two hour hike away

My view on the way to classes every morning

Colour!

Another hike photo

Our valley at dusk (I'll have a similar view from my window next year)

Another view of the valley

Dancing friends-- also beautiful!

Who is the boss here?

2010-07-12T14:09:00.001-05:00

Head over to my blog with The Emancipation Network to see my latest post about my work in Kolkata. Here is the link: http://www.madebysurvivors.com/content/who-boss-here.

Kitchen Blues

2010-07-10T13:15:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning to think that everything in my kitchen here was designed to annoy me. Here is a list of all the things that drive me nuts about it:

The sink that doesn't drain properly
The stove is uneven, way too small (my easy bake oven was bigger), it has no temperature gauge, but it does have a tendency to shock you anytime you put stuff in it
My pans are constantly rusting because of the humidity
The water here is so bad that I can't even boil tomatoes in it
Ants run up your feet as you wash dishes and nothing I do seems to make them go away
There is no ventilation or fan, so I'm drenched in sweat two minutes into cooking a meal

I never thought I'd say it, but I actually miss my makeshift kitchen at school. To cheer myself up, I decided to make a collage of what my ideal kitchen would look like. Here it is (if you click on it, it'll get bigger):

You'll notice not only the lovely kitchen, but also the dishes, apron, tea cups, mixing bowls, etc. Oh, and of course there is Charlie from Numb3rs there too. Why? Because he's super cute, and someone has to be there to taste-test.

A Trip to the Post Office

2010-07-02T21:42:00.003-05:00

I'm almost re-adjusted to the time difference here, but only just starting to re-adjust to the cultural differences. My recent trip to the post office is one example of such a difference.

The process of mailing a package was as follows:

Give the package to a lady standing outside the post office. She wraps it in cloth, stitches the cloth up, and seals the corners with wax.
Write the addresses on the package as well as the words "speed post". Even if you pay for speed post, it won't be sent quickly unless "speed post" is handwritten on the package.
Go and get the customs form from the man in the office. Four copies of the forms are required, but he will only give you one.
Take the filled out copy to a store a few blocks away where you can get additional copies made.
Have the lady outside the post office stitch the forms onto the package.
Go inside and wait in line. Hope that you're not there when there is a shift change, because that would mean waiting for 15 more minutes while no one is on duty (a feature built into each shift change).
Look around at the amusing signs. Notice that on the destinations board they list: USSR, Zaire, and Cape Vard. Giggle a lot. Also look at the sign which says, "Don't pay a bribe." Sigh and hope that one is not asked of you.
Get frustrated when the man in front of you wants to mail 5 letter. This will take at least 10 minutes.
Sweat, sweat, and sweat some more.
Eventually get to the front of the line and watch the man slowly type the addresses into the computer. He doesn't know how to type properly, so he pecks. He also is not very good at reading English, so he asks what things say a lot.
Rejoice! (Because you're finally done...about an hour after you started)

Off Again

2010-06-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I'm really bad a staying put in one place for very long. At the end of this week, I'll be flying back to the US for a short trip. I'm going to be in DC for a conference with the United States Institute of Peace. The trip is part of my prize for winning the overseas student category of their National Peace Essay Contest. My essay was titled:

Learning From Past Nonviolent Movements:

A Comparison of The 1945 Pare Protest and the Protests of Women of Zimbabwe Arise

I've definitely come up with better titles in the past. Actually, my sister almost always comes up with titles for me (she is really good at it), so without her I had to settle on that rather bland title. The actual essay is more interesting though. The 1945 Pare Protest, which took place in Northern Tanzania, was particularly interesting to research. It's not a protest that has been written about much at all, so most of my research came from letter between government officials which were in a University of Florida online database. Getting to work with primary documents like that was pretty interesting. Researching protests in Zimbabwe was an idea that came out of conversations I've had with the South Africans at my school about the political situation in Zimbabwe.

The conference will include components like a model-UN style simulation, loads of speakers, meetings with Senators, and tours of DC sites. Just being back in the US for a bit will be great. Plus, I really love DC as a city. My mom is flying up for the day that I get in and we'll get to spend a few hours with her. We won't be seeing each other again until December, so even just a couple of hours will be really nice. I'm going to drink good coffee, eat delicious fruit and veggies that I can't get here (berries, peaches, pears, asparagus, caesar salad, etc.), and pick up cooking supplies to bring back with me. I plan to take deep, long breaths of (comparatively) unpolluted air and enjoy every second that I find the find myself cold. I will soak in the lack of car horns and cross streets without fearing for my life.

Since I'll be spending 50+ hours in transit next week, I have gathered a few of books to keep me company. Here is my stack:

Included are: The Secret Garden, Hamlet, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Flatland, and After Virtue. Not pictured are my Hindi book and a stack of research related to my extended essay on social work self-care practices. Those books will probably also keep me company when I'm up at all the wrong times, trying to get over jet-lag. It should be one very full, interesting, and hopefully not too sleep deprived week.

Pictures of Daily Life

2010-06-15T12:56:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share some pictures that give a glimpse into what daily life is like for me here. The good, the bad, and the ugly:

I drink a lot of tea. And, I do it in style :-)

Me all dressed up for the wedding of one of the women I work with

I mostly supervise at work, but every so often, I make jewelry too.

Some of the girls in the studio

I found this candle holder in a local fair trade store. I'm a little obsessed with it at the moment. Pretty, no?

This is what doing laundry looks like for me now.

The 30 minute delivery guarantee for Domino's is withdrawn on: "Ganesh Festival, Durga Puja, and Christmas Day." Love it.

I made a French Silk Pie on a cookie base. It was really tasty.

I also had some extra filling left, so I ate it with bananas and peanut butter. That was a very good idea.

Books!

2010-06-13T09:35:00.000-05:00

Finding good English books in India can at times be though. Bestsellers are definitely available, but finding other types can be difficult. I've come to love Kindle for Mac, which lets my buy Kindle books from Amazon and read them on my Mac. Even harder to find than good books are organized, pleasant bookstores. I think most cities hold at least a few, you just have to find them. (I should qualify that statement by saying that I have really high standards when it comes to bookstores.)

I was really pleased to find Oxford Bookstore the other day. I've known that it is in Calcutta for some time, but hadn't gone yet. The bookstore is India's second oldest bookstore. It's located on Park Street, a area that houses some higher-end stores and has beautiful buildings left over from when the British were in power.

The bookstore itself is full of great books and cozy places to read. When I walked in, I immediately felt comfortable. I find that each time I move to a new place, there is a period of time that I have to spend figuring out who I am and what I like doing in that particular context. Doing so is much easier if you can find places that connect were I am now to where I've been before. All throughout my life, I spent a lot of time in libraries and bookstores. So, finding a nice one tends to make me feel more like myself again.

There is even a small cafe, which serves tons of different kinds of teas. I had a nice pot of Assam tea and will definitely be going back to try other kinds.

It's funny how much you appreciate these things when you haven't had them for awhile. When I lived in the US, I never really stopped to think of how wonderful my libraries or bookstore were. I mostly just ran in when I wanted a book, grabbed it, paid, and ran out. Here, I savor the experience so much more. I think that difference has something to do with the act of choosing. We have endless varieties of things available to choose from in the US, and thus we are much harder to please. Here, certain things are harder to find, so when found they bring much more joy. Studies have shown that more variety in products often creates lower costumer satisfaction. It makes me wonder: are all theses options really creating more satisfied people, or do they just create picky and impossible to please people? Would we be happier if we limited out options rather than expanding them? No doubt, the capacity to make basic decisions is essential. One should be able to choose how to spend their time, where to live, and who to be. But, have we gone overboard?

A Learning Curve

2010-06-05T12:46:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe it’s almost been two weeks since I arrived in Calcutta. My time here has been fascinating, fulfilling, and meaningful. I can’t wait for more.

For the next two months or so, I will continue volunteering with The Emancipation Network’s Jewelry Program. Three days a week I get to spend time at a shelter home, working with a group of incredible girls and women who are making the jewelry that will be sold by TEN. These women have some of the most heart-retching stories imaginable but also seem to have an incredible hope for the future. The other two days of the working week are spend running around the city gathering supplies and working on the development of the program. Both parts of the work are quite different from each other, and incredibly fun. My days never start before 9:30 and are almost always finished by five-- a far cry from my school schedule, which often started at 6:30 and finished when I collapsed, exhausted, into bed around 11 at night.

Having all that free time has been fantastic. Generally, after work I will either spend some time out and about, or go back to the flat where it is quieter and much, much cooler (I adore my AC). Calcutta is taking some getting used to. I’m finding my way around better now, and growing a bit more accustomed to the heat and noise. Living on my own has been a much needed break from the constant activity on campus, but I certainly do miss the fresh air and all the flowers. I love that I have a quiet area where I know that I can be alone. It has given me the quiet that I need to think deeply, examine important questions, and refresh my peace of mind.

All this extra time and space has also given me the chance to learn. I always look at summers as an opportunity to learn in a way that I can’t when learning happens in a classroom and to the specifications of an exam-centric syllabus. Through my work in the jewelry program, I’m learning things that could never be tested, but are essential nonetheless-- things like humility, listening skills, bravery, hope, empathy, acceptance, compassion, and patience. I am exploring the lived reality of my passion for fighting human trafficking. In the evenings and on weekends, I have time to explore the intellectual side of this passion. I’m reading, listening to podcasts, watching videos, and thinking. Over the school year, I’ve been collecting podcasts, reports, articles, and books that interest me deeply, but that I didn’t have time to explore because school related things had a monopoly over my time. Now I finally have the time to dive into those things. I’m exploring topics in social work, sociology, psychology, religion, food politics, philosophy, educational theory, social and economic development, social entrepreneurship, and women’s studies. Each day I become more convinced that my life must always contain a healthy balance of hands-on work and intellectual exploration. I love that at this moment I find myself climbing a learning curve that intersects both the practical and the intellectual aspects of my passions. It gives my energy, curiosity, and passion. I wake up each morning looking forward to climbing a little bit higher on that learning curve (which is more like an endless staircase, but that’s okay).

Peanut butter and exams

2010-05-13T06:07:00.001-05:00

First, a peanut butter story. About a month into my time in India, I decided to stop moaning about all the foods I missed from the US and instead attempt to recreate them over here. Over the weekend, I got ambitious and decided to attempt to make Whole-Foods-style-honey-roasted-peanut-butter. The fact that I just used seven words to describe what I was attempting to recreate rightly indicates that it was a lofty goal. Whole Foods sells this freshly ground peanut butter that I love. To make it even better, they use honey roasted peanuts. "It can't be that hard," I thought. "Why not give it a try?"

So, I headed over the the market on Saturday and in addition to the usual groceries, I added a kg of peanuts. Upon returning home, I found a good recipe for honey roasted peanuts and figured I could figure out the whole peanuts-to-peanut butter bit on my own. The first obvious step was to shell and peel the peanuts, which took, well, a long time. Stina and I worked on it while we watched The Matrix that night, and I spent a few more hours the next day working on it while watching TED talks. Anything that gives me an excuse to watch TED talks is simply wonderful in my book. Once they were all shelled and peeled, I roasted them in a honey/butter mixture, then rolled them in sugar. Now, it was time to turn the peanuts into peanut butter.

One of my favorite tools of my tiny kitchen is my food mill. What is that, you ask? It's basically a hand-cranked food processor. It's great for making anything from peanut butter to tomato sauce. Here is a picture of this lovely tool:

I tossed the peanuts in, cranked the handle, and added a bit of the honey/butter mixture. Out came peanut butter! Who would have thought it's so simple? As a bonus, it was incredibly similar to the type I used to buy in the US. As a bonus bonus, it cost about one tenth of Whole Foods version.

In other news, exams have officially begun. That means instead of classes we have an exam every day or two and the rest of the time to use for studying. Or, if you only have four classes like me, you use the rest of the time for baking, napping, and chatting, with a bit of studying stuck in here and there. I'll be done with exams by the middle of next week, and after that I have plans for an overnight hike, loads of cookies, and a few good books. Summer is right around the corner :-)

Summer Plans

2010-05-01T04:49:00.000-05:00

This post is long overdue, but here it is.

Summer!! I love that I get three months every year to explore, pursue my passions, and rest. My plans for this summer are really exciting.

I'll be spending the majority of the summer in Calcutta, working with The Emancipation Networks. TEN helps survivors of sex trafficking and people at risk of trafficking obtain vocational skills and transition into an new life. The timing for my stay with TEN worked out perfectly. The guy who is currently working on TEN's new jewelry program has to leave for June and July because of visa restrictions. So, I will be helping fill his position while he is gone. I'll also get to fill his flat, which is wonderful (AC!). When he gets back, a big group of volunteers is also coming, so I will join them for my final two weeks in Calcutta. We'll be spending time in a few different shelter homes. A friend from the US will also be joining me for that time, and I'm really excited to see him again.

