Post Tin: 2 Weeks In

Okay, as you may have noticed I haven’t been very diligent in keeping up with this blog. But I have a good excuse. The Maymester schedule is so rigorous that I have very little time to myself. A typical day goes like this: 8am: breakfast, 9-12:30: class, 12:30: lunch, 1:30: leave to visit an institute or academy, sometimes in a different city, anytime between 7pm & midnight: eat dinner & return to hotel. Then, on weekends we go to different cities. Essentially, we’re going, going, going every minute of the day & by the time we get back we’re too exhausted to do anything. It's amazing, but prevents us from doing much exploring on our own or just taking personal time.

Since I've been here the group has visited the Wildlife Institute of India, the Forest Research Institute, the Rajaji National Park, the Lal Bahadur Shastry Natl Academy of Administration, the Central Soil & Water Conservation Research & Training Inst (I know, really long name), the Wadia Inst of Himalayan Geology, and the Survey of India. We have explored the cities of Rishikesh, Haridwar, Mussoorie, a bit of Delhi, & Dehradun where we're staying. Of course, these visits have been quite adventuresome. In Rishikesh we had to walk on a crowded pedestrian bridge to get across the Ganges River when it was pouring, with 40 mile winds, and trashed kicked up all around us. In Haridwar, we were fortunater enough to be there at just the right time to see (& take part in) the Ganga Aarti- the nightly river worship ceremony of the Holy Ganga River. It turns out that my friends got footage of me taking part in the ceremony, so I'll see if I can get that from him to post. We also were able to appreciate the Buddhist temple & a Tibetan Culture Center here in Dehradun. Also, we heard a fabulous talk from the Doon Society- a very active, and effective group of dedicated individuals really making an impact in conservation of land in India & in helping villagers become self-sustaining.

I better get to sleep now, as I have to be on the bus at 6am (in about 4.5 hours) to head into the Himalayas to Yamunotri where we’ll stay for the weekend. It’s really exciting because we’ll be able to hike through the Himalayas & see the sunset from the mountains.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to put pics up after I get back.

Sidenote: I'd like to put more of myself (i.e. my perceptions of the events, encounters, etc), rather than just what the schedule has been down in this blog. Right now it's difficult bc I just don't have time, but I'll try to do more of that to make these posts more interesting for you, readers, and to attempt to document the actual experiences for my own benefit.

Post Dho: Welcome to India

Well, I had an interesting few weeks leading up to this trip. The most interesting happening was having to get an emergency appendectomy the day of my sister's graduation (2 Fridays ago). But it was fine. I'd rather have it out than in, as it can no longer bother me at this point. Plus, it got me out of a final, which was fine, just FINE.. =)

So, the day I was to head out was a bit hectic as well. I was to fly to Chicago through American Airlines & then catch a connecting flight to Delhi. That's not quite how things panned out. The flight to Chicago was delayed, which would have caused me to miss the flight to Delhi. So, after waiting a billion years in line at the airport to figure out what to do, the guy said I'd have to wait until the following day to head out. Once I got to Samara's place (my sister's; she agreed to let me stay the night at her place), I realized that I HAD to arrive sooner than this flight could get me there or I'd miss the bus with my group to Dehradun & would have to find a way there on my own- which, of course, I could have done with no problem, but preferred yo take a free ride with people I halfway knew. From Samara's I called the airport, went round & round, until they said there was a flight heading to LA in an hour that I could catch. So, Mara & I grabbed my stuff, rushed out of the house & down the highway, & I said, "We'll never make it.. Let's go back." Fortunately, I have a very determined & wise eldest sister who said, "We're already halfway there. There's no harm in trying." And she was quite right, because I did make it after all. Flew to LA (in the opposite direction of where I needed to go), caught a connecting flight to London (my first time in Europe & I didn't see a thing besides the airport. Damn!), & then hooked up with British Airways to go to Delhi. After flying BA, I never want to take AmAir, Continental, or any other silly US airlines. They had a complementary bar, a bag with a sleeping mask, socks, a mini toothbrush & toothpaste, & headphones to plug in to watch movies or shows.. Oh! And GOOD food. They know how to treat a person real nice.

