It’s hot and not like the kind of hot that you can bear long enough until AC saves, or can easily be cooled by a breeze. No this is quite like I imagine hell to be like. Good thing though, is that it is dry. If it’s going to be unbearably hot then atleast I shouldn't be too sweaty. Okay, I’m still sweaty.
Today we trekked to a monkey temple. The owner of the hostel – a helpful man named Manoj – told us that we absolutely had to check out this monkey temple. There were monkeys everywhere, they would eat from our hands, they were cute and furry. What he failed to mention however was that the trek to this monkey temple was basically a pilgrimage. We spent about 30 minutes climbing an 800 foot mountain whilst trying to avoid the constantly accosting eyes of various Indian men and children.
The monkeys were indeed adorable, also slightly scary. They were pretty strong and robust, and they do this strange growling type noise that is particularly intimidating.
We also were lucky enough to see a snake charmer. Though I’m fairly certain lucky isn’t quite the correct adjective. Chelsea is deathly afraid of snakes, so seeing a little boy with a snake wrapped around his neck probably didn’t excite her too much.
At the temple I noticed that there were many people jumping into a greenish colored pool. All the men and woman were doing it, usually wearing nothing or next to nothing to do so, and they seemed not at all concerned with the hygienic safety of this whole ordeal.
The walk back was nothing short of life changing - you tend to reanalyze your life when you're on the verge of death. 1.) I realized that I could indeed be a contestant on The Amazing Race and 2.) You walk faster when Indian men want to take pictures of you and stalk you. Suddenly you are filled with this energy you never knew existed when your personal space is about to be violated.
After our trek we headed to Johari Bazaar – the notorious jewelry bazaar in Jaipur. Our rickshaw drive continually asked us to go with him to his jewelry stores but I had already had enough with getting scammed in India.
The stores had some gorgeous jewelery, unfortunately the never ending heat proved to stiffly our ability to bargain, speak, or even walk. It was pretty rough.
Later I had a tasty Rajasthani Thali and after we went to a famous restaurant in Jaipur that had quite possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever had (and it was only 18 ruppees!) If only Jaipur didn’t threaten to kill me with heat, I would definitely enjoy it way more.
Another way in which I would enjoy it more is if people would stop harassing me! I hate being heckled. Absolutely hate it regardless of what country. Today proved to be little exception and I may have snapped back 3 or 7 times.
The favorite lines of today:
“Haaallow Haallow, Madame, madame madame.”
“You have sexy dress, sexy dress” my dress was not sexy
“Pretty like pretty camel” I still don’t understand this one
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Jaipur - the city of pretty
Chelsea, a fellow student from USAC, arrived in Jaipur late last night. My flight was delayed an hour and the journey was absolutely hilarious. My pilot sounded like a cracked out Jack Nicolson.
When I arrived in Jaipur my first though was "Shit, it really is ungodly hot here." but after a minute I realized that nothing quite compares to the humidity of Mumbai, so I counted my blessings.
We arrived at the hotel after only a couple minutes and discovered that it does indeed live up to the fabulous reviews. It really is a palace. The place is stunning, the owner is kind and helpful, and the food and fruit are to die for. Our room looks like it should be in a palace...but the architecture here is so stunning thats not suprising.
This morning, after a lovely shower and a good sleep, we decided to take a tour of Jaipur. The owner said "Do not pay more than 250 ruppees for a city tour" so we tried not to and struck a deal after only a short time. Though our drive brought us to some key destinations, the old city (Pink city), city palace, and eventually Amber Fort, I was definitely not getting a good vibe from him. I thought this on 2 occasions 1.) when he brought us to a textile factory, he's clearly commissioned 2.) when he started telling obscure dirty jokes. We had to get out of this.
Luckily, or not so luckily, we ran in to some 20 something Indian guys who unlike the 400 other people at Amber Palace that wanted to take pictures with us, actually asked us to take a picture of them. They seemed pretty nice so we started talking to them, eventually they invited us to a wedding. Me being a little to accepting of people gladly agreed. They said they'd give us a ride back, and asked how we go there. After we told them a driver was asking for 250 they laughed "Everyone loves ripping off foreigners." Awesome.