My stay in India will be broken up by one trip out of the country. From June 19-26, I will travel to DC for a week-long seminar run by the US Institute of Peace. I entered into their annual essay contest and won the overseas students category. The prize was scholarship money and a free trip to DC for the seminar. So, I'll be making an extremely quick trip back to the US. My friends here always laugh when I tell them that I'm going back to the US but only staying for a week and not even going to the town where I lived before moving. I guess it is a little nuts.

On another note altogether: pre-monsoon storms have started. I absolutely adore these storms. Thunderstorms are great not matter what if you ask me. I love how you can feel the energy in the air. The fact that the storms break up the heat makes it even better. Lately it's been around 40 degrees (104 F), so any break from the heat is quite welcome.

A Loaf of Bread, or musings about life

2010-04-24T07:37:00.000-05:00

There are moments when things seem to zoom out, and for a brief time you get to see the bigger picture. I had one such moment today while making bread.

I was sitting on my courtyard floor kneading a loaf of bread, and I began to notice the meaning embedded in all the things that surrounded me.

First, the bread-- I never made my own bread when I was in the US. No one around me seemed to. But, when you live 1.5 hours away from a grocery store, you learn to do such things. In fact, I doubt that I would ever have gained the same appreciation for baking if I didn't spend some time living so far away from the conveniences that cities offer. I've learned here that making your own things can often be far more satisfying than purchasing them. That's a lesson I plan to carry with me even when I can access stores more easily.

Next, my hands-- they were hennaed by the kids at the HIV home where I spend time each week. Playing with those children is such a privilege. They teach me about creativity, resilience, and patience. My time with them leads me to ask big questions about the roles of NGOs, volunteers, and funders, in serving vulnerable people.

Then, my apron-- a gift from my aunt and made by survivors of trafficking who work with the NGO that I too will be working with this summer. It reminds me of my family and of my future. Thoughts come to mind about how hard it is to balance my love for my family and my dreams for a future that will inevitable mean being separated from them.

Next, my courtyard-- a place where I've shared countless meals with amazing friends from all around the world. This is the place where I've learned what it means to make your own home. It's a space in which I feel so free and so alive. I will most definitely miss it.

Finally, I look up and see our storeroom-cum-kitchen. It makes me laugh with all its contradictions. The walls are painted bright blue with lime green paint splashed on them and "Into The Wild" painted on the back wall-- a late night project of my housemates and me. Even the ceiling and light are covered in lime green paint. As far as I can remember, there was no alcohol involved in that project, but I hardly know how a room can end up looking like that with sober painters. The painting was done early in the year, before it became a kitchen. Once we made it into our tiny kitchen, I made a few attempts at making it look a bit more like a kitchen. It now has dried flowers hanging from hooks on the wall and even a table outfitted with a tablecloth, vase, and flowers. But still, it really just looks like a rather confused (or maybe schizophrenic) room.

My mind then wonders to thoughts about what brought me here, things that have changed while I've been here, and all the things yet to come. I love this time in life, when I can appreciate and learn from things that I've been through, but when so much of life is still ahead of me. My thoughts about the future seems to vibrate with possibilities and my thoughts about life right here, right now, always make me smile.

Haircuts

2010-04-19T01:27:00.000-05:00

I got a haircut the other day. While it was being cut, I remembered that my sister had hers cut not too long ago. I started running through the differences between our two "haircut experiences". Here is what I came up with:

Britt paid the person who cut your hair with dollar bills. I paid the people who did mine (two friends) with quiche and brownies.

Brittany's hair cut took place at some nice salon in Palo Alto. Mine happened in my courtyard.

Britt was probably wearing some cute top and a lovely skirt. I had on my PJs.

When my sister got there, they asked her what you wanted your hair to look like and then took her over to the cushy chair where they washed her hair and gave her one of those lovely head rubs. Rory and Isis decided among themselves what to do to my hair and then Isis took me into my bathroom where she wet my hair using the bum shower.

Brittany watched the person cut her hair in the mirror. I watched ants crawl up my courtyard wall.

Britt may have been listening to idle chat between customers and the hair cutters. I listened to Rory say, "Ow, Isis. That's my finger you're cutting!"

Haircuts

2010-04-19T01:24:00.001-05:00

Britt paid the person who cut your hair with dollar bills. I paid the people who did mine (two friends) with quiche and brownies.

Brittany's hair cut took place at some nice salon in Palo Alto. Mine happened in my courtyard.

Britt was probably wearing some cute top and a lovely skirt. I had on my PJs.

When my sister got there, they asked her what you wanted your hair to look like and then took her over to the cushy chair where they washed her hair and gave her one of those lovely head rubs. Rory and Isis decided among themselves what to do to my hair and then Isis took me into my bathroom where she wet my hair using the bum shower.

Brittany watched the person cut her hair in the mirror. I watched ants crawl up my courtyard wall.

Britt may have been listening to idle chat between customers and the hair cutters. I listened to Rory say, "Ow, Isis. That's my finger you're cutting!"

Big Decisions

2010-04-18T03:14:00.000-05:00

At the moment, I'm working on narrowing down my list of Universities to apply to. I'm looking at schools all over the place, with all kids of different characteristics. Figuring out how to compare them is by no means a simple task. I have to think about the city, the course offerings and structures, the student life, the faculty, the facilities, etc. etc. Each one is so different that I hardly know how to rate them.

On top of all that, the idea of crossing one off my list terrifies me. Where I decide to go to school will undoubtably have a huge effect on my later life. It will influence where I live, where I work, my relationships, and a thousand other things. A simple decision to cross a school of the list is essentially making the decision to not take whatever life path that University would lead me down. Yikes!

But, I guess that is just part of growing up. Hard decisions are part of the deal. I try to remember that there is not one "right" path for me, and the important thing is to make the most of my life each day, regardless of where I am. Happiness is as much a choice as anything else.

Easter Celebrations

2010-04-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

My weekend was consumed by one thing and one thing alone: Easter. For weeks, I'd been getting excited to celebrate the holiday. I'd planned out exactly what to bake and Christian Fellowship organized an Easter service on campus, an egg hunt, and a brunch.

The preparations began on Friday afternoon when Stina and I went down to our local village to buy the eggs for our hunt as well as vegetables to use for dyes. In true Indian fashion, we decided to sit and have chai for a bit before getting down to work. How well we've adjusted ;-)

The man who sells eggs looked at us like we were insane when we told him we wanted 60 eggs. We laughed as we saw a man chase his goat down the street behind us. The goat would stop until the man was only a few meters away and then take off running again. It was a slightly different scene from the sterile, bleak Target where I would be purchasing Easter eggs if I were still living in the US.

Our eggs made it safely back to campus (a major accomplishment considering our roads and that the eggs are sold in bags, not cartons). Stina and I spent a few hours boiling the eggs and preparing the dyes. We found that onion peels were the only vegetables that produced a usable dye, but luckily another Easter enthusiast had some store-bought dyes.

Friday evening was spent dyeing eggs (and eating pound cake) with a group of friends. Here are some photos from the evening:

I went to bed around midnight with full intentions of getting up to catch the 7:30 am bus to Pune, where I would buy the ingredients I needed for Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, I woke up at 2:00 am and began feeling extremely ill. I sleep on my roof, not a place I recommend anyone get ill. I threw-up three times (off the side of my roof) before I mustered up the strength to climb down, drink some water and make my way to the bathroom where I promptly threw-up that water. Around 4:30 am, I decided I'd better go to the Med Center. The nurse gave me some medicine and I was eventually able to fall asleep again. Needless to say, I didn't catch the 7:30 am bus.

By noon I was feeling quite a bit better and even managed to keep down a piece of toast. I spent most of the day in bed either working or sleeping. I was not about to venture out into the heat (100+ degrees F) since I was already dehydrated. Later on that evening, I started to feel well enough to begin baking for Easter. My project for the evening was a bunny cake that my mom has made for many years. It turned out really well. Here is a picture:

Early Sunday morning I arose to bake a bit more before our sunrise service. Luckily for us, the headmaster of our school used to be a priest, so he led the service. It was such a lovely service. Small, only about 20 of us, and very simple. A few prayers and bible readings, communion, and three songs-- very different from the Easter services I've experienced before. There were no fancy lights, no packed parking lots, no powerpoints or videos. Instead, we had birds chirping, a rising sun, and a beautiful view of the valley. On top of all that, I got the privilege of worshiping with Christians from all over the world.

A breakfast of hot cross buns and cinnamon rolls in the headmaster's garden followed our simple service. Then, we split up with plans to gather again at my house for a brunch at noon. The brunch was so lovely. We cooked, ate wonderful food, and enjoyed having time to relax together.

One thing I love about gatherings like this one is that they are always so laid back. They never start on time, we rarely have enough plates for everyone (some people ate on lids this time), and we often find bugs climbing into the food. But nobody complains. We never worry about it being perfect, we just laugh and enjoy it.

Here are some pictures:

Like all good brunches, it ended with type to digest (ie. a nap):

After our respective naps (and some time fighting a fire for the girls in fire service), we had our much awaited Easter Egg hunt. It was a lovely return to childhood. The hunt didn't last long, and it was followed by, of course, more eating. Isn't that what holidays really are-- an excuse to spend the day eating?

All in all, it was a really nice Easter. It reminded me how thankful I am to be in such an incredible place, surrounded by amazing friends.

HOT!

2010-03-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

Well, summer weather is officially here. A few days ago, I experienced my first 110 degree day. I almost melted. I think I sweated about a liter of water. I wanted to change my clothes every 5 minutes. Or live in a cold shower.

Have I mentioned that we don't have AC? Well, yeah, we don't. And rumor has it, summer temperatures can get up to 122 degrees around here. Sigh...

But, it's really not that bad, except for the afternoons. Mornings are still cool and evenings are nice too. During the afternoon, most of campus seems to migrate to either the library or the IT center, the two places on campus that have AC on almost all the time.

Our houses, for some reason, absorb heat at a delayed rate. They are relatively cool in the afternoons (mid 80's), but way too hot in the nighttime (over 100). I can't manage sleeping in heat like, so I now sleep on my roof. Tons of students move beds up to their roofs each year, another thing I love about my school. Every night I make the climb up the wall of my courtyard and sleep soundly under my pink, Hello Kitty mosquito net. Nature seems to wake up around 6 am most mornings, and she wakes me up along with her. I wake up to birds chirping, blue skies, and green leaves. I like that much more than and alarm clock and white ceiling.

Despite the oppressive heat, I'm still discovering new things about this place that I love. Flowers continue to bloom, the sunsets are more beautiful than ever, and my friends are wonderful. Mangos are coming into the market now too. Yum! I've learned to really love having fruit available only in its natural seasons, rather all year round as it often is in US supermarkets. We cherish it so much more this way.

Time is flying by and summer is quickly approaching, which holds all kinds of new adventures for me. More on that later :-)

Celebrating Life

2010-03-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

One of the things I love most about the people here is that a lot of them really celebrate life. The overwhelming sense you get when you're with them is that life is not a thing merely to let happen to you. It is something we should take hold of, enjoy, and celebrate.

On Friday night, the campus was fairly empty. Our travel week started as soon as classes ended and so the campus emptied our rather quickly. I don't leave until Sunday morning since I'm meeting my parents in Delhi and they don't get there until Sunday evening. Luckily, a few of my good friends were not leaving until Saturday morning, so I had people to hang out with on Friday evening. Several of us girls got together to make breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, baked beans, and quiche. We then headed over to one of the guy's house where he made us a bonfire. Rory and I introduced the non-Americans to the wonder of s'mores. Or, we engaged in "s'more diplomacy" as she called it. We chatted, shared stories, laughed, and ate yummy food. We talked about our pasts and what we want in our futures. The dreams vary greatly-- from traveling around with a theater company on a boat to working as an international journalist. We talked, we listened, we sang, we danced, and (of course) we ate. In short, we celebrated life.

A bit later than I had intended, I went back to my now empty house and tucked myself into bed. I woke up in the morning to hear birds chirping and see the sun shinning in through the mesh door. I couldn't help but smile at how the sun shines through so beautifully. I smiled because I am warm and cozy, and because I had a friend coming over for coffee. I smiled because of the small things that are easy to miss but that ultimately make up our lives. I once heard it said that how you spend your life is ultimately how you spend your days. Today, I choose to celebrate.

Hope Emerges

2010-02-27T00:48:00.000-06:00

Every Wednesday afternoon, I go to a home in a nearby village where HIV positive children live and go to school. Our group plays with the kids; we try to make their lives a little bit happier. When we arrived this week, the head of the shelter came and told us that one of the kids died on Tuesday night.

All the other kids were definitely sadder than usual. How could they not be? They not only have to deal losing a friend, but they also see in their dead friend the future they will eventually have to face because of their disease. In India, only the first round or two of medications for AIDS is available. That means when the sickness starts progressing, the kids likely don't have long to live. I hate knowing that if these kids had simply been born in a different country, they would be able to stay healthy much longer since more medication is available. Plus, these kids did nothing to deserve their condition. How can the world be so unfair?

Their lives are hard enough already. They face so much stigma. Public school is typically not an option if someone finds out they are HIV positive. Many employers and vocational trainers refuse to work with or train them. These children only get to leave their little compound a few times a year since they face such stigma and taking all of them anywhere is such hard work. In many ways, it seems like there is little hope for them.

