Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Tashi Delek (hello in Tibetan)
These are autorickshaws. They’re probably the easiest way to get around Delhi. The first time I rode in one it was pretty scary, but now I think they’re actually pretty fun
This is the bikerickshaw that we rode in
This is Old Delhi. It’s really crowded
A familiar site (Kate, I guess they’re here too)
Gandhi Memorial
Here we are on the train to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is). From left to right, there’s Geshe-la, Kendell, Emily, Eva, Julia, me, and Taylor
The Taj Mahal; touristy, but I had to take a picture
This is Lucy, me, and Marissa, and some boys who wanted to take a picture with us (I think they wanted to take pictures with Lucy and Marissa, and I just happened to be walking with them)
Cow (a common sight)
In the Agra train station on the way back. These kids were asking us for food and money, then they started playing with us. They really like taking pictures. The people from our group are Taylor, Marissa (with her mouth covered), Lucy, Kendell, Elise, Rachel, Diana, and Julia
This is the Imperial hotel, where we went in Delhi for wireless internet. It’s really ritzy, and it seemed so strange to walk back to the YMCA from here at night, because there were so many people sleeping in tents on the sidewalk
This was my first view of the mountains
Julia, Kendell, Lucy, Marissa, Elise, and I walked down to a stream that runs along side the campus the night we got here
This is the roof of the guesthouse
This is the view from the roof of the guesthouse
Monks debating (it’s a really big thing here)
The view from McLeod
Prayer wheels (Inside each wheel is a prayer written out. Every time someone spins one, it’s like sending out a thousand prayers. It’s the same idea with prayer flags. I just think it’s a very cool thing to think about)
Sarah (the name of the campus where we are right now). Julia, Will, and I were really excited when we realized that we could read it
Refugee artwork
Julia, Lucy, Will, and I watched the sunset when we were in McLeod (Julia was standing on the other side of me, so she’s not in this picture)
Sunset
I can’t quite believe that I’ve only been here for a little over two weeks. I’m starting to settle in I think, although I’ve been warned that culture shock starts to set in at around two weeks, so I guess I’m trying to be on the look out for that. We started classes this week. The schedule seems much more like high school than college. We have class from nine to three. Every morning we have language class first. The schedule is kind of loose, so it’s usually nine to whenever the lesson is done (it usually goes about an hour). We have a break, then at 10:30 we have philosophy or culture class (philosophy is on monday and wednesday, and culture is on tuesday and thursday, and on friday we have a discussion section about sort of everything from both of those two classes for the week). That usually goes about an hour and a half. After lunch, we have language again for another hour, except on friday. That’s pretty much what the schedule will be until we break to do our independent research (I forget when exactly that is, but I think it’s in like ten or eleven weeks).
Yesterday I moved into the dorms here. Our group had been living in the guesthouse (pretty much like a hotel), and I had been living with Julia (who apparently is friends with someone who is on the same program that Annie is on, which I think is cool). The roommate stuff is finally figured out now though. I had been told originally that one girl was my roommate, then another. The second person who I thought was my roommate is a nun who just came from Tibet less than a year ago, and she doesn’t speak very much English, so they had Amalia and I switch roommates, since Amalia already speaks Tibetan. So anyway, now I have a roommate. She’s in the teacher training program here, and she’s almost finished. Her room is up on the top floor of the girls’ dorm, so the view is amazing. We’re on the fifth floor, and the dorms are the tallest buildings here, so we can look out over the Kangra valley. I watched the sun rise from the roof this morning too, which was amazing. It doesn’t rise over the mountains, but it does light up the mountains peak by peak which is so cool to watch. It’s pretty quiet on the floor, because not many people live up here (which is also a plus in terms of how many people share the bathroom). Speaking of bathrooms, that’s something to get used to. The showers in the guesthouse never had enough (if any) hot water, but the showers here don’t have hot water at all. There’s a faucet that has hot water, so I’m told you’re supposed to fill up a bucket then take a bucket shower. I haven’t tried that yet, since one of the last things I did before I moved out yesterday was use the shower one last time, but I guess I’ll probably try tonight or tomorrow morning. I guess I should probably just start showering whenever it’s warmest. My standards for my own hygiene have changed since I’ve been here. At home, it’s shower everyday and only wear shirts once before wearing them. Now it’s shower every other day and wear shirts at least twice. It’s kind of gross I guess, but I only really brought three shirts (since I’ve been wearing tee shirts over long sleeve shirts and I only have three of each), and the less laundry I have to do the better. I have started to figure out a system for that though. In summary: soak, soap, scrub, rinse, soak, rinse. It seems to be working, but I can’t tell you how much I miss washing machines.
