Arrived

After two weeks traveling in the south and 40 hours of plane travel, I am finally safe at home. Coming home was like some kind of awful hallucination. Being on a plane taking me away from India was so unreal that I am still not sure that happened, especially saying goodbye to my travel friends at the airport knowing that I may never see them again.

Even more remarkable than leaving however is to think that I may never be back in India, at least not for a long while. After nearly five months living there, after falling in love with it, I don't know how long I will be able to stay away.

Now I am supposed to be off to Scotland, but I don't think I want to go any more, after my experiences in India, the good and the bad, I am almost certain that Scotland will never be able to compare. Though perhaps that is not a bad thing. Perhaps it is okay to accept that Scotland will exist on a totally different plane than India. Honestly, I guess I knew that it never really had a chance, but now it seems so painfully obvious that it is quite off-putting.

Sitting here on my couch at four in the morning, trying to absorb being home and all the strangeness of the festive season, I am finding it difficult to understand my journeys in India and how it has changed me.

Love from Seattle

Work

Ah, the joys of school. The goals for the last few days have included; a 25 page paper on tuberculosis control in India, take a Marathi oral exam, write a paper for sociology, write a paper for political science, write a Marathi Final, present and create an environmental model for Pune, and perform a six minute Bollywood dance. So really this last week of Indian school is a total breeze.

Thankfully the end of last week I had finished my paper for sociology and poly-sci and yesterday I performed my dance. So I am kinda half way through at this point, and thank God too, because this work is slowly killing me. I have done hardly any work the entire time I have been here and now it is as if the program is punishing me, although really I can't help that my teachers don't understand the concept of giving assignments progressively through the term.


Point is, life has been so busy that I haven't been able to talk about my awesome trip the the Himalayas, Amritsar, Pakistan and Rajasthan. One day though, when I am not swimming in assignments, those stories will come.

Until then,

Love from India

Goa!!!

Goa, is such an amazing place. Home to a unique culture, tons of beaches, and beautiful churches

Getting to Goa in a lot of ways was as interesting as being there. Indian trains have a stigma of being dirty, dangerous and the worst possible way to travel, but I disagree. Yes, compared to pristine western countries, India's trains seem dingy, but so is India. It seems a bit naive to expect trains, the mode of transport for the common people, to diverge greatly from their common environment. I will not pretend that the train did not terrify me upon my first exposure; it smelled awfully of feces and smoke, it seems horribly out of date and remarkably simplistic. But once I found my seat, put down my things and looked around I realized it was actually nice and strangely comfortable. Really, trains are India, both in terms of their cargo and general impression. India is dirty, smelly, and physically different than home, but somehow it has the remarkable ability to welcome and embrace the foreign, like me.  

Among the sensory overload, the train embraced me in the form of a three Parsi senior citizens sitting in our berth. Rarely have I had the pleasure to interact with such kind, open, and easy people. Sarah, Kattie and I talked, eat, and laughed with them for hours without wanting to find our other friends, and enjoyed every minute of it, as I am sure they did. In fact our berth was so interesting that our ACM friends actually came to use instead. By the time we had left the train they declared us as their own children, and insisted that once we returned to Pune we call them for more conversation over chai.

Once there, we immediately followed the advice of one of the old ladies from the train, and tried fenny, the regional alcohol.  That first day was an overload of sunbathing, swimming and general non academic behavior. However the next day we balanced it with a full day of touring Old Goa and the capital, Panaji. To do this we needed a driver. (Hiring drivers in India when traveling for the day is very common) Usually our driver’s cars are decked out in sparkled fabrics on the dashboard and around the windshield with a series of Indian idols sitting right in the middle, possibly also decorated with beads and things. However, Goa has a shocking twist to all this. Instead of Ganpati, or Vishnu on the dash, a squat white, semi-translucent cross emerges from the colorful chaos, and instead of Ashok, his name was Alex.

Traveling in and to Goa was one of the coolest parts of my trip to India so far. I am so happy that in a week and a half I leave for two weeks to travel in North India, including the Himalayas. Sometimes being in this country is like being in a dream.