The boys talked down the drive to 200, when he was actually asking us for 500! Earlier, he said he'd give the tour for 250 - failing to mention that actually meant 250 each. Then we drove away and stopped at a place to eat.
In my limited understanding of Hindi I started to deduce that maybe going to this wedding wasn't the best idea. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love to go to an Indian wedding, but these guys were being a little to off putting for my preference, definitely the whole whispering in Hindi thing they had going on. So we thanked them for the ride an ditched them. Happy that we saved atleast 300 + ruppees for the day!
Oh Amber Fort and City Palace?! Absolutely gorgeous. These structures were strikingly beautiful, and simply took your breath away. This experience is best described through pictures.
When I arrived in Jaipur my first though was "Shit, it really is ungodly hot here." but after a minute I realized that nothing quite compares to the humidity of Mumbai, so I counted my blessings.
We arrived at the hotel after only a couple minutes and discovered that it does indeed live up to the fabulous reviews. It really is a palace. The place is stunning, the owner is kind and helpful, and the food and fruit are to die for. Our room looks like it should be in a palace...but the architecture here is so stunning thats not suprising.
This morning, after a lovely shower and a good sleep, we decided to take a tour of Jaipur. The owner said "Do not pay more than 250 ruppees for a city tour" so we tried not to and struck a deal after only a short time. Though our drive brought us to some key destinations, the old city (Pink city), city palace, and eventually Amber Fort, I was definitely not getting a good vibe from him. I thought this on 2 occasions 1.) when he brought us to a textile factory, he's clearly commissioned 2.) when he started telling obscure dirty jokes. We had to get out of this.
Luckily, or not so luckily, we ran in to some 20 something Indian guys who unlike the 400 other people at Amber Palace that wanted to take pictures with us, actually asked us to take a picture of them. They seemed pretty nice so we started talking to them, eventually they invited us to a wedding. Me being a little to accepting of people gladly agreed. They said they'd give us a ride back, and asked how we go there. After we told them a driver was asking for 250 they laughed "Everyone loves ripping off foreigners." Awesome.
The boys talked down the drive to 200, when he was actually asking us for 500! Earlier, he said he'd give the tour for 250 - failing to mention that actually meant 250 each. Then we drove away and stopped at a place to eat.
In my limited understanding of Hindi I started to deduce that maybe going to this wedding wasn't the best idea. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love to go to an Indian wedding, but these guys were being a little to off putting for my preference, definitely the whole whispering in Hindi thing they had going on. So we thanked them for the ride an ditched them. Happy that we saved atleast 300 + ruppees for the day!
Oh Amber Fort and City Palace?! Absolutely gorgeous. These structures were strikingly beautiful, and simply took your breath away. This experience is best described through pictures.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
24-6-2010: This is from Friday
Finals Tea Break
Today was my last day in India. The past two nights have been nothing short of a dream. I’m buzzing around India in the Hyundai of a lovely Turkish boy whom for some odd reasons absolutely adores me, and we’re heading to a Lebanese lounge and restaurant.
Early that day I had taken my first and last final at Christ college. In all honesty I wasn’t really trying, I wasn’t here to relearn everything that I had been learning about for years, so I didn’t really study or try particularly hard. What truly encapsulated Indian education system, and India in general, was half way through when beloved Jacob John stopped us and said “You’ll have somosa’s and tea now?” In came a boy carrying a bag of somosa’s and a thermostat of tea. Only in India.
Aftter that we climbed to the top level of the building to watch a dance performance going down in the hallway below, then we decided that since it’s our last day we’re just going to climb on the roof. The view was spectacular. The sky looked better than a painting, and you could see the tops of all the exotic and colorful trees that lined the walkways and paths of our school. I couldn’t possibly imagine a better way to end my time in Bangalore. Everything about this day is beautiful.
Today was my last day in India. The past two nights have been nothing short of a dream. I’m buzzing around India in the Hyundai of a lovely Turkish boy whom for some odd reasons absolutely adores me, and we’re heading to a Lebanese lounge and restaurant.