Yesterday we went to McLeod (Upper Dharamsala) for the second time. It’s an odd sort of touristy, sort of hippie-ish place. We went to the refugee reception center. There was some artwork done by kids there, and it was just like rip-your-heart-out. Ama Adhe spoke to us, while we were there. She was a Tibetan freedom fighter, who was imprisoned for a very long time. I think she was one of the only ones of everyone she went to prison with to have survived. She told us about her experience, which was pretty intense to hear, but what was most amazing was how calm and peaceful she is. She talked about how she used to be angry, but when she talked to the Dalai Lama, he said not to let her anger take over, and now she’s very peaceful about it all. She tells her story, but she tells it in a matter of fact way. It’s just amazing to think that she has overcome her anger despite all the things that happened to her.
After we heard from her, I spent the rest of the day with Julia, Lucy, and Will (other students on the program, from Wesleyan, Emory, and NYU respectively) wandering around town. We looked in shops and ate dinner and saw the most amazing sunset. Then we came back down, and I moved into the dorms, and I spent the rest of the night unpacking and reviewing the alphabet (which I know the word for in Tibetan now).
This morning, I finally made it to morning prayers on time (I had been late the other three times that I went). It’s a pretty cool thing to listen to. For the rest of the day up to now, Will and I wandered around some trails and along a stream that runs next the campus, and then I started making vocab flashcards. Now I'm in the room typing this, and hopefully when I go downstairs to the computer lab, it’ll be open so I can post it. Also, hopefully I can figure out the picture things.
Yesterday I moved into the dorms here. Our group had been living in the guesthouse (pretty much like a hotel), and I had been living with Julia (who apparently is friends with someone who is on the same program that Annie is on, which I think is cool). The roommate stuff is finally figured out now though. I had been told originally that one girl was my roommate, then another. The second person who I thought was my roommate is a nun who just came from Tibet less than a year ago, and she doesn’t speak very much English, so they had Amalia and I switch roommates, since Amalia already speaks Tibetan. So anyway, now I have a roommate. She’s in the teacher training program here, and she’s almost finished. Her room is up on the top floor of the girls’ dorm, so the view is amazing. We’re on the fifth floor, and the dorms are the tallest buildings here, so we can look out over the Kangra valley. I watched the sun rise from the roof this morning too, which was amazing. It doesn’t rise over the mountains, but it does light up the mountains peak by peak which is so cool to watch. It’s pretty quiet on the floor, because not many people live up here (which is also a plus in terms of how many people share the bathroom). Speaking of bathrooms, that’s something to get used to. The showers in the guesthouse never had enough (if any) hot water, but the showers here don’t have hot water at all. There’s a faucet that has hot water, so I’m told you’re supposed to fill up a bucket then take a bucket shower. I haven’t tried that yet, since one of the last things I did before I moved out yesterday was use the shower one last time, but I guess I’ll probably try tonight or tomorrow morning. I guess I should probably just start showering whenever it’s warmest. My standards for my own hygiene have changed since I’ve been here. At home, it’s shower everyday and only wear shirts once before wearing them. Now it’s shower every other day and wear shirts at least twice. It’s kind of gross I guess, but I only really brought three shirts (since I’ve been wearing tee shirts over long sleeve shirts and I only have three of each), and the less laundry I have to do the better. I have started to figure out a system for that though. In summary: soak, soap, scrub, rinse, soak, rinse. It seems to be working, but I can’t tell you how much I miss washing machines.
Yesterday we went to McLeod (Upper Dharamsala) for the second time. It’s an odd sort of touristy, sort of hippie-ish place. We went to the refugee reception center. There was some artwork done by kids there, and it was just like rip-your-heart-out. Ama Adhe spoke to us, while we were there. She was a Tibetan freedom fighter, who was imprisoned for a very long time. I think she was one of the only ones of everyone she went to prison with to have survived. She told us about her experience, which was pretty intense to hear, but what was most amazing was how calm and peaceful she is. She talked about how she used to be angry, but when she talked to the Dalai Lama, he said not to let her anger take over, and now she’s very peaceful about it all. She tells her story, but she tells it in a matter of fact way. It’s just amazing to think that she has overcome her anger despite all the things that happened to her.
After we heard from her, I spent the rest of the day with Julia, Lucy, and Will (other students on the program, from Wesleyan, Emory, and NYU respectively) wandering around town. We looked in shops and ate dinner and saw the most amazing sunset. Then we came back down, and I moved into the dorms, and I spent the rest of the night unpacking and reviewing the alphabet (which I know the word for in Tibetan now).