But then they surprise me. I do a lot of arts and crafts with these kids. Their creativity and artistic ability always amazes me. So does the hope I see in some of their drawings. Take for example this one:

One of the young girls I play with drew this bird. She then named it after herself and proudly presented it to me. The drawing now hangs on my wall like a sacred relic. This little girl who lives such a hard life drew a bird and named it after herself. Birds fly; they are free. Somehow, even in her situation she can identify with a bird. If that is not hope and beauty, I don’t know what is.

Different Worlds

2010-02-23T13:01:00.000-06:00

I often feel like I'm existing in many different worlds. My life here on campus is totally different from the lives of those in our local village, and from those in Pune, and of course from my life in the US. Yet, I spend time in each of these worlds. Making sense of the immense contradiction that fills our world is one most difficult things that I've had to attempt while I've lived here. I certainly have not made sense of it yet, but I am at least becoming more comfortable with it. Yet, the experience can still be quite jarring.

These contradictions were highlighted over the weekend. It was an exeat weekend, so the campus emptied out from Friday night to Sunday night. I went with a big group of friends to a hill station about 4 hours away (although it took us 7 to get there...long story). On the second evening, we camped out near a creek. When we woke up around 6:30 in the morning, villagers were trekking down from the main road, carrying bundles of laundry on their heads. They gave us a good stare and proceeded to do their laundry in the stream. We packed up, asked some of the laundry washers how to get back to town (another long story) and started walking up to one of the nearby roads. About a two minute walk from the creek was a luxury hotel for tourists. The contradiction was overwhelming. One of the guys remarked, "We just walked 100 years into the future." I can't think of a more accurate way of putting it.

On one side of the creek was a group of people who had no running water, no electricity, and likely had to struggle to have enough to eat. On the other side was a group of people who had running hot and cold water, electricity, AC, comfy beds, and more than enough food.

I cross back and forth. While being here, I'm able to experience a bit of what life is like for the villagers. But then there are times when I live on the other side of the creek. In a couple of weeks I'll be staying in posh hotels in Delhi. Trying to figure out how to make that transition and what to think about a world in which such contradictions exist is an ongoing struggle for me.

I am certainly thankful for how privileged I am, but that thankfulness is always accompanied by a nagging sense of guilt. Why should I get a washing machine and the villagers have to use the stream? I definitely didn't earn it; they work way harder than I do. Why do the kids in the village have to work in the fields instead of getting to play like I did? Why do I have the opportunity to go to university when they don't?

All these questions follow me around most the time and motivate me to do something that will help create a world with more equality. But those experiences also beg questions about the nature of the equality I want to see in the world. How much disparity in wealth is too much? How much disparity in opportunity is too much? How do we create more opportunity? The questions abound, but unfortunately answers do not.

So Much Life

2010-02-15T07:23:00.000-06:00

This past week has almost held more life than I can handle all at once. So many ups and downs, so much joy, and so much sorrow.

To begin with, I had a massive baking project this week. For Valentine's Day, students could buy little packets of goodies and send them to friends. I agreed to bake those goodies a few weeks ago thinking that at most thirty students would order them. Nope. Eighty-eight. That meant I had to bake 88 brownies, 88 sugar cookies, and 88 snickerdoodles by Friday night (when we celebrated V-day on campus). Did I mention that my oven can bake at most 10 cookies at a time? Or that I had school all week too? Yea, I was overwhelmed to say the least.

A few things really saved me from totally freaking out:

Several friends came over on Thursday night to make pizza and help with the snickerdoodles. They were fantastic. They got all the snickerdoodles made, cleaned up for me, and even sticked around to keep working on it while I went to a lecture that I was interested in.
My headmaster's wife lent me her kitchen on Friday afternoon. With her electric mixer and huge oven as well as the help of another friend, I managed to get all the sugar cookies done in an hour and a half.
My oven has a timer on it that turns the oven off when the timer goes off. That meant that if I had fifteen minutes to spare before jetting off somewhere else, I could mix up some brownies, stick them in the oven and leave without being concerned about them burning.

All that baking got done on time and all was well. Friday included our V-day celebrations and the night ended with a camp-out on the tree house in our biodiversity reserve with a Swiss friend. She brought Swiss chocolate, I brought clif bars, and we had a lovely time. I've been enjoying the biodiversity reserve more and more lately.

Saturday was a whole other kind of day. I'm sure that many of you have heard by now about the bombing at German Bakery in Pune. German Bakery is a restaurant frequented by foreigners (including students from my school). I've been there before and even thought about going into Pune on Saturday evening and going there for dinner, but I was tiered from my crazy week. Everyone from school was fine, although two were there when it happened. We were all pretty shocked, but so grateful to have everyone safely back on campus.

Sunday followed that stressful night with a great gathering of Christian Fellowship, a hilarious school play, and some much needed time to get work done.

Up and down. Side to side. Just too much...

Explosions of Green

2010-02-08T03:45:00.000-06:00

Last set of photos from campus...

Sunday Mornings

2010-01-31T05:48:00.001-06:00

I adore Sunday mornings. Their leisurely pace is so refreshing after a busy week. This particular Sunday morning, I woke up around 9 and started making brownies for Christian Fellowship. I went to my fellowship group and spent time with them talking, praying, and singing. Then, I went back to my house to make brunch with two good friends. We started with pancakes smothered in maple syrup that one of them brought back with her from Maine. After finishing those up, we moved onto scrambled eggs with mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese, along with hash browns (and more cheese).

So much good food made us very sleepy, so we napped on the hammocks in my courtyard. I had made the dough for english muffins and left it out to rise while we napped, which meant I fell asleep on a hammock in 80 degree weather with the smell of dough wafting over to me. If that is not the very definition of bliss, I'm not sure what is. After our naps, we had coffee and got to business making the english muffins and more strawberry jam.

My Sunday morning was also preceded by a Saturday evening in which I cooked dinner with another friend, went to a birthday celebration, and enjoyed a bonfire in my courtyard that my housemates planned. I love weekends!

I think I'm ready to face my giant pile of work now. Actually, maybe another nap first :-)

Becoming Your Mother

2010-01-31T05:35:00.001-06:00

Many people have told me that we all eventually become our mothers. I never really believed them. But, now that I'm out of my parent's house, I can see many ways in which I am becoming like my mom. It really struck me this morning when I was sitting in my courtyard and caught myself thinking about how nice our table would look with a table cloth and a nice vase of flowers. My mom has a major thing for tablecloths. Her laundry room shelves are full of them. One of every colour and one for every season. I always found that rather silly, but here I am thinking about how much I'd enjoy having a tablecloth. I guess they were right... we really do become our mothers.

A few other ways I'm becoming like my mom:

I bake all the time
I really enjoy making a home for myself and the people I live with
I love having people over for dinner, coffee, dessert-- anything really

All the ways that I notice myself becoming like her seem to have something to do with what I would loosely term as "homemaking". Before I came here, I don't think I realized how hard my mom worked to make a home for us. Many students here have been at boarding school since their early teens or have mothers who are more engaged in their work than in their kids. Tons of kids here are from families where neither parent cooks, let alone taught them how to cook.

My life growing up was so different. I never doubted that my mom would put down whatever she was doing if I needed something. I remember so many trips to the zoo, aquarium and museums with my parents and sister. Reading books with my mom was a nightly ritual for much of my childhood. I could count on having dinner with my family every night. My house was always the house where we held parties and study groups since we all knew that my mom would make yummy treats and welcome everyone into her home. In very subtle ways, my mom was preparing me to go off and make a home of my own-- tablecloths and all.

Mom, thank you. You have taught me so well. To any other moms who read this, your job is so very important. You have the ability to fill your children's home with love, and thereby prepare them to love others. They will be out on their own before you know it.

Becoming Your Mother

2010-01-31T05:35:00.000-06:00

Many people have told me that we all eventually become like our mothers. I never really believed them. But, now that I'm out of my parent's house, I can see many ways in which I am becoming like my mom. It really struck me this morning when I was sitting in my courtyard and caught myself thinking about how nice our table would look with a table cloth and a nice vase of flowers. My mom has a thing for tablecloths. Her laundry room shelves are full of them. One of every colour and one for every season. I always found that rather silly, but here I am thinking about how much I'd enjoy having a tablecloth. I guess they were right... we really do become our mothers.

A few other ways I'm becoming like my mom:

I bake all the time
I really enjoy making a home for myself and the people I live with
I love having people over for dinner, coffee, dessert-- anything really

My life growing up was so different. I never doubted that my mom would put down whatever she was doing if I needed something. I remember so many trips to the zoo, aquarium and museums with my parents and sister. Reading books with my mom was a nightly ritual for much of my childhood. I could count on having dinner with my family every night. My house was always the house where we held parties and study groups since we all knew that my mom would make yummy treats and welcome everyone into her home. In very subtle ways, my mom was preparing me to go off and make a home of my own-- tablecloths and all.

Mom, thank you. You have taught me so well. To any other moms who read this, your job is so very important. You have the ability to fill your children's home with love, and thereby prepare them to love others. They will be out on their own before you know it.

Red Flowers

2010-01-28T19:28:00.000-06:00

White Flowers

2010-01-27T02:19:00.001-06:00

I think these flowers should be a part of every wedding

Plants Part II: Purple Flowers

2010-01-25T13:03:00.001-06:00

Our campus overflows with purple

Dr. Suess Plants

2010-01-23T22:02:00.003-06:00

My sister shares my love for nature. Over winter break, I visited her new home in CA and we spent loads of time looking at plants. Britt (being her typical adorable self) described some of the plants as Dr. Suess plants since they look like plants that could be from one of his books. I thought that was one of the most wonderful descriptions of plants I've ever heard.

So, to kick of my series of plant pictures from campus, enjoy these "Dr. Suess plants"

Such pretty flowers and such huge thorns

Is that not the strangest plant you've ever seen?

That white stuff is growing from the middle

Below is a close up of the red bits. I scared a friend with those one by rubbing it on her cheek; she thought it was a caterpillar :-)

Nature

2010-01-23T01:30:00.000-06:00

I've fallen in love with several things while I've been here-- vegetables, cooking, and nature, french music, and many other things. I would love to share all of the things that I love with you, but alas, I can't. I don't think the veggies nor my cooking would travel very well...

But, I can share with you pictures of the beautiful nature that surrounds me. When many people outside of India think about the nation, they imagine crazy Indian cities and dirty slums. Those things are certainly part of Indian, but far from all of it. India is also full of so much natural beauty.

I spent this morning walking around campus taking pictures of the beauty. I'm going to be posting those pictures on here over the next few weeks. There are loads of them, so get ready. I hope you enjoy it :-)

You Know You're Not in America Anymore When....

2010-01-22T06:17:00.000-06:00

The milk carton has a picture of a buffalo on it instead of a cow

AND

The corn flour is labeled as something you can use to make "Invalid's food"

Culinary Euphoria

2010-01-18T10:33:00.000-06:00

So, I now own an oven. I've been considering buying one for a good two months and I finally did on Saturday. Our common room oven quite often warms food rather than cook it. I always have to at least double the cooking time if I want to bake something in that oven and its temperature gauge does not even work. I just turn it all the way up and hope for the best.

My new oven is 100 time better. The temperature gauge works, the door shuts properly, and it even has a timer.

Relishing in my new purchase, I decided to bake scones. I've made them a few other times in the bad oven, and they turned out alright. They tasted good, but the oven never got hot enough for them to rise properly-- unlike my new oven.

So, I went a little scone crazy. I made two batches on Sunday for Christian Fellowship and for a tea time I'd planned with a few friends, and another batch tonight so that I can eat them for breakfast this week. They are nice basic scones, not too sweet and not too plain.

I also bought strawberries while I was in Pune, but they got squished on my way back (I was carrying an oven after all). On the bright side, squished strawberries make lovely jam, particularly when that jam is put on top of fresh scones. Yum...

Anyway, I found the jam recipe in a fantastic cookbook that my aunt gave me for Christmas (more on that book later). Thanks, Aunt Lynn :-) It's a really simple recipe that only requires strawberries and sugar. Many jam recipes call for pectin, which I haven't seen over here.

I know that strawberries are not yet in season where most of you are, but I strongly recommend making your own jam and scones when they do come into season. Here are the recipes:

Scones
2 cups flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
6 T butter
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
Mix together the flour and the baking powder. Cut the butter into the flour mixture, either using your fingers or two butter knives. You've cut it in enough when the mixture is crumbly and there are no butter chunks larger than a pea.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and the egg. Add this mixture to the flour and stir together until it forms a soft ball. Add another tablespoon of milk, if needed (I generally need to).