Love from India

Solution...

to homesickness

1. Blackadder
2. Nerds
3. Fawlty Towers
4. Sweet tarts
5. Random Documentary about Rome
6. Talking to Nina on facebook
7. Talking to Kate, Meagan, and Marissa simultaneously on facebook :)
8. King Size Kit Kat bar which was lugged half way across the world only to discover that a) India has already got Kit Kat bars and b) the Kit Kat bar has melted beyond recognition

to the flu

1. Never, ever going to the doctor!
2. Not taking Tamiflu, or the dozen other medicines prescribed
3. A good helping of sleep and liquids
4. Perhaps more Blackadder

to sickness caused by Tamiflu

1. not taking Tamiflu
2. other (as yet undiscovered)

And the best solution to all problems,

       Talking to my mother daily over email


Love from India

Sickness

Sickness of the body while away from home is one of the worst things that can happen to a traveler, in part because it leads to sickness of the heart, which, unlike the body, is hard to repair.

Due to a weeks worth of festivities, my body by last Saturday was shot to pieces. Though I tried my best to resist it, I succumbed to a terrible fever and was forced to stay in bed all weekend. By the time the doctor's office was open on Monday, I was almost fully recovered and wanted nothing more than to return to school, my routine, and my friends. Being a cautious lady she decided that I wasn't allowed back until I saw her on Wednesday. School is closed on Thursday because Ganesh was submerged the day before, so that means that my first potential day of school was Friday. FRIDAY! One day, far in the future it seemed. Ah, but how very very wrong I was I would soon learn.

During my sickness I lay in bed thinking about how nice it would be to not be in this particular place, how lovely it would be to be at home and surrounded by my family, my things, my food, and how much I would give to go back there. I told myself that this was quite natural, who wouldn't want all these things when ill, but once the worst had passed, and still I had this feeling, I was suspicious.

After that unproductive doctor's visit, my host mother and I ran out to get the copious amounts of medicine prescribed to me. Little did I know that they would do more harm than good, upon taking the first dose Monday night I became became ill again.This time however it was not the flu, but an awful stomach ache accompanied by everything else the Pepto-Bismol bottle so gloriously describes. Unfortunately, despite my symptoms, I am required by the doctor to finish some of the pills. I know very well that I should finish them, that to not do so could create supper bugs in my body and lead to antibiotic resistance, but I really don't know if I care anymore. I just want not to be sick and alone in this room anymore.

To add insult to injury, a terror alert has been issued for Americans in India, so no school on Friday now. Great. And to top it off I will be alone until Monday because apparently there is a beach trip that know one told me about or bothered to sign me up for, so now my roommate will be gone for four days with half of ACM and I have another lonely weekend, devoid of any amusement, to look forward to.

It is at times like these that one's heart gets so sick with home that crying seems to be the only relief. I had done so, so well till now, I had not even thought of home in that way, not shed a single tear. But now I find that it is all to hard not to sit on my bed and cry. I have an awful feeling that now the flood gates have opened they will be hard to close, so although my body may recover I will continue to miss home until I am there again, wrapped in my mothers embrace.

Ganpati

Ganpati, also known as Ganesh, is a Hindu deity celebrated for the next two weeks here in India. This Festival is especially celebrated in this state, Maharastra, and since Pune is the second largest here, it is a BIG deal (my host brother has been practicing his drums for over a month) During this festival Ganesh is said to be visiting earth for 11 days, which means 11 days of partying culminating in a grand procession with huge Ganesh figures and all night dancing through the streets. Every house has a Ganesh figure that they worship through the holiday and then submerge in a body of water to symbolize his departure from the world. Unfortunately most Ganesh figures in India are made from plastic and have toxic paints, so they pollute the already filthy water. There is however a way to make sustainable Ganpati! If the Ganesh is made out of clay, with natural paints, then it will simply dissolve into the water and integrate naturally with the river or lake bed. In Pune there is an NGO that works to change the philosophy of the Ganpati Festival so that it is environmentally friendly, in part, by teaching sustainable Ganpati making through a series of classes. Because the people here at ACM are so wonderful, they arranged a special session just for us :) On Monday we molded them out of clay and today we will paint them. Overall the process is upwards of 5 hours, but it is definitely worth it for your own, hand constructed idle.  Oh, and I should mention that the media was there the whole time, interviewing and filming us. So, if you want to see 26 kids craning over bits of clay and stammering in front of a camera, you should definitely watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShO-U_e5TfU