This morning, I finally made it to morning prayers on time (I had been late the other three times that I went). It’s a pretty cool thing to listen to. For the rest of the day up to now, Will and I wandered around some trails and along a stream that runs next the campus, and then I started making vocab flashcards. Now I'm in the room typing this, and hopefully when I go downstairs to the computer lab, it’ll be open so I can post it. Also, hopefully I can figure out the picture things.
Friday, January 19, 2007
So the picture thing is going to be harder than I thought, because I probably won't be able to connect my own computer to the internet at all. Right now I'm using one of the computers in the school computer lab. I'll probably try to burn some pictures on a cd from my computer and then I can post those. I need to buy a surge protector first though, because I've been warned that the power here is fairly unreliable. But anyway, I'll tell you all about what I've been up to or at least some of it...
I think the last time I wrote we were about to leave Delhi. To get from Delhi to Dharamsala, we took a bus. It was a little worrysome that the whole back corner of the bus had duct tape all over it, but it was fine. We drove for about 10 hours with a few stops the first day. We spend the night in a hotel in Pragpur that had a very British Colonial feel. We spent the morning there, and I caught my first glimpse of the mountains. It was just a very breath taking sight that I feel like I can't really describe without sounding corny. We then spent another three hours on the bus. We arrived at Dharamsala in the evening. Right now we're staying at a hotel on the Sarah campus (the school we're studying at), but we'll be moving into the dorms here next week. Everyone else has already met their roommates, but mine was in Delhi at the time, so I haven't met her yet. I spent the morning while everyone else was meeting their roommates talking to a nun. She just arrived here from Tibet less than a year ago, and she said that she didn't speak good English, but she spoke enough for us to communicate (and I thought she spoke very well). She taught me a few phrases in Tibetan, the only one of which I remember is "Ni mila Katie sugiyu". I don't think I spelled that right at all, but it means my name is Katie. I'm pretty scared and excited to start learning the language. Classes start monday. Last night the students here put on a culture show for us, which was really fun, and I have lots of pictures and a few video clips, so we'll see if I can at least post a few pictures. I had it figured out at the Imperial, but my battery died right in the middle. I should probably get off the computer because there are no more open computers and I'm sure people have more important things to do than I do right now. Also the basketball game between our students and the students here is about to start. Until later...
I think the last time I wrote we were about to leave Delhi. To get from Delhi to Dharamsala, we took a bus. It was a little worrysome that the whole back corner of the bus had duct tape all over it, but it was fine. We drove for about 10 hours with a few stops the first day. We spend the night in a hotel in Pragpur that had a very British Colonial feel. We spent the morning there, and I caught my first glimpse of the mountains. It was just a very breath taking sight that I feel like I can't really describe without sounding corny. We then spent another three hours on the bus. We arrived at Dharamsala in the evening. Right now we're staying at a hotel on the Sarah campus (the school we're studying at), but we'll be moving into the dorms here next week. Everyone else has already met their roommates, but mine was in Delhi at the time, so I haven't met her yet. I spent the morning while everyone else was meeting their roommates talking to a nun. She just arrived here from Tibet less than a year ago, and she said that she didn't speak good English, but she spoke enough for us to communicate (and I thought she spoke very well). She taught me a few phrases in Tibetan, the only one of which I remember is "Ni mila Katie sugiyu". I don't think I spelled that right at all, but it means my name is Katie. I'm pretty scared and excited to start learning the language. Classes start monday. Last night the students here put on a culture show for us, which was really fun, and I have lots of pictures and a few video clips, so we'll see if I can at least post a few pictures. I had it figured out at the Imperial, but my battery died right in the middle. I should probably get off the computer because there are no more open computers and I'm sure people have more important things to do than I do right now. Also the basketball game between our students and the students here is about to start. Until later...
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
So this is my first real post from India. It has already been such a powerful few days. I arrived around noon on the eleventh. Julia, another girl on the program, was on my flight, and she recognized me because I was reading one of the books assigned for the program. She actually happened to be sitting right behind me on the plane too, so that was nice. Our flight was a little late, and when it arrived Justin and Lucy, two other people on the program, had just arrived too, so we all came to the YMCA where we’re staying together, which was good, because it was a pretty scary ride, and I’m glad I wasn’t alone. So driving here…the lines between the lanes (even lanes going in the opposite direction) are ignored for the most part, and drivers zip around cars and honk a lot, and there are a lot of autorickshaws and bikes and motorcycles, but I think I’m starting to get used to that too. The whole car ride I kind of felt like I was going to die, but now I think riding in autorickshaws is really fun.