Roll out the dough into a circle about 1 1/2 inches thick (4 cm). Cut the dough into 8 wedges and ake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees F (200 C) on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Jam

1 kg (2.2 lbs) Strawberries
2 1/2 cups sugar

Wash the strawberries and set them out on a towel to dry. Once dry, cut off the top bits of the strawberries and throw them into the compost. Smash the berries using a spoon and slice them up to whatever size you like best in your jam. Place the sugar in an oven heated to 350 F (175 C) for ten minutes while you heat the strawberries on the stove over low heat, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, add the sugar to the strawberries and raise the temperature to high heat. The mixture must reach a strong boil and stay there in order to set. Cook the mix over high heat for 10-15 minutes, until it takes on a jelly-like substance. It will set even more as it cools. Be sure to skim off the foam as it forms on the top using a large spoon.

Hello again

2010-01-16T21:15:00.002-06:00

(Sorry this post took so long...)

I've been back in India for an entire week now. The time has flown by and been wonderful. I can't believe it was only a month ago that I traveled back to KC. That seems so far away at the moment.

It was incredibly nice to see family and friends again. I so enjoyed going to my favorite places and eating magnificent food (food!) while I was back.

Despite all that, my time back was also a bit, well, strange. I am different from when I left for India (how could I not be?) and Lee's Summit is still largely the same. I knew when I left for India that my leaving was essentially me saying goodbye to the Mid-west as a home for good, but I think I didn't fully internalize that fact until I went back. It was hard to make sense of my surroundings in KC in the context of four months spent in India. I went from 60 Rs/ night youth hostels ($1.30) and spending $2.00 a week of groceries to huge Hiltons and $15 meals. The fact that I went from KC to Chicago to KC to San Francisco to Palo Alto and back to KC all in the three weeks I was in the US certainly added to my sense of confusion.

The disorientation I felt while in the US, although hard, did make it easier for me to come back to India and to accept this as my home for the next year and a half. I’ve loved it here for a long time, but it never really felt like home until I came back after break. Ultimately, I’m not a kid living in my parent’s house any more. I’ve moved out and it is time for me to make a home for myself. I write that with a mix of both excitement and terror. I guess that’s what growing up feels like...

Anyway, I had a really lovely break. I got to see my family and friends; I ate way too much magnificent food; and I got to visit my sister at Stanford. Seeing her new home was fantastic. We had a magnificent time together. My family celebrated Christmas together. I watched Gilmore Girls with my mom again and went to Doozens for coffee with her SO many times. I went out for lunch with friends practically every day and baked in a real kitchen again.

Coming back to India was wonderful too. The whole return had India written all over it. I arrived at the airport and went to the baggage claim (which was complete chaos) and waited for an hour for my luggage. I then waited for a friend with whom I was sharing a jeep ride back to campus and took the five hour ride back. We got back to campus around 4 am, and I lugged all my stuff up the stair to my house only to find my door locked and my key (which I normally hide outside) moved into the room. So, I called the security and they came to unlock it. I also came back to find the power not working (joy!). After getting into my room, I tried to sleep, but failed due to jet-lag. So, I waited for the sun to come up enough for me to be able to unpack. As much as I appreciate electricity, it seemed very appropriate to come back to a house where the power was not working. Every so often, it is good to be reminded that we live in world with natural limits, something that was all too easy for me to forget while I was in the US.

Later that afternoon, the electricity got fixed (only after being turned on too high and destroying my phone charger). I unpacked all my magnificent new cooking supplies, my housemates came back, and I had a wonderful time chatting with them about all our trips. As I walked around campus, I noticed all the new plants that had come into bloom and soaked up the warm sun. In the early evening I read a book on the hammock in our courtyard and watched the sky as the sun set. In that moment, I could help but feel a huge amount of gratitude for having the chance to live in such an incredible place for the next year and a half.

Back to blogging

2010-01-13T18:43:00.000-06:00

I'm back in India again, and I will be blogging again very soon. Like tonight (hopefully). I have much to share about my time back in the US, and my return to India.

Heading Home

2009-12-16T18:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I leave campus for home in about 9 hours, and I still have a full day of classes and much else to do between now and then. I'm incredibly excited to go home, but part of me is also sad to leave too. I'll miss the people, the lovely warm weather, evenings spent on the hammock in our courtyard, and many other things. But, a whole set of different but equally amazing things (family, friends, coffee, good food, a real kitchen, etc.) await me at home. It will be a busy and full three weeks, so don't expect to see any posts over that time.

चलो (chalo; let's go)!

Traditions

2009-12-12T22:45:00.000-06:00

One of the really lovely part about living among such diversity is that we have to opportunity to share our traditions with each other.

Awhile back, the whole campus celebrated Diwali with traditional food, dances, and decorations. I posted about that here. And here you can read more about Diwali traditions.

Last Sunday evening, the Dutch kids celebrated Sinterklaas. This is a pre-Christmas celebration in the Netherlands and Belgium. Two of the Dutch kids danced from table to table singing at dinner, dressed in traditional costume. Before we went to bed, everyone put one shoe outside his or her house. When we woke up, Sinterklaas had delivered Dutch cookies in each shoe. It felt a bit strange to be eating cookies out of my shoe, but they were sure tasty. Here is more about the traditional Sinterklaas celebration.

I taught people how to bake Christmas cookies last weekend as well. Last night, two more people asked me to teach them, and I gladly obliged. We had a wonderful time mixing, rolling, cutting, icing, etc. The process took forever since the oven is small and slow, but it was still very fun.

Last night the Scandinavians shared with us Saint Lucy's Day. Around 2 am I was awoken by a group of Scandinavians singing to our room and delivering sweetbreads. The girls were dressed in white with sashes (red or gold? I can't remember-- it was 2 am, so the whole thing is a bit hazy). I remember that one of my American Girl dolls had the traditional Saint Lucy's Day outfit. Now, that outfit has a whole new meaning.

On Wednesday night, we will have our school-wide Christmas dinner. We'll start the evening out by having a candle-lit walk to the headmaster's garden. There will be a group singing Christmas carols as we walk. The food served will be traditional Christmas food from all over the place, including three types of Christmas cookies I provided the recipes for (thanks Mom!). Then, the final gifts for our Christmas Buddies will be placed under the tree and three "Christmas fairies" will deliver the gifts. I can't wait.

Another Christmas Moment

2009-12-11T05:28:00.000-06:00

One more Christmas moment that I forgot to mention:

On Wednesday, I was sitting at the drawing station at the NGO where I spend time playing with HIV positive kids. My mind was, of course, wandering to thoughts of celebrating Christmas at home, so I started sketching a Christmas tree. One of the kids was watching and quickly caught onto what I was drawing. With a huge smile on his face he said, "Didi (sister), didi, draw me Christmas!" Absolutely adorable.

Such Beauty

2009-12-10T11:56:00.001-06:00

Today was a really wonderful day. I had a long break from classes in which I baked some chocolate cookies with a good friend who leads our Christian Fellowship with me. After some more classes and a few extra-curriculars, I baked banana bread and then cooked dinner with a Dutch friend. The banana bread had a cinnamon sugar topping that got so crunchy and delicious in the oven. We made scrambled eggs with tomatoes and feta cheese for dinner and then had the wonderful banana bread for dessert while sharing stories about family back home.

When we had finished eating, we grabbed the chocolate cookies that I had made earlier in the day and headed over to the headmaster’s house along with some other students. Our headmaster’s wife, Sue, invited us to come by and help decorate her house and Christmas tree. Six of us went over and munched on cookies, drank hot chocolate, and hung ornaments. We also made some of our own ornaments. While doing all this, we told each others about Christmas traditions in our families and countries. The whole thing felt wonderfully like home, but a new and more diverse kind of home.

I returned home to find a gift left on my bed by my secret santa. This time, she left The Calcutta Cookbook. The book had the feel and look of a book that has been well used and loved. I can’t think of a more perfect gift. It is such a wonderful symbol of who I am and who I am becoming. She even left notes in the book, guiding me to some of the best recipes.

A week from this moment, I will be on my flight back to the US. I love Christmas season so much.

Quite a week

2009-12-07T03:30:00.000-06:00

Last week was a very full week. All week I knew that my SAT subject tests were coming up on Saturday, so I spent a lot of time studying.

On Thursday, we had a guest lecturer on campus for our faculty lecture series. She is an Iranian woman who fled Iran and is now living in Sweden. Her lecture was fascinating. She talked about the progression of Iranian politics over the past thirty or so years and told us a bit more about the current situation in Iran. Before she fled to Sweden, she was a librarian who got herself in a fair bit of trouble over her anti-censorship stance. I feel very privileged to be in a place where I can learn from people like her.

In addition to my SATs, I also had MUWCI Festival and Christmas Cookie Lessons over the weekend. MUWCI Festival is an annual outdoor concert type event that we do. It raises money for the school's student welfare fund. One of my friends was cooking and selling French Toast at the event, and asked if I wanted to help. We had a good time making it and sold four loaves. Some of the German students made a German pasta dish that was incredible. The whole thing was great fun, except for tripping on a sprinkler and braking one of my toes. It's all purple now, but doesn't hurt too badly.

On Sunday afternoon, I organized Christmas Cookie Baking Lessons. We broke up into three different kitchens and made a wide spread of cookies. I baked sugar cookies in the Headmaster's kitchen (a real kitchen!). Some of the kids had never seen cookie cutters nor sprinkles before. Such fun. Another friend of mine taught a group how to make Dutch spice cookies. My math teacher had a group over to her house and made chocolate crinkles and Norwegian waffles. We all met back together at my math teacher's house and enjoyed our creations. The lessons took a lot of work, but sharing a bit of Christmas with other students was wonderful.

Speaking of Christmas, less than two weeks now until I come back home. I am getting SO excited!

Hindi

2009-12-01T00:17:00.003-06:00

In the five years that I spent learning Spanish, I never found it too terribly difficult. I think that's because Spanish resembles English in some very important ways. First, there are all kinds of useful cognates. Secondly, the sentence construction is fairly similar. And most importantly, both languages use the same script.

Learning Hindi is completely different.

The Hindi script is nothing like ours. Not only do the letters look different, but the sounds are unfamiliar too. Each vowel has a long version and a short version. Almost every consonant has an "a" sound inherent at the end of it. There are also two version of most consonants, one with an "h" at the end and one without. Some letters like "t", "th", "d", and "dh" also have both dental and retroflex versions. The vowels can take two forms depending on if they are connected to the consonants or not.

Sentence construction is also quite different. In general, sentences go: subject, prepositions/adjective/adverbs, object, verb. The verbs are split up into two parts, one telling the gender and number of the subject and the other word signifying the tense. Sometimes the prepositions come before the subject. One of my favorite literal translations is for the Hindi phrase meaning "it's nice to meet you". Word for word, the phrase translates as "You from after meeting much happiness has happened."

All that to say, Hindi is hard.

So, when we were told that we would have our first Hindi test in actual script, I was a bit nervous. We got the test back yesterday and I was quite pleased. Here is a picture of it:

(Click the photo to see it bigger if you want to see the script)

I understood and was able to answer all those questions. A few weeks ago, all that would have looked like giberish to me. Now, I'm at least able to sound words out even if I don't know what they mean. Sometimes I still feel like I'm back in kindergarden, but at least I'm making progress.

It'll take time, but maybe I'm getting the hang of this Hindi thing a little bit more...

Two Rediscovered Loves

2009-11-22T21:49:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend, I rediscovered two loves. The first one began on Friday evening when I was listening to a playlist my sister made me. On came a song from a wonderful French film called Amélie. Listening to that song reminded me how much I love French music. So, I asked my Belgian housemate to give me some of her French music. She created a lovely playlist for me (and gave me the whole Amelie soundtrack). A few songs in, I stumbled upon Commes Des Enfants. Absolutely Magnificent.

My second rediscovery came after baking oatmeal cookies. I hadn't even planned to make them this weekend, I just had some leftover oats from the apple crumble and decided to give it a go. One bite in, I remembered that these are my favorite cookie from my mom's extensive cookie repertoire. How could I have forgotten something like that?

Since love should always be shared, I give you Commes Des Enfants and the recipe for my mom's oatmeal cookies. I strongly recommend listening to the song while you eat the cookies.

Oatmeal cookies

This recipe makes ALOT of cookies, so halve the recipe if you don't want to have them hanging around in your fridge for a day or two. But, I can't imagine why you would possibly not want that...

I also think they are best crispy, and that is saying a lot since I am generally a gooey-as-you-can-make-them kind of girl.

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 cup raisins if you want to make oatmeal raisin cookies

Pre-heat oven to 350
Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt
Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Stir in oats (and raisins).
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Good food, Wonderful People

2009-11-22T01:39:00.000-06:00

This has been a wonderfully food-centric weekend.

Saturday, I took a trip into Pune to buy some food that I'll be needing this coming week. Part of what my Community Interaction group does, other than play with kids who have HIV, is help support Wake Up Pune, an HIV awareness group. Last week, we organized a raffle to raise money for them. One of the prizes is a meal cooked by me for a group of three people. That meal will be tomorrow evening, so I had to go to Pune to buy some food and supplies. On the menu is: bruchetta, omelet pie, greek salad, pomegranates, and brownie sundays. I'm quite excited about the meal, and I'll be sure to write about how it goes.