Early that day I had taken my first and last final at Christ college. In all honesty I wasn’t really trying, I wasn’t here to relearn everything that I had been learning about for years, so I didn’t really study or try particularly hard. What truly encapsulated Indian education system, and India in general, was half way through when beloved Jacob John stopped us and said “You’ll have somosa’s and tea now?” In came a boy carrying a bag of somosa’s and a thermostat of tea. Only in India.
Aftter that we climbed to the top level of the building to watch a dance performance going down in the hallway below, then we decided that since it’s our last day we’re just going to climb on the roof. The view was spectacular. The sky looked better than a painting, and you could see the tops of all the exotic and colorful trees that lined the walkways and paths of our school. I couldn’t possibly imagine a better way to end my time in Bangalore. Everything about this day is beautiful.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Beginning to say goodbye
Yesterday we had our goodbye lunch with Florence and Jacob John. The lunch solidified that I was indeed leaving India in a week...I can't believe it has already been a month! I think about being here a couple weeks ago and how I was homesick, concerned about money, missing my friends - now I don't even want to think about leaving! I'm finally settled in India and I have to be stripped away!
As to distract myself from my slight depression over leaving I'll talk about the goodbye lunch.
Jacob John brought us to one of his favorite restaurants for a buffet called Mustard. The buffet had my favorite chat type nachos - you cannot imagine how tasty. They also had Bengali fish (9/10), Bengali style Paneer (8/10), yellow daal with chili (7/10), and assorted fried rice, basmati, rasham, and mung. The desserts were definitely the highlight of the buffet...an unbelievable kiwi souffle (10/10), carrot halwa (9/19), and the best mango ice-cream I've had in India. Great going away lunch.
After we headed back to campus and got some comfy Christ University sweatshirts, how I'm going to squeeze that in my bag I have no idea. Next came class then a Crafts Bazaar with some friends. The Crafts Bazaar hosted crafts from all over India, mostly from Rajasthan. Since I'm going to Rajasthan I didn't want to buy too much, I just got some shoes, a little jewelry, and some gifts for friends. I'm pretty sure (absolutely sure) I got ripped off on the shoes, he orginally tried to sell them to me for 400 ruppees (asburd! That's about $8 USD), but I got him down to 300 ruppees...still over priced but what the hell they're pretty.
The day ended fantastically with USA beating Algeria by 1 which means we are first in our bracket and moving on to the playoff rounds!! U S A
As to distract myself from my slight depression over leaving I'll talk about the goodbye lunch.
Jacob John brought us to one of his favorite restaurants for a buffet called Mustard. The buffet had my favorite chat type nachos - you cannot imagine how tasty. They also had Bengali fish (9/10), Bengali style Paneer (8/10), yellow daal with chili (7/10), and assorted fried rice, basmati, rasham, and mung. The desserts were definitely the highlight of the buffet...an unbelievable kiwi souffle (10/10), carrot halwa (9/19), and the best mango ice-cream I've had in India. Great going away lunch.
After we headed back to campus and got some comfy Christ University sweatshirts, how I'm going to squeeze that in my bag I have no idea. Next came class then a Crafts Bazaar with some friends. The Crafts Bazaar hosted crafts from all over India, mostly from Rajasthan. Since I'm going to Rajasthan I didn't want to buy too much, I just got some shoes, a little jewelry, and some gifts for friends. I'm pretty sure (absolutely sure) I got ripped off on the shoes, he orginally tried to sell them to me for 400 ruppees (asburd! That's about $8 USD), but I got him down to 300 ruppees...still over priced but what the hell they're pretty.
The day ended fantastically with USA beating Algeria by 1 which means we are first in our bracket and moving on to the playoff rounds!! U S A
Summary of this past weekend...kind of
Tuesday June 22, 2010
Okay, back to this weekend. This weekend was by all standards completely absurd. Beginning with Friday.
So Friday I had promised a fellow USAC student that I would go out with her to some club or lounge with her and some friends. By 7:30 there were about 12 people attending this gathering. This figure was fine until we had to catch a rickshaw. Four people squeezed into individual rickshaws – similar to our 6 rickshaw excursion a couple nights earlier. Though this time our rickshaw driver was absolutely insane. First, he almost hit Aleisha before we even got on the road, then he almost hit every other car or truck on the road. Quite the frightening experience.