The 3 other students I ran into taking the same London flight & I took a cab to the hotel where the rest of the students were staying, had time for a hurried breakfast, & hopped on the bus to Dehradun with everyone. The ride took about 7 hours, but it was fascinating because it seemed like there was never an end to Delhi & the beginning of open countryside. That's what happens when a billion people inhabit a country a third of the size of the US. I saw tons loads of people in the street during that long ride. So many people, with so many different modes of transportation (they were on foot, bicycles, on horses, on carriages led by horses or cows, riding motor scooters, in cars, buses, rickshaws), some were pissing or defecating in the street, some were selling fruits, snacks, or other goods, others were just hanging out outside, waiting for something. Most of them were men , half wearing western clothing. The few women I did see were all wearing saris or the silwar camis- the beautiful, traditional dress of India. I saw loads of stray, mangy dogs, cows wandering the streets (but not on a milk shed), and signs in both Hindi & English. I head horns, bells, horns, birds, and more horns (I'm still hearing horns as I sit in my room typing). I tasted & ingested pollution & caught whiffs of delicious Indian food. The wealth disparity was apparent, as there were beggers in the streets & people in shiny new cars.

Finally, we arrived at the hotel, had a lovely buffet dinner, & I passed out for the night. Yesterday at 8am we had our first Hindi lesson, but we only made it to the vowels as the lesson was prefaced with a 45 minute poetic shpeel about the beauty of language, communication of the soul, and the necessity for understanding. The teacher is a local, and quite a romantic. But he's still fun. The we got our cell phones & internet cards & had the rest of the day to ourselves. Many of us went to explore the Pultan Bazaar, the open air market. We had a wonderful time riding in rickshaws (I'll take pictures of them later so you know what I'm talking about), sort of open taxis on 3 wheels, to get to the market & we each paid only 10 Rupees (about 25 cents). At the Bazaar, everything you can imagine was being sold cheaply (but of course they jacked the prices up for us). I talked a guy down to giving me a nice Indian shirt for 120 Rupees ($3), so ladies, let me know your sizes & I'll hook you up. In the midst of all the cheap goods & fruit stands, there were random piles of trash everywhere. Some of it had been partially burned, but of course the aluminum & ashes remained in piles in the streets.

I have to run to a party, but I'll be back to finish updating the post...

-internet/phones/ WATER
-Hindi class
-sleep schedule
-wondering about everyone
-IRB
-Recruitment
-Phone #: The # is: 011-91-975-839-1502
-Address
-Will put pics up later/ maybe video

Post Numero 1

Well, 13 days to go until I'll be on that plane to South Asia for 3 solid months. I'll be taking a UT faculty led "Maymester" class (Environment & Society in South Asia) for a month, and then will head off to Pakistan to do 2 months of research on the Indus River- and see Ammar. =)

This summer certainly will be an adventure, or rather a series of adventures, as all trips should be. I feel perfectly confident about what I'll be doing once I get there, but a bit anxious about being able to accomplish all of the things I have to do here before taking off- getting someone to sublet my room, packing away my stuff for the summer, packing appropriately for the trip, acquiring the right gifts for the people I'll be interviewing in Pakistan & for the people I'll be staying with, and getting the whole lot of it to fit in my bag, making sure all the stuff I'll need for the research is in order, applying for all of those things I want to do next (& scholarships), the list goes on..

No need to worry. Somehow everything always seems to fall right into place, & if it doesn't, who needs it anyway?

Plus, there are all the family happenings: graduations, weddings, birthdays. All should be fun & perfectly distracting to keep me from worrying about finals & what I haven't studied. Plus there will be good food involved.. And if any of you know me well enough to be reading my blog, you know how I feel about food.

Anyway, a girl is kicking me out of this classroom I'm inhabiting, so I must be off.

Here's to this summer! Cheers to all reading & feel free to leave comments.

-Tabby