Saturday evening, my project week group got together to have a potluck dinner. It was so lovely-- one of those times when I really felt right at home. Lying around, laughing, eating, enjoying each others company. We had magnificent food from all over the world. Dumplings from Poland. Custard from Isreal. Noodles from Vietnam. Cheese from England. Quiche from South Africa. As we sat sharing in our delicious feast, I couldn't help but look around in wonder at the diversity among us. I'm not sure that after I leave here I'll ever get the chance again to share a meal with people from India, Israel, Poland, England, France, Dubai, Switzerland, Denmark, Brazil, and South Africa. After the meal we watched a movie and then indulged ourselves in dessert. I made apple crumble and there was also chocolate cake and an Israeli custard.

This morning, I used oats left over from the apple crumble to make oatmeal cookies for Christian Fellowship. Those turned out wonderfully and there were even lots left over for my roommates. Seeing them melt together in the round pan that I cooked them in (we lack a cookie sheet) reminded me of cinnamon rolls, which inspired me to try making those sometime soon here. So, this afternoon I'll spend some time online hunting down a recipe for cinnamon rolls that goes beyond "open the Pillsbury container and transfer rolls into the oven". Attempting to make cinnamon rolls from scratch here is ambitious, but also potentially delicious.

Project Week: The Takeaways

2009-11-15T04:30:00.001-06:00

Lessons I learned from my project week:

In NGO work, relationships are key. We are not solving problems; we are attempting to love people.
Outsiders don’t always know what the people they aim to help need. People who are being helped also don’t always know what they need; a give and take from both sides is better.
Development issues, human rights issues, etc. are always very complex and differ hugely from situation to situation. How to address them will never be simple nor easy. The work takes A LOT of time and commitment if any real difference is going to be made.
As westerners, we do have something to offer in international development, but I’m observing that close partnership with (and reliance upon) locals is required as well. I’m starting to sense that the best role we can play is one that is more often of support (of all kinds, not just monetary) rather than control.
Measuring effectiveness is hugely importance. So is being willing to change what you consider “effective”.
Really helping a community requires deep, holistic, systematic, and innovating thinking.

There are many more, but those are some highlights.

Project Week: The Return

2009-11-15T04:26:00.000-06:00

As much as I did enjoy my project week, I loved coming back to campus. Taking a deep breath of unpolluted air was absolutely wonderful. Sleeping on my own bed (which I’m slowly learning to love despite it’s hardness) felt amazing. Showering after 30 hours in the train with hot water (and plenty of it) was superb. I loved seeing all the green plants and beautiful architecture again after a week of dust and concrete buildings. It's good to be back.

Project Week: The Events

2009-11-15T04:24:00.002-06:00

You may have noticed that I’ve yet to tell you what exactly I did over my project week. Well here is a list of a few of the activities we participated in:

Observing classes at both Alice Project and a Government school
5:30 am Yoga sessions
Helping make a few meals

Organizing art and theater actives for the kids
Visit an Ashram with a school in it (ask me about this when I get home)
Tour around a bit of Varanasi, including a boat ride on the Ghanges river
Putting on a dance show after school one day
Painting a giant world map for the school to us
Spending a night with students at their homes in surrounding village

Project Week: The Place

2009-11-15T04:08:00.001-06:00

Project Week: The Place

As I’ve said before, we traveled to Varanasi, a city in Northern India. While Varanasi was where our train ended, we actually stayed about 30 minutes outside the city in a village. The village is a holy pilgrimage site for Buddhists, so there were loads of temples. Life in the village is SO different from any other lifestyle I’ve experienced. It’s an incredible mix of old and modern, like much of India. The people are loving, and all seemed to know each other quite well. But, life is hard for many of them. Global warming has been screwing with the seasons lately and making farming harder and harder, as has been the flooding of the market with GMO crops. Plus, there is a water scarcity. All that has led to a high rate of alcoholism among the men of the village.

Varanasi is a whole other topic. It is a crazy city. Absolutely nuts (like many Indian cities, I’m learning). There is always so much going on, so much to take in. Indian cities are rarely very planned; they just happen when people need more space. That leads to a lack of basic systems like electric, sewage, and water systems. Example: have a look at this electricity pole. As cities grow, they just kinda add wires.

This type of “organic growth”, as one Indian described it to me, also means chaos much of the time. The cities seem like they are going to fall apart at any moment, but somehow (I’d say through incredible human ingenuity and flexibility) they keep on functioning. Here is an example. This video is actually of a market in Thailand, but I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this happen in India too.

At one point, I was in a car in the city with Subarna, one of the teachers that came. The driver was driving like mad (as usual) and honking his horn every 3 seconds. Plus, he had loud Indian music playing and his window down which meant dust was flying everywhere. Subarna looked over at me and told me that I looked like I was going to explode. That was a pretty accurate description of how I felt at that moment. I just needed calm and quiet for a moment, but in a city like Varanasi asking for quiet is like asking for a trip to mars. It’s just not going to happen.

Then there is the pollution. Yuck. Most of it is not totally India’s fault. Since American companies have so many factories over here, we effectively also ship over our own pollution too.

That all probably made it sound like I hated Varanasi, which I didn’t. It’s an incredibly interesting city, full of contradictions that constantly keep you thinking. There is so much to observe, to take in. The diversity of the city is astounding. I can’t say that I would want to live there, but I’m certainly glad that I visited.

Project Week: The Travel

2009-11-13T12:56:00.000-06:00

One significant part of every first-year’s first project week is the train ride. For most of us, it is our first experience on the infamous Indian railroad system. The train rides varied from about 7 hours to a whopping 55 hours. Mine was thankfully only 36. The train rides were certainly interesting. They give you exposure to a lot of India, in all of its diversity.

On the way there, we traveled in 3rd AC class. That meant that we each had a small bed and the train was air-conditioned and fairly clean. On the way back we traveled in general sleeper class which was similar but had harder beds, no AC, more people, and was much dirtier. Both were fine, just different.

(Floor of a train station at 3 am)

One of the lovely things about a 36 hour train ride (yes, there are lovely things about 36 hour train rides) is that it gives you a chance to spend time just being present with friends. No agenda, no pressure, simply presence. The food may have been gross. Sometimes it got really hot. It was often too loud for my taste. But, the people made it a wonderful journey.

Project Week: The People

2009-11-11T11:29:00.000-06:00

One of the best parts of project week is spending time getting to know people better. I had a great group of students, mostly first-years along with three second years. Our faculty coordinators were a very cool couple that teaches math and physics. They are young, energetic, and full of good stories. The whole group had a wonderful time together, learning more about each other and laughing A LOT. Here is a photo of part of the group:

Project Week: The Organization

2009-11-10T07:42:00.001-06:00

I returned yesterday from my school trip to Varanasi. Twice a year, MUWCI students are granted a 7-10 days of time in which we have no classes and instead travel around India. Each first-year attends a community-interaction project week for their first one. That means that the school makes plans for first-year students along with faculty members to visit and work with a non-profit somewhere in India. The planning of the three subsequent project weeks are left up to the students.

My project week was quite an experience and I have plenty to share with you all. So, you will be seeing a series of posts over the next week or so about these past ten days. For now, I’ll start by telling you about Alice Project, the organization that I spent time with.

Started by an Italian man, this NGO is a school in a village outside Varanasi that provides education for over 700 students. The students pay either nominal or no fees. As it is located in a rural village, most of the kids come from farming families. That means that few of the students will attend University; their families simply don’t have the money. Because of that, the school focuses less on preparing the students to ace exams (although they do that too) and focus more on the personal development of the students. That fact was exemplified by the warm, welcoming feeling that existed throughout the school.

Its focus on emotional education was not the only thing that made Alice Project stand out, though. They also spent a lot of energy teaching the kids practices like yoga and meditation, as well as encouraging religious pluralism. Most of these practices are based on the rather interesting philosophy of the founder of Alice Project. He believes that the world exists only in the mind, that there is no physical reality. He is also of the opinion that true happiness only comes when we can completely empty ourselves. While I don’t agree with the philosophies that underlie Alice Project, I do believe in much of the work that the nonprofit is doing. Interesting how that can happen...

If I had to describe Alice Project (at least what I saw of it) in one sentence, I would say this:
Alice Project is an innovative alternative education NGO which works to holistically education its students so that they may live healthy, happy, and fruitful lives.

Now, how they would define healthy, happy, and fruitful would probably differ from how I would define it, but the students seemed to be loved and empowered while at school which I would say means that Alice Project is doing a pretty great job.

Project Week

2009-10-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

Later on this afternoon, I'll be leaving campus to go up North to Varanasi for ten days. I leave today in the afternoon and will get there about 40 hours later after a long voyage on trains and buses. While I'm in Varanasi, I (along with a group from my school) will be working with an educational NGO. The organization provides alternative education for underprivileged kids. They focus on alternative education and place a strong emphasis on spirituality and contemplative practices like yoga, a far cry from the typical Indian rote learning method. We will be there mostly to learn from the organization and the kids, but hopefully we can make a meaningful contribution to them as well.

We are quite unlikely to have internet access at all for those ten days. I think that will be the longest I have gone without internet in...well I can't even remember. That should be an experience in and of itself! So, don't expect to hear from me for the next 10 days, but I'll be sure to blog soon after I get back.

Things I'll Miss

2009-10-27T12:23:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a bit lately about the things that I'll miss when I'm gone on project week, at home over Christmas break, and away for the summer. Here are a few of the things I'll miss:

The people.
Movie nights
Being outside the vast majority of my waking hours
Seeing this view everyday:

And seeing this one too:

Super fresh (and delicious) fruit
Having something surprise me everyday
Always having something new to explore
Hearing so many languages all the time
Living outside of American consumerism

Lucky, I have quite awhile more before I have to start worrying about missing these things for too long. For now, I'll just soak it all in and be very thankful!

My Amazing Classes

2009-10-24T12:07:00.001-05:00

My classes here are really amazing. Here is a list of what I'm taking and what makes each class wonderful:

World Literature

The teacher is awesome and super insightful. The diversity of students in the class leads to incredibly interesting conversation.

Intro Hindi

Very practical considering that I'm living in India. I adore the Hindi script and definitely enjoy learning and practicing the language.

Math Studies

This is the easy math class, so I already know how to do practically everything the class covers. Plus, I'm taking it in one year, which means no math next year. What a splendid idea.

Environmental Systems and Societies

This is probably my favorite class. The fact that we have a huge biodiversity reserve on campus makes for super cool lab work. The other day, we took a walk on the reserve for class. We've also talked about maybe planning a camp-out on the reserve in which we set insect traps and take pictures of the insects that we catch for documentation purposes. Our teacher is wonderful and knows a TON about nature. She lectures barefoot and sometimes has to cancel class to go help catch snakes.

Biology

Bio has always been really interesting to me. The way the natural world works is just so incredibly complex and beautiful. That class always puts me in awe of how intelligent nature was designed to be. Often times I think our bodies are smarter than we are.

Philosophy

Last class, we watched a documentary about McDonalds taking a group of people to court for publishing anti-McDonalds pamphlets. In another class, we all had to share the top five ideas that we would be most terrified to find out were lies. That sort of application of philosophical ideas to real life situations is very common in the class.

Now, that's what school should be like.

Excitment!

2009-10-24T10:39:00.000-05:00

A few things I'm excited about that are coming up in the next few weeks and months:

My project week that starts next Friday (I'm traveling up north to Varanasi for a visit a holistic education NGO)
Wearing my Indian clothes that I picked up from the taylor in Pune today
Christian Fellowship dinner tomorrow night
Exeat weekend hike
Taking my SAT subject tests (NOT!!)
Seeing friends and family over Christmas break
Eating yummy food when I'm back home
Drinking good coffee back home (Britt and Derrick, I put you two in charge of making sure this one happens and happens often)
Making Christmas cookies with my mom, sister, aunts, and grandma
Exploring more of the biodiversity reserve
Celebrating Christmakkah (Christmas/Hanukkah) with my house

My room

2009-10-21T11:51:00.000-05:00

I realize that these pictures are WAY late, but here is what my room looks like. I share the whole room with three other girls. I couldn't find an angle at which I can take a picture of the whole room. So, these are pictures of my corner.

I decided to move my bed frame out and put my mattress on the floor and the desk over the bed in order to create more space

Another angle

My desk

My chair decorated by a scarf

Diwali

2009-10-20T05:50:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, we celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights. This celebration holds a similar social importance in India as Christmas does in the US.

Our celebration started with everyone getting dressed up in Indian clothes. Here are a few pictures of my friends in their saris and kurtas. (Photo credits: None of these are pictures I took, but rather ones that friends took and posted on facebook.)

We arrived at the cafeteria to find it beautifully decorated in traditional Indian style.

(This is made of a sand-type substance and is on the floor)

After enjoying a nice meal, we walked around chatting with each other and wishing everyone a "Happy Diwali".

Later, we headed over to the MPH for a dance. The Indian students taught us all a dance that involved taping sticks with your parter. After doing that dance a few times, we all started dancing around in whatever way was normal for us.