Ajanta and Ellora

This weekend we all went to see the famous Ajanta and Ellora caves in northern Maharastra. It was so refreshing to get away from the city and breathe nice, clean country air, but it was not nice to encounter country attitudes. For whatever reason we became the central focus of everyone's attention. While visiting these gorgeous caves, dug out of sheer cliff face with only a hammer and chisel, it is remarkable that WE were the ones being stared at rather than the architecture. While in Pune we all get looks and sometimes shouts, but never has it been as bad as this. While at the Ellora caves we actually had to have a security detail because we were being swamped by all the Indians who were redirected from there trip to the caves to look us. All I could think was, "REALLY, REALLY! we travel thousands of miles and cross oceans to see your beautiful county, to appreciate your art, and you return the compliment by swarming us, staring at us, and taking pictures of us! I know that you have probably never seen western people outside your television, but really, this is silly, and it makes us feel really uncomfortable."

So although the caves were stunning and well worth the trip, the most memorable thing about our trip was maybe not the caves but all the other tourists.

Love from India

Home

Though I am on the other side of the world there is a strange feeling of home here. Daily it surfaces, sometimes without warning. But instead of giving me that awful feeling, that longing to return home to where everything is familiar and constant, it makes me excited and almost happy. Maybe it is the knowledge that I will be able to return to that world, a world that is always waiting for me, once I have explored this one. Maybe it is because those things that I see provide a bridge home and lessen the foreignness of this place . When my aai serves me chai, she reminds me of home, of my mother, of the times that we spend together when I am not at school. Just sitting in the living room watching T.V. with the family feels so comfortable, so much like home, despite all the differences in context. Walking down the street is even a reminder; Mcdonalds Dominos, Crocs, Honda, and Hyundai. Sometimes it is more forced, like Friday when Alayna and I watched Jane Eyre till the wee hours of the night while eating Starbursts and Reeses. Home is every where. It is in the things that you take with you. It is in the things that you receive. It is in things that you see and those that you can only feel.  It permeates through India and wraps me in its embrace.

Love from India

Dear Rickshaw Wala,

I am seriously frustrated with you. Though I know that you are not always mean and slimy, that is the disturbing trend that I have noticed of late. Three nights ago for example, you charged us twice the appropriate fare. I know, I know, I'm a tourist, I'm American, and I don't speak Marathi, and I live far away from the city center, but that is no reason to swindle me out of my money. Yes, I know that you live in a developing country, and I do not, thus my money goes a longer way here. It is true that paying double means that I pay only a dollar or so more, but that's not really the point. Three days ago I let you get away with it because it was ten at night, I was tired, it was dark, but when you tried it again the next day I was severely insulted. I refuse to be charged an extra 20 rupees just because we live 6 km away. In future I will give you nothing more than what the fare card indicates. I will shove it in you face and yell what little Marathi I know at you, I will threaten to contact the police, or I may just pay the correct fare and leave, but I will not give in again to your bullying!

Also, it is not kind to refuse a fare from two girls, soaked to the bone in the dark of night who want nothing more than to go home (like yesterday evening). Again, I know that we live outside of the city center, and maybe you wanted to go the other way. BUT STILL! It was wet and we didn't have phones. Instead we took refuge in a coffee shop in hopes that they would have a phone. No. No phone, no help, no rickshaw. In our desperation we were driven to ask a group sitting with an American for a cell phone so that we could contact our Aai, who expected us back 3 hours previous.To these people I am eternally grateful.

As for those of you who are fair and charge us the correct price and give correct change, to you I will give a reward. From now on I will give you a slight tip, because you are so much better then your brethren. Like today, the kind fellow that drove me to school did not quarrel about the destination or about the price. Thank you kind sir, I will remember your goodness.

To all the others however, be warned.

Your aware and resentful tourist,
Aisha Mergaert

Poli...

Last time I was in such a rush I totally forgot to talk about poli. Poli is a delicous, tortilla like bread that Marthis use to eat there food. Also called chapati in other areas of india, poli is far more common than naan in Maharashtra, especially in homes. Every meal that our aai cooks has poli for us to use plus rice cooked in delicious spices and oils! And her dinners are sooo good! The best Indian food I have had here, and ever has been cooked by her. For example this morning she made a delicious rice-like patty fried with lots of rice, and yesterday morning she made spicy rice cooked with onions and peanuts. Even better, aai said that she would teach Alaina and I how to cook! Basically, Indian food is awesome, India is awesome and I am very happy to be here.