We finally arrive outside the club, which is actually a hotel (in true Indian style), and the first thing I do is fall out of the rickshaw. I hadn’t even started drinking…this would be bad.
As to not bore you I’ll do a summary of the club. It was absolutely gorgeous. Easily a high end bar/lounge in America. Drinks were around $10-$15 USD, but in all honestly that kind of atmosphere would be around $30 a drink. Yes, that is how nice and immaculate the location was. I brushed off the absurdity and decided to do as Lady Gaga does and just dance. It’s always better that way. The DJ proved to be amazing by the way...
Eventually I met a guy who bought me and my friends some drinks, he was nice, worked for JP Morgan & Chase (didn’t find that out till I looked at his card later). Then I meant a nice Turkish boy. He seemed sweet and harmless, he was with his two Turkish friends. We talked for the rest of the night, them in their broken Turkish English, me in my broken drunk English.
At one point the club/restaurant/hotel set up a tasty looking buffet. At the time I ha d yet to become drunk hungry so I didn’t gorge, but some other USACers went up and started grabbing things. We kept asking if the buffet was free/complimentary and we kept hearing that indeed it was, so I ate a really tasty carrot truffle and some chat nachos - by far one of my favorite snacks in India. It was probably some of the best food I’ve had in India so far…side note. Well, in true Bangalorian fashion the club closed at 11:30 sharp. The Turkish boys asked to get coffee, but seeing as we just meant them in Bangalore and we were naïve Americans we declined.
At that point I realized that I had left my scarf inside, I went to go grab it from the bar area and when I stepped back out through the door Nick (a USAC student) grabbed my arm and said “We have to go now!”. Apparently the buffet was not free at all. In fact, it was 650 ruppees each. I didn’t even have 650 ruppees in my wallet. Apparently, neither did anyone else, so we were trying to skip out on the bill. We all ran outside, but of course we were stopped by the servers. Everyone had to dish out some cash for the tricky buffet and then the hotel manager said he would help us get a cab home.
After paying 625 for a drink and throwing in money for a buffet, I was not about to pay another cent for anything this hotel had to offer. I saw one of the Turkish boys getting into his car, thought to myself “fuck it, if you die atleast you didn’t have to pay 200 ruppees for a cab.” I asked him if he could take me to Kormangala, he said yes, and I beckoned for my friends to come with me.
Thus began our friendship with Fatik, Emri, and Hiyati! My favorite Turkish friends (only Turkish friends) and our guides for the rest of the time in Bangalore. We got coffee with them that night at a 24 hour rooftop restaurant and we hung out with them again on Sunday.
In between that time I had quite the reality check. Some students traveled to a nearby village, Hospote. The village as a whole compromised about 14 smaller villages – communities anywhere from 300-1000 peoples. We went to one of these 14 villages to meet the kids, see the programs that particular NGO is developing. The long and short of it, it was absolutely amazing and if I could drop everything I’m doing right now and move to a village and just play and teach adorable kids every day I would do it in a heartbeat. The children were fantastic! They were so excited to see us and play with us, they brought us to their homes and showed us around the village. No, we couldn’t speak the language at all so communication was mostly transmitting through hand gestures, hugs, and behavioral keys. I think that added to the enjoyment of the trip,
Recently I had lost faith in NGO's, most of the time the money donated and raised by the organizations just goes into paying the salaries of the college junkies - those kids who didn't quite know what they wanted to do after college so they settled for an NGO. The money rarely ever goes to actually helping anyone or the betterment of a program. However, this NGO actually had results. You could see it in the health of the families and children, and in the village as a whole. The organization we worked with was the same one Bill Gates and his wife donate to. I can imagine why. It's run flawlessly and the people who work there are truly dedicated to there work.
I hope to sponsor a family in the slums or the village when I return to America. Definitely a life changing experience. Definitely.
Okay, back to this weekend. This weekend was by all standards completely absurd. Beginning with Friday.