Anyway, the first day, those of us who were here (the group flight didn’t arrive until late that night) wandered around the streets near the YMCA. That evening I went with Karen, a scholar whose husband Steve is leading the program, and Dan, one of the program TAs, to hear some Sufi devotional music. It was pretty amazing and getting there (we had to wind down some Old Delhi alleyways) was an interesting welcome to India.
The next day we started orientation. In the morning they’ve been preparing us for the semester in Dharamsala, and for the rest of the day we do touristy things. The first day we went on a tour of New Delhi, and we saw a Sikh temple and a Hindu Hanuman temple. The second day we went on a tour of Old Delhi. We saw a Mosque, commissioned by the same guy who commissioned the Taj Mahal and a Jain temple. Yesterday (the third day) we spent the whole day doing touristy things. We went out to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. Today we had the day to do what we wanted, so I spent the morning shopping in a bazaar near the YMCA. I’m still getting the hang of haggling, and I probably still got ripped off today, but I like what I bought and I don’t think it was too expensive. This afternoon I went to see a Devi Temple, which was really awesome to go to, because I actually know a little bit about Goddess Temples. Now I’m back in the Imperial Hotel. We just had dessert at one of their restaurants, and now I’m using their wireless again. It was so strange walking here and then being here though, because on the way, we walked past people, whole families even, sleeping on the street, and now we’re in a hotel that is just so extravagant.
This has been a really overwhelming few days though. I was the first and only (at least as far as I know) to break down in tears in front of the group. We were in Old Delhi, and we were riding on bike rickshaws from the Mosque to the Gandhi Museum, and a beggar was following us asking for money. He followed for quite a while, and eventually I made a move to pull my wallet out, but Steve saw and warned that I shouldn’t (beggars would have probably surrounded our whole group, and we were on bike rickshaws so we probably would have been stuck). When he realized that I wasn’t going to give him any money, he stopped following us and as he disappeared into the crowd I felt so guilty that I just started crying on the back of the rickshaw. I think it was just the overwhelmingness of it all. It is really different here, and it takes a while to get used to it (I don’t think I’m used to it yet still).
Now I’m going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures before my battery dies. If I manage it, enjoy. If not, au revoir for now.
Anyway, the first day, those of us who were here (the group flight didn’t arrive until late that night) wandered around the streets near the YMCA. That evening I went with Karen, a scholar whose husband Steve is leading the program, and Dan, one of the program TAs, to hear some Sufi devotional music. It was pretty amazing and getting there (we had to wind down some Old Delhi alleyways) was an interesting welcome to India.
The next day we started orientation. In the morning they’ve been preparing us for the semester in Dharamsala, and for the rest of the day we do touristy things. The first day we went on a tour of New Delhi, and we saw a Sikh temple and a Hindu Hanuman temple. The second day we went on a tour of Old Delhi. We saw a Mosque, commissioned by the same guy who commissioned the Taj Mahal and a Jain temple. Yesterday (the third day) we spent the whole day doing touristy things. We went out to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. Today we had the day to do what we wanted, so I spent the morning shopping in a bazaar near the YMCA. I’m still getting the hang of haggling, and I probably still got ripped off today, but I like what I bought and I don’t think it was too expensive. This afternoon I went to see a Devi Temple, which was really awesome to go to, because I actually know a little bit about Goddess Temples. Now I’m back in the Imperial Hotel. We just had dessert at one of their restaurants, and now I’m using their wireless again. It was so strange walking here and then being here though, because on the way, we walked past people, whole families even, sleeping on the street, and now we’re in a hotel that is just so extravagant.
This has been a really overwhelming few days though. I was the first and only (at least as far as I know) to break down in tears in front of the group. We were in Old Delhi, and we were riding on bike rickshaws from the Mosque to the Gandhi Museum, and a beggar was following us asking for money. He followed for quite a while, and eventually I made a move to pull my wallet out, but Steve saw and warned that I shouldn’t (beggars would have probably surrounded our whole group, and we were on bike rickshaws so we probably would have been stuck). When he realized that I wasn’t going to give him any money, he stopped following us and as he disappeared into the crowd I felt so guilty that I just started crying on the back of the rickshaw. I think it was just the overwhelmingness of it all. It is really different here, and it takes a while to get used to it (I don’t think I’m used to it yet still).
Now I’m going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures before my battery dies. If I manage it, enjoy. If not, au revoir for now.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
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