Love from India

Family and Poli

This weekend began the most important journey of my trip, the home-stay. Friday, after classes, we were called from the classroom one-by-one (or in my case in twos) to a small room upstairs where two of the staff members waited to divulge all the juicy news about our families. Unlike me, most of the students worked themselves into a frenzy theorizing, anticipating, and praying about their host families. The tension of the room could have been cut with a knife. To everyone's dismay, Alaina and I were the second to be called. I had little sympathy however because their incessant talking and obsessing over 'which family they have?' 'Do they have kids?', 'what kind of house do they have?' 'do they have a dog?' was driving me crazy. If I had to sit in that room for much longer I would have exploded!

Turns out Alaina and I have an awesome family. We have an aai (mother), baba (father), aji, and a brother, sister and cousin (The brother and cousin are 20 and the sister is 23!) In addition to this loveliness the whole family, with the exception of aji, speaks English on some level which makes things so much easier. The sister has exceptional English, so whenever there is something a bit more difficult she jumps in. She so far has been a big help to Alaina and I. Yesterday she took us out on the town for a little bit so that we wouldn't be bored. A little to my appointment, she took us to the film 'The Expendables' which did not exactly satisfy my desire for a relaxing time. The movie was awash with blood and violence, the likes of which I rarely see in the states. But I think Alaina and I appreciated the gesture. Oh Alaina...

Alaina is another student from the ACM. We didn't really know each other very well before we were assigned our family, but over the weekend we did some serious bonding and now we are pretty close. Thank goodness she is with me! It makes the whole experience a thousand times easier when you have someone to talk to about normal things and in normal English!

As a whole, the family is really welcoming and kind. They are so happy to have us in their house, they even gave us the master bedroom with an private toilet and shower! And their house is huge. There are two floors and beautiful open roof where Alaina and I watched the sun set yesterday. Oh, and I have a dog! I feel so blessed with what I have been handed, Alaina and I really can't Believe how happy and comfortable we are.

I have to go register with the police now, so until tomorrow,

Love from India

Adjusting

It is remarkable what a difference a week makes. Exactly a week ago I left Chicago for this strange land with high expectations and many preconceptions. Once I arrived here I was shocked not only by the amount of things that I gotten right, but also wrong, very very wrong. Though I had been told about the traffic, pollution and general dirtiness of India, I had expected this to exclude the best, most modern parts of the city. HA, if only! Everything here is dirty, busy and smelly (sometimes good and sometimes bad). On the walk to school you have to put a scarf over your mouth and nose not just because of the visible smoke from exhaust pipes, but because of the horrific smell of fecal matter as you walk past certain areas. Sometimes the culprit is one of the thousands of stray dogs running about the city, but it is just as likely that someone on their commute to work decided one of the very poorly maintained urinal areas.

At first all of this disgusted me beyond imagination. I could not think of how it would be possible to live in a city when your walk to school is itself a test. But after a week of this environment I am freakishly comfortable routinely stepping over dog poop, crossing 6 lanes of traffic without a light, and taking rickshaws all over the city. I cannot believe how much progress I have made in the last few days! Just two days ago we took a trip to the main market in Pune, which is HUGE and filled with every kind of good you can imagine, and not once was I negatively overwhelmed. In fact, I embraced, it with all its energy, color, and diversity. The above photo was taken after a very successful trip to Anju's choice bangle shop and then to a fruit stand for some pomegranates (which I ate for the first time). That day everyone also bought Indian suits called salwar kameez and suddenly we all seemed to have started taking on a new Indian identity, one which I think we will carry with us until we leave India.