So Friday I had promised a fellow USAC student that I would go out with her to some club or lounge with her and some friends. By 7:30 there were about 12 people attending this gathering. This figure was fine until we had to catch a rickshaw. Four people squeezed into individual rickshaws – similar to our 6 rickshaw excursion a couple nights earlier. Though this time our rickshaw driver was absolutely insane. First, he almost hit Aleisha before we even got on the road, then he almost hit every other car or truck on the road. Quite the frightening experience.
We finally arrive outside the club, which is actually a hotel (in true Indian style), and the first thing I do is fall out of the rickshaw. I hadn’t even started drinking…this would be bad.
As to not bore you I’ll do a summary of the club. It was absolutely gorgeous. Easily a high end bar/lounge in America. Drinks were around $10-$15 USD, but in all honestly that kind of atmosphere would be around $30 a drink. Yes, that is how nice and immaculate the location was. I brushed off the absurdity and decided to do as Lady Gaga does and just dance. It’s always better that way. The DJ proved to be amazing by the way...
Eventually I met a guy who bought me and my friends some drinks, he was nice, worked for JP Morgan & Chase (didn’t find that out till I looked at his card later). Then I meant a nice Turkish boy. He seemed sweet and harmless, he was with his two Turkish friends. We talked for the rest of the night, them in their broken Turkish English, me in my broken drunk English.
At one point the club/restaurant/hotel set up a tasty looking buffet. At the time I ha d yet to become drunk hungry so I didn’t gorge, but some other USACers went up and started grabbing things. We kept asking if the buffet was free/complimentary and we kept hearing that indeed it was, so I ate a really tasty carrot truffle and some chat nachos - by far one of my favorite snacks in India. It was probably some of the best food I’ve had in India so far…side note. Well, in true Bangalorian fashion the club closed at 11:30 sharp. The Turkish boys asked to get coffee, but seeing as we just meant them in Bangalore and we were naïve Americans we declined.
At that point I realized that I had left my scarf inside, I went to go grab it from the bar area and when I stepped back out through the door Nick (a USAC student) grabbed my arm and said “We have to go now!”. Apparently the buffet was not free at all. In fact, it was 650 ruppees each. I didn’t even have 650 ruppees in my wallet. Apparently, neither did anyone else, so we were trying to skip out on the bill. We all ran outside, but of course we were stopped by the servers. Everyone had to dish out some cash for the tricky buffet and then the hotel manager said he would help us get a cab home.
After paying 625 for a drink and throwing in money for a buffet, I was not about to pay another cent for anything this hotel had to offer. I saw one of the Turkish boys getting into his car, thought to myself “fuck it, if you die atleast you didn’t have to pay 200 ruppees for a cab.” I asked him if he could take me to Kormangala, he said yes, and I beckoned for my friends to come with me.
Thus began our friendship with Fatik, Emri, and Hiyati! My favorite Turkish friends (only Turkish friends) and our guides for the rest of the time in Bangalore. We got coffee with them that night at a 24 hour rooftop restaurant and we hung out with them again on Sunday.
In between that time I had quite the reality check. Some students traveled to a nearby village, Hospote. The village as a whole compromised about 14 smaller villages – communities anywhere from 300-1000 peoples. We went to one of these 14 villages to meet the kids, see the programs that particular NGO is developing. The long and short of it, it was absolutely amazing and if I could drop everything I’m doing right now and move to a village and just play and teach adorable kids every day I would do it in a heartbeat. The children were fantastic! They were so excited to see us and play with us, they brought us to their homes and showed us around the village. No, we couldn’t speak the language at all so communication was mostly transmitting through hand gestures, hugs, and behavioral keys. I think that added to the enjoyment of the trip,
Recently I had lost faith in NGO's, most of the time the money donated and raised by the organizations just goes into paying the salaries of the college junkies - those kids who didn't quite know what they wanted to do after college so they settled for an NGO. The money rarely ever goes to actually helping anyone or the betterment of a program. However, this NGO actually had results. You could see it in the health of the families and children, and in the village as a whole. The organization we worked with was the same one Bill Gates and his wife donate to. I can imagine why. It's run flawlessly and the people who work there are truly dedicated to there work.
I hope to sponsor a family in the slums or the village when I return to America. Definitely a life changing experience. Definitely.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Village life
We went to a village outside Bangalore this weekend. It was probably one of the greatest experiences of my life. I'll write about it more after class because I'm definitely late!!