Our celebration was rather like an American prom, except exchange the dresses and suits for saris and kurtas and take away all expensive waste-of-money parts and the need to have a date. Fun stuff :-)

Community Interaction Project

2009-10-18T08:58:00.001-05:00

I want to share with you all a bit about my community interaction project. Each student at MUWCI has to pick a service project which we participate in each week. I’ve chosen to work with an organization that provides education and a place to live for kids who are HIV positive. Many of them are orphans, although a few of them still have at least one living parent. Every Wednesday, a group of about 15 kids from my school go to play with the kids. We don’t have any grad agenda-- we simply want to love on them. We plan games to play with them, and bring along art supplies so that they can make crafts. One thing that has amazed me about the kids is how inventive they are. I’ll give you two examples. First, they don’t have a swing, so one girl decided to tie a scarf between two poles and wah-la, they have a swing! Another is example comes from when we were making bracelets but did not have scissors with which to cut the sting. One kid came up with the idea to rub the sting across a rough part of a nearby desk. Another kid went and got a rock which he used to break the string. Necessity really does breed ingenuity.

This past week when I visited, I spent most my time with one specific girl. I pushed her on the scarf-swing and played with her stuffed tiger. She pulled me around the whole playground and a few classrooms, explaining to me in Mahrati what she did in each area. Of course, I didn’t understand a word she said, but we had a good time anyway.

Blog Action Day

2009-10-15T11:07:00.000-05:00

Today is Blog Action Day, which means that thousands of bloggers around the world are blogging about Climate Change. I thought I'd highlight for you guys a few of the things that we do here on campus to help reduce our impact on the environment.

First and most obvious is our biodiversity reserve. Ten years ago when MUWCI started, there was only a single tree on our entire campus. Over a million trees along with countless other plants and animals now thrive here on campus.

The recycling that we do on campus is quite impressive considering our context. There are not recycling companies in my area, so we have to do all that ourselves. Here are a few examples of how we recycle:

Each year, a “Recycle Market” is hosted in which newcomers can claim useful things that were left behind by graduates
We make paper bags out of all the old newspapers
The food that we throw away is given to a pig farm
We compost
Paper printed on only one side is re-used
Two-sided paper goes to the paper making team which tears it up and makes new paper out of it

Many of the students here are very serious about changing daily habits in order to help the environment, so we are continuously reminded to turn out the lights, fix leaky taps, etc.

What are you guys doing to help protect our environment?

The Great Pumpkin (Cake)

2009-10-14T01:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, I made pizzas for my house and a pumpkin cake that my mom makes every fall, which I absolutely love. I've been missing fall colours, the crisp fall air, and (of course) fall food. So, I decided to try making the pumpkin cake. It turned out really well.

In order to help you understand why I get so excited when I make yummy food over here, I think I should explain a few of the challenges that I face when I cook. At home, making a pumpkin cake would be no big deal. Mix a few ingredients together, stick it in the oven, and you're done in under an hour. I'll walk you through the process of what making a pumpkin cake looks like over here.

Last Saturday:

Take an hour and a half hour bus ride into Pune to go to the market and the grocery store (with a rickshaw ride between the two).
Attempt to not let the people at the market rip you off since you're white.
No canned pumpkin in the grocery store, so I'll have to use fresh. No fresh pumpkin left at the market. Maybe I can buy some from the Cafeteria on campus.
The don't sell the bisquick that the recipe calls for either, so I'll have to find a way to make bisquick with what I have.
Also no pumpkin spice in the grocery store. I guess clove spice will have to do.
The don't sell cow's milk other than the Netsle brand (horrible company; I refuse to buy from them). Buffalo milk it is!
Take another hour and a half hour bus ride back to campus.

Monday

Check for pumpkin in the Cafeteria. None today, check back again tomorrow.

Tuesday

Check again for the pumpkin. They have it today!
Gather a few pots and pans from my vast (read: pitifully scant) supply. Side note: Although it is a scant supply, it is much better than most thanks to my wonderful housemates.
(My supply of cooking utensils)

Enter the kitchen (pictured below), which I share with 50 other students.

Prepare the pumpkin so that it is similar in texture to the canned stuff by cutting off the rinds, dicing it, boiling it, draining it, mashing it, and then simmering it.
Research online how to make bisquick from my ingredients. It looks like adding a bit of baking powder and canola oil will work.
Adjust the amounts of ingredients taking into consideration the types of foods which taste differently here. For example, leave out the salt since butter is used and Indian butter is quite salty.
Mix everything together in a bowl
Pick the beetles out as they fly in.
Place the batter in the only large pot that we have which can safely go in the oven. It's supposed to be a bunt cake, but get real... I live in India.
Go over to the oven and realize that it is not shutting properly today. Attempt to figure out how to get it to shut. Here is a rubber-band and pen contraption that I came up with which worked quite well.
(Sometimes life here is just amusing)

Turn the oven to its highest temperature since that's the only one that seems to produce any heat at all.
Stay near the oven while it bakes so that I can turn it back on when it decides to stop heating (which is every five minutes or so).
Remove the delicious cake and share it with friends!

Campus Church

2009-10-12T04:22:00.000-05:00

The Christian Fellowship yesterday was far better than last time when no one showed up. We had eight people there and we discussed what we would like to fellowship to become this year. We talked about having prayer meetings, nurturing community among us, listening to podcasted sermons, singing together, celebrating holidays, watching movies, and sharing our different Christian backgrounds with each other. We decided to all share the responsibility of planning our Sunday gatherings by having different groups of people plan the gathering on alternating weeks. Monthly dinners together and weekly prayer meetings on Thursday mornings also made it into our plans.

I’m really excited to see what comes of this little church. There is so much potential laden in the fact that we all live together, are experiencing similar things, and face the challenge of being a Christian in a primarily Hindu nation. We’ll all have to take ownership of this church if we want it to work; and taking ownership always leads to growth both personally and communally. The vast array of cultures and Christian traditions that we come from is bound to make for lively and informative interactions as well.

I still terribly miss my church family back home, but it is so good to know that there are others here who are dedicated to being Church together.

Pune and more wonderful meals

2009-10-11T06:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I went into Pune again. I had a great, but exhausting time. I started by going with one of my Indian friends to a taylor. I had bought the fabric for a salwar kameez (a very typical Indian outfit) the last time I was in Pune and needed to get it stitched. She helped with the translation as I picked out the neckline, sleeves, and pant style, that I wanted. I am still totally in love with Indian fabrics and clothing. Later, one of my Israeli friends and I did a bit more clothes shopping, went to the fruit and veggie market, and made a stop at the grocery store. Our trip to the grocery store was complete madness! It was totally packed, quite hot, and really loud. Finding stuff in that store is never easy either as nothing seems to be in the places I think they would logically be. I hadn’t been drinking much water that day (stupid of me), so I felt rather ill by the time we finished our shopping. Luckily, we found a place to sit and drink some water after we finished buying the food.

Every time I get back from the city I am reminded to appreciate the fresh air that I get to breath on campus. The pollution is so awful in the city, and Pune is quite clean compared to many other Indian cities. For example, just one day in the city will turn your snot black and probably make your eyes burn a bit. As much as I dislike the pollution aspect of the city, it has taught me to care a lot more about the effect of my actions on the pollution of our world.

Last night, my house made another wonderful meal. This time it was omelet pie, fries, and apple sauce with ice cream. I bought all the ingredients for the omelet pie, the fries, and the apple sauce fresh while in Pune, so it all tasted delicious! On the menu for tonight is baba ganoush, beer bread, belgian cookies, and iced sugar cookies. Yum! Cooking with the girls in my house is loads of fun. I’m really blessed to be a part of this house. Others are always jealous of both the wonderful food that we make and how well we get along. This morning we were all sitting together at brunch, and I couldn’t help but smile while I looked around at this wonderful group of girls who are becoming like family to me.

The Bonding Power of Food

2009-10-05T10:55:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was what is known here as “Exeat Weekend”. Twice a term we are given weekends in which we are allowed to leave campus on Friday afternoon and don’t have to come back until Sunday night. I was up and down all week about what I should do for the weekend. Most of the first years were going to Bombay, but I wasn’t really up to another weekend of intense traveling after my field trip last weekend. Plus, homework had piled up from the field trip weekend and I knew it just wouldn’t get done if I traveled again. So, I ended up deciding to stay on campus for the weekend. It was a great decision for two reasons:

First, everyone in the group that I was thinking of going to Bombay with got food poisoning and spent all of Monday in the Med Center. I’m glad to have avoided that!

Secondly, most of the girls in my house stayed behind as well, and we had a great time together, mostly cooking and eating. Our house is known as the “cooking house”. People sometimes wander in hoping we have some food to share. I didn’t realize until I moved here how much cooking together helps people bond. We have a great time sharing our favorite dishes with each other. On Saturday, we made some wonderful pasta. We also had some Malaysian food that another friend brought by. On Sunday morning, my Israeli housemate (probably the best cook among us, certainly the one with the most recipes) helped us make banana-chocolate muffins. We had to improvise on the ingredients a bit, but the muffins turned out to be delicious. Later that day, I made lasagna with a Norwegian friend. She had bought feta cheese for it in Pune, which made me REALLY excited. (Typical Indian cheese is disgusting; it’s basically glorified rubber.) On Sunday evening, my Belgian housemate and I watched the movie Chocolate. Halfway though, we decided that we needed to make some hot chocolate, so we took a break to do that. All in all, it was an extremely delicious weekend!

Besides cooking and eating, we also painted our storeroom this weekend. One of the colors that the girls bought in Pune for the room was lime green, since they have figured out by now that I really like that color. We painted the walls turquoise and splattered the lime green on top of that. It’s a really fun looking room now. It has gotten very mixed reactions from other students, though. My favorite comment about it was, “It looks like a Zombie exploded in here.” I’ll post pictures soon.

As to not make it a totally lazy weekend, I swam and hiked too. On Friday evening, I went swimming with my Norwegian friend. We had the pool all to ourselves, so after swimming a few laps we danced in the pool, which is surprisingly harder than you would think. Sunday afternoon, I hiked in the biodiversity reserve with a girl who just graduated from Harvard and is working with our school, teaching kids in the local village. It was wonderful to get to know her a bit better while also exploring our incredible biodiversity reserve.

The best thing about all of this is that I didn’t plan any of it. I went into the weekend expecting to have a quiet, lay-in-bed-and-read type of weekend. Instead, I got wonderful experiences with incredible new friends. Nothing we did was particularly spectacular; what made it good was that we did all of it together. It was one of those times that reminded me the power and beauty of simply being fully present with other, regardless of what you’re doing.

Field Trip Part 1: Friday and Saturday

2009-10-03T05:53:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, I took a trip to Ellora and Adjanta caves. They are a set of ancient Buddist, Hindu, and Jay caves that are located about 7 hours away from my school by bus. We left school Friday afternoon and got to Aurangabad (the city where we were staying) late on Friday evening. Before we left, our teacher had warned us not to expect much from the youth hostel where we were staying. In his words, "The rate is only 60 Rs. a night (about $1.20), so you'll get a bed and maybe be near some running water. That's it." With that warning in mind, I set my expectations very low. It wasn't as bad as I had expected. With the exception of the bathrooms, it was quite clean. We all had beds and some of them even had mosquito nets. The beds had clean sheets on them and a pillow. On the other hand, the toilets smelt and looked awful and the mattresses (if you could even call them that) on the beds were rock hard. But, for $1.20 a night, it was pretty good. After we checked in, two students and one of the teachers left to go get food for all of us since we hadn't eaten dinner yet. They eventually got back around 11:30 pm (things just take longer in India sometimes) with tons of wonderful food. The thirty of us sat on the floor and spread out newspaper to put the food on. Nobody had cups, plates, or silverware, so we all just grabbed a naan or chapati and used it to shovel food straight from the containers into our mouths. At 11:30 pm after seven hours of riding on a bus on Indian roads, none of us really cared.

We were up early the next morning to get breakfast and head over to the caves. The architecture and art in the caves was fantastic. The monks had carved the caves out of the hills with just hammers and chisels. They sculpted some incredible things and painted stunning pictures. On the downside, it is a huge tourist location, so people followed us around quite a bit trying to sell us stuff. "Madam, Madam, I have what you want. Come. I have."

After exploring the caves, we all met up again for lunch. I had some really good fried rice (actually quite a common item on Indian menus) and some much welcome cold water. Meals here rarely cost more than $1 if you don't drink beer with the meal (which I don't). If you do drink, they always hike up the beer costs a ridiculous amount for foreigners. Veg fried rice with no beer: Rs. 45; Veg fried rice with a beer (when you're white): Rs. 250. On a similar note, I went with one of my Indian friends to grab some chai from a street vendor that morning. When I got there his price for the chai magically doubled. Hmm...

We saw a few more sights that evening and then went out to dinner together. Our group pretty much filled the entirety of the poor restaurant that we evaded. The food was so good. I enjoyed some type of fruity curry (I think it was dhansak curry) with curd and a roti (flat bread). When we had finished dinner, a few friends and I went to a big amusement park l that was across the street from the place we were staying. Needless to say, it was way different from Worlds of Fun back home. The rides were far from safe-looking and the food they were selling was more than just a bit sketchy. We had a bit of sugarcane juice and miraculously only one of us got sick from it.

