So that wasn’t exactly how they asked me. They asked the people I walked into the restaurant with. We had just sat down at our table when a man came up and asked something to the guys we have been working with. They gave him a funny look. He asked them something else and they said “america.” He then said “excuse me” and told me his name and shook my hand and told me it was nice to meet me. He then whispered something else to the guys and left. They laughed and told me and my friend that he came over and asked them if I was from India or a foreigner. Now, I would almost be impressed that something about the way I can blend into a culture that people would want to know, except with my blond hair, blue eyes, and bright white skin, it was pretty clear that it was not my ability to blend in. Rather it was a group of men who had too much to drink and were surprised to see a white girl like me in this part of India in this hotel restaurant. Two other men both came over to shake my hand during the evening, separately, so that they all could say they met me. They did not try to stay and chat, just wanted to meet.
Earlier today we were at a school. A bunch of the girls (after being prepped and encouraged by their teacher) came up to ask me questions like “What is your name?” and “How are you?” and “Where are you from?” I was happy to answer and try to talk to them a little. Most were pretty shy. But after they talked to me, every single one of them lined up to shake my hand and say hello and thank you. I told them all how great it was to meet them.
When a bunch of 12 year old girls who can barely look you in the eye and are giggling with excitement line up to shake your hand, it is really cute. When several older men who have obviously had too much to drink do it, it is less cute. It was pretty funny though.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Random Updates 7.28.09
Two weeks from tonight I will be flying home. And so much to do between now and then. We have two days left in Murshidabad. Tomorrow we are going to have a meeting with parents at a school in one of the villages we’ve done some work in to share what we’ve learned so far and get their feedback. Thursday is our last full day here and we’ll do some final field work and any last minute meetings. Friday we head back to Kolkata. We have a lot of work and transcribing and analyzing to do then. Also lots of shopping this weekend which I’m really looking forward to.
Next week is another busy week full of meetings and trying to wrap up this past month. Lots to think about. Lots to write about. I’ve learned so much through this whole experience. I’ve been trying to keep detailed notes throughout the trip so I wouldn’t forget anything, but it is still going to be hard to try and capture in summaries and reports.
I am excited to share my pictures with everyone. We’ve gotten some pretty great ones.
In unrelated news – I have a new places to live when I move back to the bay! Yay for awesome roommate Lindsey for finding the place. I will be a new Oakland resident starting in August.
We’ve been watching a lot of Indian movies at night. I’ve gotten really into them. It’s kind of fun to watch movies where you can’t understand what the words are but still follow the story and are totally invested in the outcome. Plus, you gotta love the dancing and music and songs throughout all of them.
Next week is another busy week full of meetings and trying to wrap up this past month. Lots to think about. Lots to write about. I’ve learned so much through this whole experience. I’ve been trying to keep detailed notes throughout the trip so I wouldn’t forget anything, but it is still going to be hard to try and capture in summaries and reports.
I am excited to share my pictures with everyone. We’ve gotten some pretty great ones.
In unrelated news – I have a new places to live when I move back to the bay! Yay for awesome roommate Lindsey for finding the place. I will be a new Oakland resident starting in August.
We’ve been watching a lot of Indian movies at night. I’ve gotten really into them. It’s kind of fun to watch movies where you can’t understand what the words are but still follow the story and are totally invested in the outcome. Plus, you gotta love the dancing and music and songs throughout all of them.
It’s always something at the Samrat …
The hotel we have been staying at in Murshidabad is Hotel Samrat. Our first experience here was not a great one. Pretty much every person who worked here was incredibly rude to us. And not just me and my friend, but my friend’s mom and sister who were also staying here for a couple of days. It just seemed that every encounter was a negative one. We were happy to try a different guest house that was closer to some of the work we would be doing that week. But after an invasion of cockroaches in our room, combined with already held the concerns about general safety as well as the quality of the food, we quickly came back to the city. But first we tried another hotel – The White House. Nice name, huh. Anyway, there was a reason we were put in Samrat in the first place, it definitely is the best quality hotel in the area. So when we came back to Murshidabad for this two week trip, we are back at the Samrat. The service is much better, but I swear there is always something.
If it’s not the AC that isn’t working (again), it’s the fluorescent light flashing that needs to be replaced. And of course, they don’t believe us when we call. So they have to send multiple people to come and see that it won’t stop flickering before they actually just replace the thing. Currently our bathroom looks like a forest with all the bugs and moths and crickets that have made it their new home, along with a couple of lizards who are not doing their jobs and eating the darn bugs.