Love from India

Jet lag

Right now it is 6 o'clock in the morning. I woke up at 4ish, laid in bed till 4:30, read until 5, studied Marathi until 5:30, and now I am clearly updating my blog. Bloody jet lag! I thought yesterday when I woke up at 6 instead 4 that I was well on my way to a normal sleep pattern. Wrong. My body woke up at 12:30 laid awake for awhile, went back to sleep and then promptly woke up at four, with no intention of falling back asleep. Fighting the urge to wake up and organize my accumulated piles of clothes, books and various REI travel gear was very difficult, but I did my best until the memory of falling asleep last night without having finished reading Family Matters dawned on me. "Thank God," I thought, "a legitimate reason to get up!" In addition to finishing the book I also made flash cards for every single Marathi character and phrase we had learned so far, and then checked all my email, and did a rather extensive reading of facebook updates and threads. God I want to be asleep right now! Just like yesterday and the day before I know that it will hit 3 o'clock and I will be so tired that the performance of basic English and motor skills will become a threat to my well being. Have you ever tried to cross an Indian street on four hours of sleep? It is no small task. Rickshaws, motor bikes, buses, cars; they all really don't care that you want to cross the street, and when you are in the middle of it they don't bother to stop.

In response to the immense amount of time I now have, I will wait here for god knows how long to post one of my favorite pictures.




 This is Mumbai, well maybe the outskirts, we were on our way to Pune on this highway when we pulled over and I took this picture.



 Now that the sun has come up, I will put aside my dying computer and read North and South until I can justify taking a shower.

Good Morning

India

India-

Everything I thought and knew it would be, and everything I didn't. There is so much here it is impossible to convey accurately the feel, the sound, the smell of India, it is something that can only be experienced first hand. What I can say is that it is not for the faint of heart or mind, just walking down that street is a test of your fortitude. All the people, especially men, stare openly at you whether they be on the street, in a car, rickshaw or on a motorbike (which are super common here), it was at first extremely unnerving even to the point of not wanting to go walk around. As I say this I should add that they are not staring at me so much as they are staring at the people around me, my fellow students. Because I have such dark skin I blend in a lot and was even asked in a shop if I was Indian. Wow, I wish! It would be so awesome to be part of this complex people. Anyway, streets... they are not only unnerving because of the people on and around them, but because sidewalk are optional here. Sometimes there is a really nice sidewalk with kind of consistent paving, but then it will just end in a pile unused bricks or a piece of metal will suddenly emerge.

Enough about streets, India is awesome! I love it. It is really scary and intimidating but so fascinating. Today I had an awesome mocha at a western style coffee shop then walked half a block, passed two or three tin and plaster houses and then arrived at the end of the block at the istore. Such contrast and such disparity that it is very  very hard to understand and approach.

Despite all of these aspects, there are some comforts in the city. Mostly, the city is pretty western by Indian standards because it is a huge center for higher learning and IT. There are tons of young people walking around in western clothes and carrying backpacks or driving very nice, new cars and motorbikes. What was especially lovely today was the coffee shop. The mocha that I had could have competed with the best of Seattle.

Dinner is soon, I will continue this later.

Love from India

Here!

I'm here! After over 48 hours of travel I am in India, and totally overwhelmed. Last night we flew into Mumbai and had to drive through the slums outside of the airport. Even though it was eleven at night there were hundreds of people on the street walking, driving, sleeping and suffering and thousands of cars on the street threatening to rear end us. Never in my life have I seen cars so fearless. They drive within inches of other vehicles and don't believe in lanes, for example half our drive to Pune was on the left shoulder of the road.

I am so, so tired right now so I'm going to write tomorrow when I have more sleep.

Last Day

Today is my last full day in Seattle, and I have this eery feeling that I have forgotten tons of important things and will somehow manage to leave home without packing underwear or something. Also, news has reached me that a hoard of Mergaerts will be arriving tonight and I have yet to pack anything, so time to hop to it I guess.

In regards to India, well it is seems less and less like a dream everyday, but even while sitting here less than two day from arrival it is hard to fully understand what awaits me, and I suppose that will probably be the case until I'm there. How can one that hasn't experienced something like India possibly prepare in fully before hand. It seems like an impossible task. However I like to think that my particular brand of India obsessiveness will soften the cultural shock. I keep telling myself that I was fine in Britain. I researched and obsessed so I knew what to expect. That isn't to say however that Mumbai and London are the same type of city, or that India and the UK require the same type of preparedness, but an open and educated mind seems to be the best weapon against culture shock and homesickness. Let's hope it works!

The Beginning

So here it is, the beginning of a connected, surfing, blogging, posting Aisha. From here I will record my adventures into the known and unknown during my year abroad and share my best pictures. Please bear with me, I have never done this before, and as everyone knows I am awful at this connectedness thing, but I will try very hard to write frequently and share with you all my journeys.

So, less than a week till departure, India here I come!