Here's pictures
me and some village kids
cow
Here's pictures
me and some village kids
cow
Monday, June 14, 2010
This is what Happened 6/8/2010
Aleisha and I decided that it was a good idea to leave our apartment and go search for some fellow USAC students. This simple decision would have been quite the norm if not for the following:
• Neither of us have keys to our apartment
• The door automatically locks once closed
• Neither of us have cell phones
• Neither of us have internet
• We knew that everyone else was going out to dinner
• We secretly had a feeling that noone would be home
So we were locked out of NGV, completely abandoned and homeless. I am wearing black tights and a USAC t-shirt that doesn't quite cover my ass. My hair is in pigtails and I’m carrying around my laptop. Not an ideal situation.
After walked around the streets of Kormangala for a bit we decided to hang out in Kiwi Kiss/Booster Juice…the Indian idea of a Jamba Juice.
Being stranded has given me some time to catch up on my blogging, so good news you get to hear about some observations I have made about India.
If I had more than $10000 to my name, I would be investing in Indian businesses in a heart beat. India is on the verge of booming - if not already there. Its rate of development is startling, its middle class finally making a name for itself. Take for instance the frozen yogurt and juice bar I’m sitting in. It’s impeccably clean, a cup of frozen yogurt cost me 67 ruppees (about $1.50), and the service is on point, this place would be booming back home. And as soon as the middle class begins to make a dent in the Indian economy places like this will constantly be in demand.
Obviously the population is the first factor that ensures economic success, Bangalore alone has 6.5 million people and it’s not even the largest city in Indian. The market is so vast that even if you get 20% of the population in Bangalore you’re still getting over 10 million consumers. It’s almost impossible to fail here, that is why investing in any business would most likely prove lucrative. Me…I’d probably choose some type of F&B chain, though I adamantly oppose this in the states.
In India though, everything is different. Regardless of expansion and constant changes in supply and demand, everyone still makes everything fresh at probably 95% of its restaurants.
The thing I love about Indians is that they are stubborn, they like their food a certain way and if it’s not that way then they simply won’t buy it. The market has no choice but to conform to THEIR need, rather than the population conforming to the markets.
That's all I got right now sorry!
• Neither of us have keys to our apartment
• The door automatically locks once closed
• Neither of us have cell phones
• Neither of us have internet
• We knew that everyone else was going out to dinner
• We secretly had a feeling that noone would be home
So we were locked out of NGV, completely abandoned and homeless. I am wearing black tights and a USAC t-shirt that doesn't quite cover my ass. My hair is in pigtails and I’m carrying around my laptop. Not an ideal situation.
After walked around the streets of Kormangala for a bit we decided to hang out in Kiwi Kiss/Booster Juice…the Indian idea of a Jamba Juice.
Being stranded has given me some time to catch up on my blogging, so good news you get to hear about some observations I have made about India.
If I had more than $10000 to my name, I would be investing in Indian businesses in a heart beat. India is on the verge of booming - if not already there. Its rate of development is startling, its middle class finally making a name for itself. Take for instance the frozen yogurt and juice bar I’m sitting in. It’s impeccably clean, a cup of frozen yogurt cost me 67 ruppees (about $1.50), and the service is on point, this place would be booming back home. And as soon as the middle class begins to make a dent in the Indian economy places like this will constantly be in demand.
Obviously the population is the first factor that ensures economic success, Bangalore alone has 6.5 million people and it’s not even the largest city in Indian. The market is so vast that even if you get 20% of the population in Bangalore you’re still getting over 10 million consumers. It’s almost impossible to fail here, that is why investing in any business would most likely prove lucrative. Me…I’d probably choose some type of F&B chain, though I adamantly oppose this in the states.
In India though, everything is different. Regardless of expansion and constant changes in supply and demand, everyone still makes everything fresh at probably 95% of its restaurants.
The thing I love about Indians is that they are stubborn, they like their food a certain way and if it’s not that way then they simply won’t buy it. The market has no choice but to conform to THEIR need, rather than the population conforming to the markets.
That's all I got right now sorry!
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