The fall of the demon Ravana

Last night was Dussehra here in Banaras. Lanka, a major street in Varanasi, was filled with people. Carnival toys and balloons were being sold. Pani Puri, or gol gappa as its called in Banaras, Ice cream and sweets are available from wheeled carts on the road side. I went out with my two youngest sisters, Guriya(16) and Lovely(12). The attraction of this day is the fact that i marks the part of the story on the Ramayana where lord Ram conquers the demon Ravan. This is depicted by the burning of a giant Ravana statue at midnight. The past couple weeks has been Ramlila, a dramatic recreation of the Ramayana by young actors who have purified themselves for a month before hand. Dussehra is the culmination of the story.
We didn't stay  out all night, our curfew is 10, but we went out to eat in order to celebrate. After much searching we found a pizza restaurant for dinner. Pizza here is... different. Some times it's not consumable and sometimes it's good but not normal. The place we went to, one where I had been once before, was in the latter category. The sauce isn't tomato sause its kinda like a spicy bbq sauce, anyway, we ate well. The three of us ate four individual sized pizzas and some garlic cheese bread. Afterwards we went to Lord Ganesh's temple for Puja.

Wonderland

For the first time in my trip here I have ventured into a bookshop... All I can say is wow. Harmony books on the outside looks like an unorginized mess, but like most unorinized messes in India, there is a system that is not apparent from the outside. Not only did the dashingly handsome bookstore owner have a complete catalouge of everybook he had, he had 10 books I could use for my project and more on the way. He also knew impressivly much about books written on nationalism and languge. I was impress as he kept handing me book after book. I bought 6 but will be back for more! research here just got a lot easier!!!

Host Family

After a few days visiting host families, I have picked one out. It was actually the first host family we visited. I fell in love with the room and the family at first sight! the mother is a tiny little woman, slightly demure and speaks quietly. She has the cutest smile, though. I also met her three daughters who I believe are 10, 19 and 20 years old and look a lot like their mother. I have yet to meet the father, who has a job in the private sector. I am so excited to move in and have a lot of shopping to do! I need a mattress, sheets, a clock, power strip with converter and circuit breaker, drinking water, buckets... I move in on Wednesday and will post a pic of the family then. 

Classes

We are still in Mussorie for the time being. Classes are in session and we are hard at work studying. Our teachers Virendra Ji and Vimel Ji are great and their styles compliment each other really nicely. The cooks at the hotel are amazing and every dish they produce is magic. One of the most interesting ones was bread pakora… which was an American sandwich deepfried with spices. Today I was a family of monkey on my porch and they seemed to be as interested in me as I was in them. They were playing, but when they saw me they cautiously approached, a little timid. They were really cute. 

Mussorie

Right now I’m in the foothills of the Himalayas in a town called Mussorie. We are up here to avoid the heat of Banaras and enjoy ourselves while starting Hindi classes. It is truly beautiful here. The hotel is great! We eat breakfast every morning amongst the clouds! We’ve also been out shopping a since we got here. They sell beautiful shawls here, though as this is a resort town prices are high by Indian standards(200 rupees/ 5 dollars for a shawl)Yesterday we got the chance to see something really cool a religious procession went right by our hotel. They were celebrating lord Krishna, who just happened to have a birthday in the last week too! It was really neat! People dressed like lord Krishna and other gods and demons form the different stories of his life. My favorite float was one which had Krishna, Radha and what looked like a Sadhu interacting. I’m not quite sure of the significance, but I will ask our Hindi teacher Virendra Ji. We start our Hindi class today and I’ve been doing some review. It will be good to have a regular schedule again. I feel as if I’ve been a tourist forever!!! Though this place is beautiful and cool(literally) all I really want right now is to move in with a host family and start my research. 

Arrival in Banaras

Yesterday we arrived in Banaras, our new home after an overnight train ride. We’ve been staying in a hotel that works closely with our program and have been busy with orientations and seeing the city. We met with some of the Professors at BHU(Banaras Hindu University)`that we will be working with in the future. I got a chance to talk with a few people who might be able to help me with my research and feel a lot better about finding a professor to work with. I also met the man who will be teaching me Urdu and who will perhaps be my advisor. We also went clothes shopping and I found that yet again I do not fit well into clothes made for Indian women. Our director, Vidya Ji, wasYesterday we arrived in Banaras, our new home after an overnight train ride. We’ve been staying in a hotel that works closely with our program and have been busy with orientations and seeing the city. We met with some of the Professors at BHU(Banaras Hindu University)`that we will be working with in the future. I got a chance to talk with a few people who might be able to help me with my research and feel a lot better about finding a professor to work with. I also met the man who will be teaching me Urdu and who will perhaps be my advisor. We also went clothes shopping and I found that yet again I do not fit well into clothes made for Indian women. Our director, Vidya Ji, was most helpful though in giving me ideas and scheduling a meeting with a tailor in order to get a few suit made. I really got a chance to use my Hindi while choosing and buying fabric. Everyone seemed very surprised and pleased at the fact that I spoke Hindi and I had a few fun conversations about my program, myself and clothes. The sales assistants here are very helpful, which scared some of the other girls, who were just looking for simple things, but I was very grateful for all of the help I could get. This afternoon I will pick up my first ever indian-tailored silwar-kamiz suit! Now all I need are some dupatas. I also really need to do laundry, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow night. We are leaving Varanasi, which is HOT and HUMID this time of year for Mussori, which is in the mountains, for a two week language retreat. Internet access is not always easy to get. This morning we woke to find the internet router gone from our hotel and not a single employee that knows the password.

  

Second day

Today we left for Agra and the Taj Mahal at 6am. We stopped for lunch on the way which was awesome. The food here is great!! Way better than anything you can get in an American restaurant. The first day was a little overwhelming, but I am feeling better by the hour. There are so many people in Delhi! From the pictures I posted above you can see how many people live in such tight quarters. There is no privacy here and everything is done in the open. From the rooftop of my hotel I can see kids playing, bathing, flying kites while their parents shave, chat and do their daily chores.  The Taj was nice.  The moment we got there men came up to our group trying to be our tour guides. Dr. Vidya and Shakar Ji deflected them all except for Tariq who became our guide by not taking no for an answer. He was very helpful and when Shakar Ji asked him how does he “know all of this stuff?” He replied “I have a big book at home.” It was a nice visit, but a lot of driving for such a short stop. I think they just wanted us out of the city for the day as it is Lord Krishna’s birthday and the streets are full of people celebrating. Children are dressed as baby Krishna and we drove by a procession of floats depicting the different stories from Krishna’s life.  There was a huge traffic jam last night due to the processions and we got to experience Delhi’s traffic at its best. It reminds me of the game called Rush Hour. There are no traffic rules here I swear. Last night I made the mistake of riding shot gun. It was slightly terrifying to see all of the people and cars heading straight towards us only to turn at the last possible second. There is internet here, though not very conveniently placed, and I will probably have a cell within the next two weeks.  So I’m not shut off from the world. We have TVs in our rooms and I’m watching Indian Soap Operas. There are a lot of commercials for skin lightener… like the opposite of tanner… Interesting. Anyway tomorrow will hopefully bring some close shopping as I am soon out of 4 clean outfits I have.  More then!

Kristina