Every day is a new adventure here in India, whether one of our meetings or errands we have to run or some new experience. But it also seems that every day there is something new at the Samrat. All part of the experience though. You just have to shrug it off, be happy with the experience you are having and everything you are learning, and move on to the next adventure.
If it’s not the AC that isn’t working (again), it’s the fluorescent light flashing that needs to be replaced. And of course, they don’t believe us when we call. So they have to send multiple people to come and see that it won’t stop flickering before they actually just replace the thing. Currently our bathroom looks like a forest with all the bugs and moths and crickets that have made it their new home, along with a couple of lizards who are not doing their jobs and eating the darn bugs.
Every day is a new adventure here in India, whether one of our meetings or errands we have to run or some new experience. But it also seems that every day there is something new at the Samrat. All part of the experience though. You just have to shrug it off, be happy with the experience you are having and everything you are learning, and move on to the next adventure.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Quick Lesson
No, those long, skinny, green vegetables in the middle of the veggie platter are NOT green beans.
Monday, July 20, 2009
General Update 7.19.09
The trip is going very well. Another week flew by here in Kolkata. We were very busy between meetings and planning for the next phase. Tonight we travel back to the Murshidabad district where we will be for the next two weeks. During this phase of the trip we will continue to meet with different local government officials, a couple of local NGOs, as well as continue to assist on a research project. We will spend some time in the villages talking to families and we will spend some time in the larger city. Our project is centered on the problem of arsenic in the ground water which is most people's main source of drinking water. It’s a pretty intense experience to see the health effects first hand and to talk to people about what is going on.
While we are here this trip, we are also going to see some of the historical sites of the area which should be pretty interesting. We will also be meeting up with more students from a local college who are also going to be working on the research project; I’m excited to meet more of the students and hang out with them.
My friend leaves two weeks from Monday and I will be so sad to see her go. There is another student staying in our guest house in Kolkata who is doing work through the same professor who will still be here when we get back from Murshidabad. She just arrived this weekend, but we might have the chance to get to know her some when we get back. I think these next two weeks are going to fly by. And then it will be just a little over a week until I head home myself. I’m looking into possibly doing a sort of packaged tour my last weekend in Delhi, including a trip to the Taj Mahal. Has anyone been on one or knows someone who has? I’m looking for recommendations of reliable tour companies.
I am having an incredible time and it really is an amazing experience and I know it will continue to be so. That being said, I am also a little homesick. I wish I got to be home when mom gets home from her big trip so I could hear all about it. And go to the wedding in August. And help figure out where I’m going to live next year. And be back up in the Bay. BUT in no means am I regretting being here or this experience. Just missing home is all. But with just a little over three weeks to go and so much to do between then and now, I think it will go by really fast. Who knows, I might not even ready to leave when that time gets here … although I’ll probably just be pretty excited.
While we are here this trip, we are also going to see some of the historical sites of the area which should be pretty interesting. We will also be meeting up with more students from a local college who are also going to be working on the research project; I’m excited to meet more of the students and hang out with them.
My friend leaves two weeks from Monday and I will be so sad to see her go. There is another student staying in our guest house in Kolkata who is doing work through the same professor who will still be here when we get back from Murshidabad. She just arrived this weekend, but we might have the chance to get to know her some when we get back. I think these next two weeks are going to fly by. And then it will be just a little over a week until I head home myself. I’m looking into possibly doing a sort of packaged tour my last weekend in Delhi, including a trip to the Taj Mahal. Has anyone been on one or knows someone who has? I’m looking for recommendations of reliable tour companies.
I am having an incredible time and it really is an amazing experience and I know it will continue to be so. That being said, I am also a little homesick. I wish I got to be home when mom gets home from her big trip so I could hear all about it. And go to the wedding in August. And help figure out where I’m going to live next year. And be back up in the Bay. BUT in no means am I regretting being here or this experience. Just missing home is all. But with just a little over three weeks to go and so much to do between then and now, I think it will go by really fast. Who knows, I might not even ready to leave when that time gets here … although I’ll probably just be pretty excited.