As we walked around, a little beggar girl followed us asking for money. Her face was one of the most painfully and beautiful faces I have ever seen. Every time I looked into her big brown eyes, I wanted to break down crying. The hardest thing is that giving her money wouldn't help because there is probably some adult who controls all the beggar kids there who would just take the money from her. Besides, she needs much more than just a few rupees for a meal. She needs love, hope, and a future. It pains me even more to know that it is not at all unlikely that she will end up being trafficked into the sex industry when she gets a bit older. Her tragic, beautiful face still haunts me.

She is why I came all the way to India to go to a school that cares about human rights. She is why I am spending six weeks with The Emancipation Network next summer, learning how how to effectively restore girls who lived through situations of trafficking. She is why you should partner with organizations like Love 146 that protect girls who are at high risk of being trafficked. She is why you should buy people Christmas gifts that are made by girls who have either been trafficked and are now free or girls who would likely have been trafficked if someone had not given them a job. She is why abolition-- of slavery, of poverty, of greed, of hate-- must happen.

World Religions Class

2009-09-21T03:46:00.001-05:00

Today in World Religion class, we examined the beatitudes. It was a pretty disturbing experience for me. I felt like the discussion and teaching radically undercut the value and meaning of the beatitudes. What upset me so much was that I don’t want others in the class to get an incomplete understanding of Christianity because of what (or the lack of what) we are thought in class. That experience got me thinking quite a bit about the class in general. Here are some of the questions that I’ve started to ask myself about World Religions class:

Can we study religion from a purely academic standpoint?
Is it better to have a partial (and/or partially inaccurate) understanding of a religion than no understanding at all?
What harm is caused by a partial or inaccurate understanding of a religion?
What harm is caused by ignorance about a religion?
Can we really understand a religion without participating in it?
Can we learn about a religion from a non-practitioner?

All of these questions have led me to doubt the validity of the class. They have also forced me to ask if the class does more harm than good.

I know that if I stick with the class, I be profoundly uncomfortable with much of our study of Christianity. I will have to learn to deal with the fact that the class simply can’t do justice to the beauty that exists in the beliefs and practices of Christianity (or any other religion for that matter). I’ll also have to figure out what learning posture I should take as I study the other religions. Obviously, I will not be able to claim to fully understand any of the other religions. But, does that mean that I should not critique those those religions? Should I assume that what I learn in class is actually representational of those faiths, or should I take everything very lightly and assume that my understanding will always be fragmented and incomplete? What value should I assign to my fragmented and incomplete knowledge about a religion?

All of these are tough and disturbing questions for me to ask. But, I know that I need to work my way through the questions and not just run from them. I’d love to hear your guy’s thoughts or comments.

Church and Paud Children’s Home

2009-09-17T11:15:00.000-05:00

Attending the church in Pune last Sunday was a very thought provoking experience. The congregation was made up of mostly young people, about 100 in all. We sang for the first bit. The songs alternated between English and Marathi (the local Indian language here). After singing, there were announcements, communion, and the offering. Then, we had a sermon about Daniel. The pastor was clearly well educated and the sermon was a good one. The pastor spoke in English for a few sentences, paused, and a translator repeated what he had said in Marathi (the pastor was also Indian, but I think he spoke Hindi not Marathi). Overall, going to the church was a great experience. I will probably go back every so often, but it is really far away and the jeep ride is too expensive to go every week. I would rather focus my energy on nurturing the Christian community here than on going to the church in Pune all the time. Ultimately, community is a huge part of what a church is, and I couldn’t really have community with the people in that church since I live so far away from them. But, I can have community with the kids in the Christian Fellowship. We’re all Christ-followers who are living together and attempting to love as best as we can. I want to experiment with what it looks like to be Church with people that you’re living and learning with. Being Church with the students here is also very New Testament-ish. We are a small group of people (very much so the minority) who are doing life together. In America, church just doesn’t look like that. In America, we don’t live together, we don’t share in each others lives with such intensity, and we are able to attend church merely as a consumer if we choose to do so. Here, we just don’t have any of those options. It’s not very often that we get to put ourselves in a situation that resembles the early church, so I’ll take that chance while I have it.

The other thing that I’ve done this week that I’d like to share with you all is my visit to Paud Children’s Home, an orphanage in the local village. One of our community interaction (CI) options is playing with the children there. It was wonderful to get to see the kids smiling and laughing. Not only did the kids get a chance to have some fun, but our being there also provided the people who care for the kids day in and day out with a bit of a break. Taking part in Community Interactions has brought up some interesting questions for me like: What does “development” mean? What do these villages need in order to develop? What is our role and what is the village’s role in helping them develop? All of these are big questions that will take me a long time and lots of experiences to work through. I can tell you now though, that seeing development or humanitarian work from the outside and taking part in it are two completely different things. It’s so much more messy, challenging, rewarding, and frustrating from the inside.

Bio

2009-09-15T22:44:00.002-05:00

I mentioned that classes are quite different here. To give you a taste of how different they are, I figured that I would post my first Bio assignment.

Here it is:

Can something be both A and non-A?

Is there anything that does not change?

Pick either ONE of the above questions and write a short (1000-2000 word) essay on it. Include each of the following in your essay:

1. State your answer to the question.(Your answer could be either yes or no or something more complicated!)

2. Give original examples and evidence to justify your answer.

3. Consider counter arguments.

4. Explain (with examples) why each counter-example is incorrect.

5. Explain whether you are using inductive or deductive reasoning for each of your arguments.

6. Explain whether your arguments are based on materialism, idealism, or dualism.

7. Your essay must include (but may not be confined to) issues and examples related to biology.

This assignment is due by 10 pm, 17^th September, in electronic form.

Week 2

2009-09-13T03:30:00.001-05:00

I’m officially done with my first week of classes. I can’t believe that I’ve only been here two weeks, but at the same time it feels like I just got here yesterday.

Classes were great this week. All of my teachers are incredibly smart and interesting. I always leave classes wishing we had more time to continue our discussions. The goal in classes is not to memorize facts, but rather to learn how to ask good questions. For example, in Bio class, rather than simply reviewing the scientific method as though it was the “right” way to do science, we looked deeply into the system of logic it is based upon (Aristotelian logic) and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of this type of logic.

As great as the classes are, everyone here recognizes that they really aren’t the reason why we are here, nor are they the most rewarding part of being here. We leave classes everyday to go do things that require just as much, if not more, intellectual energy. Simply living in a community like this with people from such different backgrounds means that we are constantly having to think and process new information.

This Saturday, I visited Pune again. It was much less overwhelming this time. I did a bit of food shopping and bought some Indian clothes and fabrics. I was like a little kid in a candy shop while looking at those fabrics. They are all so beautiful! I also went to a fruit market, which was a good experience. It was authentic, chaotic, and smelly, in typical Indian fashion. To get to the fruit part of the market, I had to pass through the meat market. GROSS!! That experience totally reinforced my decision to go vegetarian while here.

As much as I enjoy Pune, it saddens me to see how Western culture has affected it. Everywhere, upscale things have the word “west” included in them. For example, the upscale store in the mall is called “Westside”. There is this pervasive belief that somehow western culture is “better”. Years of colonialism and then economic and and military intimidation surely have played a huge role in forming that belief. But still, India has so much to teach us. I mean, they gained their independence via peaceful revolution, for goodness sake. We can learn A LOT from that. I wish the people would realize that they have so much to teach us, that in many ways they have more of life figured out than we do. That “yield to the westerner” attitude is present here on campus as well. People (some, not all) seem to assume that they should let the westerners speak first, go first, take the lead, etc. I hate that. Everyone here is just as smart, if not smarter, than we are. But somehow, they have been convinced (subconsciously in most cases) to give us special respect. Now that’s not everyone, mind you. There are plenty of people here who strongly dislike America, and with often with good reason. Hopefully, I will be able to have a positive impact on people with both of those views while I’m here.

I also really dislike the things that America has exported to India. The bit of America that people here see are Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and slutty clothes. We have so many better things to offer the world! How about democracy or volunteerism? No, we offer them obesity-causing foods and womanizing clothing. Lovely.

The Christian Fellowship on campus met for the first time today. There were five of us all together. One from Botswana, one from Sweden, and two from Malaysia, plus me. One was from a Catholic background, another was Pentecostal, one was Episcopalian, and one of the Malaysians comes from a family of Buddhists. It was neat to spend time with all of them, and I think seeing what the fellowship grows into over the year will be a very interesting. Tonight, we are visiting a church in Pune. I will blog more about the fellowship and the church later.

Student Meeting and First-year Show

2009-09-06T00:05:00.002-05:00

Although it happened several days ago, I think the student meeting merits a post. The meeting was triggered by an announcement that was posted by our headmaster on the main bulletin board. The notice stated that students would no longer be allowed to smoke hookah on campus. This new rule upset many students for two reasons. First, lots of them really enjoy smoking hookah (hookah is a form of tobacco). Secondly, and most importantly, the new rule created a change in our Community Agreement, which is the set of rules we all agree to live by. In this agreement, tobacco smoking is allowed in the courtyards of our houses. The students were upset that such a change was made without consulting the student body. Additionally, this is our headmaster's first year here, so students were concerned that more changes to the agreement would be made without our consent.

So, we decided to have a student meeting. All of us gathered in the multipurpose hall to discuss the new rule. The meeting was actually quite incredible. Imagine 220 teens in a room trying to sort out what to do about a controversial new rule that affects us all. You would expect chaos, right? That could not be farther from what happened! One student moderated and called on people to talk. We used hand signals to express agreement or disagreement with the person who was speaking in order to avoid chaos. After about 15 minutes, we decided that the important issue was not the hookah itself, but rather the fact that the Community Agreement was changed without our consent. Our headmaster had promised us transparency, and we planned to demand that he hold true to that promise. So, we came up with several questions for the headmaster about the rule change and what process he plans to use in the future if he wants to change the Community Agreement. We then decided that group of six people would go and meet with him the following day to ask those questions. The entire meeting ran smoothly, with everyone getting a chance to express their opinion. I was amazed. Something like that would never happen at my old school.

The next afternoon another notice was posted. This notice reversed the rule change, apologized for altering the Community Agreement without our consent, and stated that we would duscuss a process for future changes at the all college meeting on Monday. He actually apologized for changing the rule. So many administrators would keep the rule just to prove their power. The fact that he was willing to reverse the rule and even apologize won a lot of respect from me. If he is willing to respect and listen to us, we are certainly more than willing to respect and listen to him.

On a much lighter note, we had our first-year show last night. It was basically a talent show put on by the first-years. I was part of the group that designed and made clothes from the fashion show bit. Here is a picture the dress I helped to make. It's made of only tin foil, newspaper, and tape. We even made it in less than 2 hours. Apparently, I have a bit of fashion designer in me. Who would have thought?

The last bit of orientation week

2009-09-04T05:48:00.006-05:00

Loads has happened since the last time I blogged! We had out Paud orientation, a presentation about Akshara, a tour of the biodiversity reserve, an extra-curricular fair, a student meeting, and our hikes.

Akshara is a program in the local villages that gives supplemental education to village kids. The program is heavily supported by my school. We invite the kids to use our classrooms and labs, my school handles their accounting, and we give them free office space. The program has made a huge difference in the lives of many kids. Three of the students went on to finish their schooling at my school on full scholarships, three others have gone to other UWCs, two are attending university in the US, and many others have gone on to pursue vocational training. The program also focuses on promoting gender equality. Many students from my school help with pre-Akshara kids, teaching them English and Math.

After our intro to Akshara, we visited the local village, which is named Paud. I really enjoyed that trip. I was able to buy fruit, veggies, and rice at the market; we ate some Indian food; and I bought an Indian mobile phone. The villagers were all really nice. Paud seemed less overwhelming than Pune and more welcoming. I think I’ll probably spend a good bit of time there in the future.

Later, we had the biodiversity reserve tour. We only saw a small portion of the reserve (it’s huge!), but what I saw was incredible. The school has cataloged and preserved thousands of plants and animals that otherwise would likely not be here. Ten years ago when the school started, there was only one tree on campus. Now, there is green everywhere and the environment is thriving again. The area that has trails covers about 75 acres, and the part that is protected from human activity makes up another 95 acres. To restore the land like that is truly amazing. I love that I get to go to a school that takes caring for the environment so seriously.

The extra-curricular fair was later on yesterday evening. The activities are broken up into four categories: community interaction, campus service, creation, and action. Here are the activities I plan to take part in:

Community Interaction: Community Development-- the idea is to help accomplish sustainable development in the surrounding areas
Campus Service: Environmental Protection Activity-- work on the biodiversity reserve and on projects to make the campus more eco-friendly
Creation: Global Affairs Talks, and Religion Discussions
Action: Yoga

My hike today was wonderful! We hiked through some villages and up some hills to a lake near a damn. It was raining the whole time, so the hike was wet and slick, but the rain kept us cool, which was really nice. I got to know more people while walking too. Once we got to the lake, several of us got in and played in the water. It was the perfect temperature, so I had a blast swimming around. I think I’ll definitely do that hike again and maybe make it an overnight next time so that we can have more time to play in the water. I’m really looking forward to all the hikes I’ll be able to do while I’m here. Here are some photos from the hike here.