Trains
We have been taking the train back and forth from Kolkata to Murshidabad. The train station is a very different experience from the airport. Even in the domestic terminals at the airport there were usually a few other foreigners, but I have not yet seen any in the train stations. They are crowded, as are most places here, and hot. I get lots and lots of stares. There are a lot of people begging and I get singled out by many of them. There are kids wearing nothing but rags sleeping on the concrete next to gates. Stray dogs amble through the crowds and find incredibly inconvenient places to lie down and spend a lot of time chasing after flies that try to land on them. There are lots of flies everywhere. And the stench in the wrong wind or on the spot can be pretty bad. It’s not uncommon for some people to go to the bathroom on the tracks. It is a huge mix of people – families, business men, farmers, people of all ages and all classes wearing everything from very little to intricate and beautiful saris.
Crowds swarm the train as you are trying to get on. Makes me really glad we have been paying for reserved seats. Still have to fight through the crowds though, to get on the train and then to get to your seat, and then to put your luggage away. Once on the train, however, the view of the countryside is absolutely beautiful. It is simply green for as far as your eye can see. Amazing trees and plant life, lakes and ponds, and fields and fields of jute, banana tress, and other crops. And then you pass by small towns or little cities and see more of daily life. There is also trash everywhere in the cities, especially around the tracks. The colorful clothes blow in the breeze that are hung out outside to dry. Depending on the time of day, people are in the fields or on their porches or in the street.
Tons of vendors pass up and down in the aisles on the train, selling everything from books to umbrellas to flashlights to rubix cubes. The most common item is cha, or tea. There is also all sorts of food items being sold, I’ve seen toast spread with butter and dipped in sugar and or cinnamon, ghugni – a type of lentil dish, crackers, chips, candy, etc. Our favorite and what we now get every time on the train is the Muri Makha – translated means rice mixed with other stuff. It’s dried, puffed rice mixed with all sorts of spices and nuts and coconut and other goodness. It is really delicious.
Last night we made it from Kolkata to Murshidabad on the train all by ourselves. Our two previous train trips we had someone we knew on the train with us. Of course, someone dropped us off at the train station (even made sure we found our seats) and another person picked us up right outside the station gate on the other end (we have a lot of people worrying about and taking very good care of us), but we still made the trip by ourselves, and even figured out the correct stop we needed to get off at. Although we almost didn’t make it as the train started moving again before everyone was off … but it stopped again shortly after when they realized a bunch of us were still in line to disembark. So we made it! Now time to finish preparing for these next two weeks, as we are going to be kept very busy.
Crowds swarm the train as you are trying to get on. Makes me really glad we have been paying for reserved seats. Still have to fight through the crowds though, to get on the train and then to get to your seat, and then to put your luggage away. Once on the train, however, the view of the countryside is absolutely beautiful. It is simply green for as far as your eye can see. Amazing trees and plant life, lakes and ponds, and fields and fields of jute, banana tress, and other crops. And then you pass by small towns or little cities and see more of daily life. There is also trash everywhere in the cities, especially around the tracks. The colorful clothes blow in the breeze that are hung out outside to dry. Depending on the time of day, people are in the fields or on their porches or in the street.
Tons of vendors pass up and down in the aisles on the train, selling everything from books to umbrellas to flashlights to rubix cubes. The most common item is cha, or tea. There is also all sorts of food items being sold, I’ve seen toast spread with butter and dipped in sugar and or cinnamon, ghugni – a type of lentil dish, crackers, chips, candy, etc. Our favorite and what we now get every time on the train is the Muri Makha – translated means rice mixed with other stuff. It’s dried, puffed rice mixed with all sorts of spices and nuts and coconut and other goodness. It is really delicious.
Last night we made it from Kolkata to Murshidabad on the train all by ourselves. Our two previous train trips we had someone we knew on the train with us. Of course, someone dropped us off at the train station (even made sure we found our seats) and another person picked us up right outside the station gate on the other end (we have a lot of people worrying about and taking very good care of us), but we still made the trip by ourselves, and even figured out the correct stop we needed to get off at. Although we almost didn’t make it as the train started moving again before everyone was off … but it stopped again shortly after when they realized a bunch of us were still in line to disembark. So we made it! Now time to finish preparing for these next two weeks, as we are going to be kept very busy.
A little politics
I am posting this several days after this happened. After the strike, everything went back to normal. There were no more transportation disruptions, people went back to life as usual. We were fine and able to travel safely. I will still follow the politics though and update if there is more interesting news. Now, onto the post …
We are watching the news right now and seeing several buses on fire. In Kolkata. We’re in Kolkata right now. Apparently there are some major politics at play here at the moment. I’m still trying to find out all of the details, but so far, this is what I’ve gather:
-One of the local leaders - Falguni Mukherjee - of the currently leading political party, CPI-M (Community Party India-Marxist) was murdered last month, the CPI-M blamed their rival party Congress
-There has been political unrest since then, strikes and protests in the street, etc
-In retaliation to the murder, local CPI-M members attacked local Congress members in the district where the murder took place, this included burning some of their houses
-14 of the Congress legislators traveled there to give aid to those whose houses were burned
-While they were there (Wednesday of this week), they were attacked, 8 of them were injured
-Congress party claims it was the CPI-M party who attacked them
-The ruling CPI-M party denies that they led or had anything to do with the attack
-Congress and another party walked out of the legislative session on Thursday
-Congress also called for a strike in that district and surrounding areas on Thursday
-During the strike one of the Congress members was allegedly killed
-They called for a 12 hour strike on Friday for almost all of West Bengal (I heard something like 17 out of the 19 districts), including the city of Kolkata
Apparently everything will be shut down tomorrow and no one will be able to get anywhere. It’s mainly a transportation strike – meaning they will be blocking the streets and rails – so literally no one will be able to get anywhere.
We have been warned by the people at Jadavpur University that we’re working with as well as the people running the guest house we’re staying at to not venture outside tomorrow. That’s enough warning for us to listen to. Besides we have plenty of work to do.
Supposedly this will all be calmed down by this weekend. Hopefully that is the case because we will be traveling on Sunday evening by ourselves to Murshidabad. I am sure it will be fine, and if it’s not we’ll be told and taken care of.
It’s just kind of crazy. There is so much violence and it seems to be just a constant back and forth. And in between is everyone who needs to get to work or go the hospital or to the store. So far it sounds like a lot of blaming going around in a big circle. It has been hard to even piece together what I have been able to so far. But no matter what the exact facts are, people on both sides are getting hurt and that is just awful and sad, and everyone else is being caught up and affected by this as well. It’s kind of amazing to watch.
We are watching the news right now and seeing several buses on fire. In Kolkata. We’re in Kolkata right now. Apparently there are some major politics at play here at the moment. I’m still trying to find out all of the details, but so far, this is what I’ve gather:
-One of the local leaders - Falguni Mukherjee - of the currently leading political party, CPI-M (Community Party India-Marxist) was murdered last month, the CPI-M blamed their rival party Congress
-There has been political unrest since then, strikes and protests in the street, etc
-In retaliation to the murder, local CPI-M members attacked local Congress members in the district where the murder took place, this included burning some of their houses
-14 of the Congress legislators traveled there to give aid to those whose houses were burned
-While they were there (Wednesday of this week), they were attacked, 8 of them were injured
-Congress party claims it was the CPI-M party who attacked them
-The ruling CPI-M party denies that they led or had anything to do with the attack
-Congress and another party walked out of the legislative session on Thursday
-Congress also called for a strike in that district and surrounding areas on Thursday
-During the strike one of the Congress members was allegedly killed
-They called for a 12 hour strike on Friday for almost all of West Bengal (I heard something like 17 out of the 19 districts), including the city of Kolkata
Apparently everything will be shut down tomorrow and no one will be able to get anywhere. It’s mainly a transportation strike – meaning they will be blocking the streets and rails – so literally no one will be able to get anywhere.
We have been warned by the people at Jadavpur University that we’re working with as well as the people running the guest house we’re staying at to not venture outside tomorrow. That’s enough warning for us to listen to. Besides we have plenty of work to do.
Supposedly this will all be calmed down by this weekend. Hopefully that is the case because we will be traveling on Sunday evening by ourselves to Murshidabad. I am sure it will be fine, and if it’s not we’ll be told and taken care of.
It’s just kind of crazy. There is so much violence and it seems to be just a constant back and forth. And in between is everyone who needs to get to work or go the hospital or to the store. So far it sounds like a lot of blaming going around in a big circle. It has been hard to even piece together what I have been able to so far. But no matter what the exact facts are, people on both sides are getting hurt and that is just awful and sad, and everyone else is being caught up and affected by this as well. It’s kind of amazing to watch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)