I'll write about the student meeting later; this post is already too long.

More from orientation week

2009-09-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

I’m right the midst of orientation week, so I still have plenty of new things to tell you all about. Here is an update of what I’ve been up to since the last time I wrote:

Last night, we had dinner with our tutors and tutor groups. Our tutors are faculty members who we can go to with academic problems and who keep a general tab on how we are doing in classes. My tutor group has 10 students (including me), half first-years and half-second years. For the dinner, we went to a restaurant in Paud, the local village. It was about a 15 minute jeep ride from campus. I really enjoyed the ride there and back. The whole area is beautiful, and it was a cool evening. The driver had on Indian radio, so that was fun. For the meal, we ordered a bunch of different things and all shared. Apparently, that’s how meals out work here. The food was all really good, although my stomach is not totally used to Indian food yet. I am still amazed at how cheap food is here. If I were in the States, a meal like what I had would have cost me at least $10. Here, the food budget per student was 150 rupees, about $1.50. The evening was an interesting mix of something I would do at home (go out to dinner) and an experience of a culture that is entirely new to me. After returning to campus, I spent some time with housemates and then went to bed. Speaking of bed, I really miss my bed at home. The mattresses here are about 2 inches thick and have so springs in them. I’ll certainly sleep well when I’m home for Christmas!

Today was my on-campus orientation. It started with a meeting with Cyrus, our head of academics. We talked about courses and got a tentative schedule set. I decided to go ahead and take Philosophy and just sit in on Spanish class. Later, my group met with our headmaster Dr. Long. He is a really nice guy and super enthusiastic about the school. One nice thing is that students never have to schedule appointments to talk with him. If we want to talk and he’s not already in a meeting, we can just go in and chat. That’s about as far away as you can get from the way things worked at West... The whole school is set up to give students a lot of freedom and input in how things work. For example, every Monday we have an all-school meeting where we sort through problems and inform the students and faculty about important things. The school also tries hard to support students in pursing their interests and passions. If a student has an idea and a plan for how to bring that idea to fruition, the school will support him/her however possible. After the meeting with the headmaster, we had library and IT orientation. Then, we were introduced to the extra-curricular stuff that we will get to do. That stuff merits its own blog post, so I’ll write about it soon.

That was it for daytime/afternoon orientation. Later this evening we had a peer support talk where they introduced us to support systems that are in place should we need anything. We talked about drinking, smoking, drugs, sex and other pleasant topics like those. Two entertaining bits from that discussion: they told us good brands of condoms that are available in Pune and introduced us to the three students that you can buy condoms from on campus (you can’t buy them in Pune if you’re under 18). At least they want us to be safe...

After that, I headed over to a different Wada (house) and talk with Clare. She is one of my American co-years, and one of the few people who has a name that I can actually pronounce. We talked about places and people that we miss from home, the challenging stuff here, the good stuff here, what we’re excited for this year, our families, boys, and plenty of other good stuff.

Tomorrow is Paud (the local village) orientation and a walk on the biodiversity reserve. Then, we have a fair where we learn more about extra-curriculars and a clothes exchange. Friday we all go on hikes. I’m really excited for that!

I have some pictures up. You can see them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sallyrymer/sets/72157622093225975/. I’ll put more up soon.

India!!

2009-09-01T04:58:00.002-05:00

I’m here in India now! I arrived Saturday evening, so I’m starting to get relatively settled in and used to the time difference now. Lots has happened, so I’ll just start at the beginning.

Friday afternoon I flew out of Kansas City to Newark where I had a lay over of about 4 hours. Getting out of KC took some doing. We were first delayed by a mechanical problem and then by weather. We were meant to fly out at 10:25 am, but did not leave until 1:00 pm. I still got to Newark with plenty of time to spare, so it all worked out just fine. A bit before I got on the plane, I met up with Rory, one of my American co-years. We were able to sit next to each other on the flight. The flight itself lasted about 14 hours. Overall it was a really good flight. They had tons of movies that we could choose from (over 350!), so I watched several of those. They served good food too. I slept a bit, but not very much. With the time change, we landed in Mumbai at 9:00 pm on Saturday. We collected our luggage, cleared customs, and met up with the second years who were picking us up. We had to wait for a few more first years to arrive, so we did not leave the airport until about 2:00 am on Sunday. Around 3:00 am we stopped at a food court for some Indian food (it was delicious). I think the I’ll cherish for quite some time the memory of stopping for my first Indian meal at 3:00 am. A Hindi festival was going on that night, so traffic was pretty bad. We finally arrived at the school around 6:00 am. I went straight to bed, but was only able to sleep for about 2 hours before orientation started.

Sunday was a really difficult day. I was completely exhausted. In the past three days, I had gotten a total of about six hours of sleep. Despite my exhaustion, I had to do lots of registration stuff, and meet tons of new people while attempting to be mildly pleasant and remember names. Remembering names will continue to be a challenge for awhile since so many people are from other countries and have hard-to-pronounce names. Communication can also be difficult since we all come from such different cultures and speak English in very different ways. For example, today someone sneezed and by reflex I said, “Bless you.” He just looked at me strangly. Sunday afternoon, we had a welcoming ceremony where the headmaster spoke. After that, we met our tutors and tutor groups. My tutor is Sarita, the librarian. She’s really nice, and I love the fact that she is the librarian. She is also my Wada parent, which is similar to an RA in a dorm. That evening, we had a nice dinner (we all dressed up) followed by Sunday Spotlight, a showcase of student talent that we do every other Sunday. This time, two boys played a song on piano and cello, a girl played an incredible piece on piano (she has been playing for 12 years), a boy sang a Bengali song, and the music teacher played African drums. This school is full of talented people! We then had dessert (ice-cream with carrots) and then finally went to bed. I have never been as excited to get to sleep as I was that night!

Monday was a better day since I had gotten a full night sleep. We started the day off with blood tests (and Indian requirement) and then I had math and Spanish placement tests. After those, we had academic orientation where we heard about all our class options. So many of the classes sound incredible! They are all interesting takes on typical subjects. For example, in History we study peacekeeping, peacemaking, war tactics/consequences, and post-colonialism. I plan to take the following subjects:

World Lit. (Higher level)
Biology (Higher level)
Spanish (Higher level)
World Religions (Standard level)
Hindi (Standard level)
Math Studies (Standard level)

Monday evening was pretty relaxed. I got to spend time with my house-mates. There are 8 of us between the two rooms that make up my house. All of them are incredibly nice. I made dinner that night with three of my house-mates. One of the girls is from Israel, so we had an Israeli dish, salad, and then a chocolate dessert. After dinner, we had our first house meeting where we talked about open communication, keeping things clean, house dinners, etc. Almost all of my house mates cook, which is wonderful! That means that we’ll have house dinners with Mongolian, Japanese, Indian, Swedish, and American food. Yum!

This morning was Pune orientation. Pune is the closest big city. It’s about an hour and a half drive from campus. We visited the city and our second-years took us to stores, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. to show us where to buy things that we’ll need throughout the year. The city was very different from any American city I’ve been to. To begin with, the roads were insane. Indian driving is, well, just plain crazy. Nobody cares about lanes, speed limits, lights, or signs. The horn is the most important part of the car. The grocery stores were not too different from US shops. Other shops sold things you would not see in the US like Indian fabrics. Less women were out shopping and driving that you would typically see in the US. Buildings are more dilapidated here than in most other places I’ve been. The city was somewhat dirty, but not so much that it stank or was an unpleasant place to be. It will take some adjusting, but I think that I’ll really enjoy Pune. Later today, I’ll have dinner with my tutor group in a local village called Paud.

I’ll write more later and upload some pictures. Comment if there is anything specific you want to know about.

Love 146 Photography Project

2009-08-21T14:39:00.003-05:00

Generally, I think it's pretty lame to re-blog what someone else blogged. But, this post was worth re-posting. It's about photography project done by an 8th grader for Love 146. The photos are beautiful and heart-breaking. Check it out; it's well worth it.

Here is one of my favorite picture:

Photo Credit: Jennifer Hamilton

http://love146.blogspot.com/2009/08/labor-of-love_21.html

Impending Adventures

2009-08-10T06:05:00.003-05:00

Seeing this on my floor everyday gives me continual excitement. 17 days left...

Augmented Reality

2009-07-29T23:51:00.002-05:00

A new technology is coming onto the mainstream market called Augmented Reality (AR). It blends real reality with virtual reality in order to show digital information on top of realtime video of whatever is in front of you. Applications have been developed for the iphone which help you find the nearest subway station. This video shows how such an application works.

This one gives you an idea of other ways AR can be used.

Conscious Shopping

2009-07-27T11:18:00.002-05:00

I found this post recently. It is an index of nine different sites that give profiles of corporation's environmental and social responsibility. If you're concerned with what your dollars support, it is a post worth reading.

Google Apps

2009-07-26T08:20:00.002-05:00

I have recently been re-discovering the beauty of google applications. Much like Mac, Google constantly amazes me with the excellence of their products.

I've been a huge fan of gmail for quite awhile now. It's by far the best email service available. Many schools and companies are using gmail now too.

Google docs are also quite wonderful. One of my favorite features is the fact that you can have multiple collaborators working on any one document. For example, I'm working on making some travel plans with a friend and we are collaborating on a google doc to keep both of us up to date with flight info, hostels, etc. The ability to collaborate on documents is great for school too. It saves you from having to circulate an unending and confusing chain of emails. I have a folder for every class, so everything can stay neat and organized. Google notebook is no longer actively developed by google, but it is similar to google docs and also useful.

My most recent discovery was google reader which allows you to read all your favorite blogs and news in one spot. It's like having a free magazine or newspaper with only the stuff you like in it.

Google calendar has long been a favorite of mine. It's the "smartest" online calendar I've ever found. You can type "August 8 Coffee with Ashley noon" and it automatically creates an event on August 8th at noon called "Coffee with Ashley". If you're also a gmail user and you get an email with a similar phrase in it, a sidebar will pop up asking you if you want to add the event to your calendar. How to google folks designed that is beyond me, but it's great. Google Calendar also lets you share your calendars with others which is great for families and companies.

I'm also a fan of google's blogger (obviously) and google maps, among other applications.

Go here to see a full list of google applications. Play around with a few. They're incredibly useful.

Hilarious

2009-07-21T11:31:00.004-05:00

check out this video

Trafficking in India

2009-06-15T19:46:00.002-05:00

In this blog post, India is called the "ground zero of human trafficking". As much as I know that it'll be good for me to just throw myself into the fire and experience trafficking head on in such an intense are, I also know that it will be very difficult.

I can completely see myself spending days working to fight sex trafficking and loving the work, but also going home at night and just crying and crying about how horrid the evil of it all is.

The darkness scares me. I think that's natural and healthy though. It's just finding balance and hope that will be difficult.

DC

2009-06-15T19:27:00.001-05:00

I’m in DC now. The place where I’m staying is really neat. It’s

right on Capitol Hill, so it’s a lively place. Within a few blocks is the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and tons of local shops and restaurants. I love being so close to the Library of Congress. You know on old cartoons how when a guy would see a really cute girl, you could see his heart pound? Well, that’s how I feel at the Library of Congress :-)

(Me when I walk past the Library of Congress)

The dorm where I’m living is full of interesting people. We have really great conversations about international politics, travel, and our passions around the dinner table. Tonight, two girls got in an argument about whether or not India was a racist country. Both girls were of Indian decent, so they had background to speak from. It was quite interesting to hear both their views. I think living here is a taste of the sort of issues I’ll get to discuss next year at Mahindra.

Speaking of Mahindra, I got info about our first project week today. I’m really excited about the project weeks! They will be such a great opportunity to serve and learn. Here is the description of my top pick for which organization I want to work with during this project week:

Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), Bangalore,

www.apsaindia.org

Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) is a child-centered, rights-based, community development organization founded in the year 1981. APSA is located in Bangalore. APSA works at two levels - at the grassroots level where the focus is on empowerment of the poor and at the macro levels of the state and the country through advocacy and policy planning. This two-pronged approach is reflected in the planning and implementation of all of APSA's projects.

Last year's project week in APSA was planned collaboratively by MUWCI volunteers and APSA staff. After a day's orientation to APSA's projects, our volunteers spent the rest of the week with the Child Labour project, who at the time had a campaign in progress. Therefore our volunteers took part actively in conducting surveys, even rescuing two child labourers. They accompanied the Child Labour project team to government institutions, visited slums, attended women's group meetings - all of which helped them arrive at a holistic picture of child labour in the context of urban poverty. They also learned to deal realistically with issues of rehabilitation, processes of law, child rights versus family rights, etc

I don’t start at IJM until Thursday, so I’m going to visit Georgetown tomorrow and George Washington University on Wednesday. More about those later...