Hyderabad- City of Romance

Hyderabad- City of Romance

8/29-9/2/2012

Excursion #3 (already?!)

the train station

First thing, we toured the Salar Jung museum. This ruler had collections from all over the world for his many palaces, and finally they were all brought to this one location. He had much wood carved furniture, ceramics, clocks, figurines, carvings made from tusks of elephant and walrus, dolls and toys, paintings, religious statues and paintings, animal figures, and so much more. He had collected things from the western and eastern parts of the world, and made sure to keep everything nice and in good condition.

 Then we toured a palace nearby.

In the evening, we stopped by Charminar and climbed all the way to the top. 

It was a little uncomfortable, because this was the first time we really experienced people asking us to be in pictures with them and take pictures of them. We had experienced this before, but it was nearly every 3 minutes or so, people were asking.

We got a great view of the city, and the four main roads leading out from the Charminar.

Back down, we went shopping in one of the famous outdoor malls again. We were easily distracted by the men selling pearls- Hyderabad is famous for jewelry and especially selling pearls, though it’s not near any ocean or body of water…

I bought a saree (YES!) and the others found sarees, perfume, and necklaces.

Then we came to the bangles. Bangles were everywhere: there was a whole street dedicated to just bangles. Couldn’t even believe it!

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Oh, buffalo...

 The next day, we went to Golconda Fort, a place where generations of Muslim rulers ruled the surrounding area. This was notorious especially for it’s efficient water system. It was built on a good-sized hill, and they needed to have efficient water in order to survive. However, they did, proven by the story of the fort being under siege, and they held out completely shut in for 8 months with enough provisions and water to last.
 

 One of the many wells we saw:

exact replica of the Charminar, except only two minarets instead of four and strategically placed on top of the granary so that even if there were attackers, they wouldn't want to destroy the it out of fear that the mosque would fall down as well, which it was built such that it would.

King's Quarters:stage: 

View from the top, can make out the wall surrounding the fortPerpetual Indian saying, painted on the wall:

   

Architecture in the Queens' quarters:

We were led by a great 12 year old guide, who was Anu’s friend’s son. He showed us the best ways to get to the top and the best places to see things. Then, Anu and Laura Lou rested, and he, Becca and I went exploring. We were going to go down in the caves and then thought better of it… We did see so much more than I would have ever imagined, and it was so fun to be out of the city and walking around the park, free to explore.

BATS!

In the afternoon, we were taken on a tour of the Theatre department where the boy’s mom teaches and then headed straight out to her home for a lecture on folk art and dinner! We had great conversation and it was 11:00 before we knew it!

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The next day we visited another outdoor crafts bazaar.

This one had anything a tourist or a local would want. It had jewelry- plenty of bangles, earrings, necklaces, beads, anklets, you name it;

 paintings and cards, sculptures, figurines, kurtas (shirts), food, wall hangings and pillow covers, bags, and so much more! We definitely got our fill of shopping this trip! I bought some greeting cards, a few bangles (only five that came as a set… :) ), and a wrap skirt- I’m wearing it today! 

And Hyderabad traffic, with a cool billboard. We were in the "posh" side of town, and this a little indicative of that dynamic:

Visit to Pulicat- Backwater Community

8/3/2012

As part of a service learning conference that my professor, Miriam Samuel ma'am was leading, we went out to visit a backwater community (fishing community). The whole conference group (about 30 in number) went along and toured the estuarine biological laboratory ran by MCC and then got a look into the community.

Fishermen sending the sustainable boat out to the bay. It is new, just built and purchased, so the ceremony taking place is prayer and then a breaking of a coconut on the hull to bless it. This exchange took place between the Hindu group and Muslim group, if I remember correctly.

The boats directly next to the one going out to the water are boats that NGOs have brought in, thinking they were helping the community. They are painted with toxins/chemical paint, and are fiber, not wood. They are not built for the kind of water that is experienced in the lake, and so they capsize easily. Just the past week, the man leading us was saying that a family of 22 capsized and 20 died. Two young boys clung on and were saved.

Then, after the boat is not usable anymore, it pollutes even further by not being made from natural materials. The sustainable boat is made of local wood and is crafted by laborers, which helps support the local economy. They are built heavier and wider and withstand the waves better. The only thing is that this boat does not do well outside of the lake in the bay. The bay is more suitable for the fiber boats, because they can cut through the big waves.

Here is what a sustainable boat looks like in skeleton form:

     

We visited an old Dutch cemetery. Pulicat was originally controlled by Dutch settlers. At one time, they caught pneumonia and 100 of their people died, just in one year. So, this cemetery was constructed just for their community.

I thought it was funny that kids were running on the gravestones...

...and men were playing a marble game right there, too.

Some girls from the village that wanted to be in a picture.

And a look into a street of Pulicat:

2nd Excursion- Pondicherry

8/3 - 8/5/2012

2nd Excursion- Pondicherry!

Beginning of the month, and it's already time for our second excursion! Anu sent a car, and we drove two and a half hours down to meet her.

We arrived late afternoon and before we even got into the hotel, checked out the beach. We were still stuck, awed, even as Anu and her girls arrived fifteen minutes later… and we should have gotten ourselves checked in. The water was so captivating, and it had been a long journey by taxi- two and a half hours.

We encountered some difficulties with checking in, and decided to do that later. Anu treated us to a walk in the city, showing us the main roads and the shops we should visit during our free time.

Before dinner, we meandered around the streets. Anu showed us one temple. Usually an elephant also stays there, but was ill and being treated in another location. First temple to walk around in! This was built for the Hindu god Ganesh; we could tell by the different symbols that are his, along with the many, many paintings and depictions of him. Through all of these, the stories are shared and illustrated and thus passed down. Ganesh is the god of good travels and success, and one identifier of him is by his elephant head- hence, the significance of the elephant. Temples are very common to see here. They differ in size, which some you can walk in, such as in Pondy, and some are small, which I learned people worship by walking around or standing in front of. Either way, they are usually a center for meditations and a place for people to have pujas (religious ritual honoring a god) for special or significant occasions.

Then, we ate at a Chinese place. I had my first taste of lamb soup- very good!

We tasted some Pondy ice cream, and then headed back to check in at the hotel and sleep.

After waking up, we got a continental breakfast (toast, butter, omelette, and banana) and then sat on the beach for half an hour. We wanted to get some pasta at a local place, so we walked all over to find it.

In the process, we found a really neat park, and several fun shops.

The park was so green! Such a nice break from all of the buildings and people...

Plus, they had really neat sculptures.

The pasta was great- a little taste of home! And then, we walked to the bakery, where we indulged in donuts and sweets. After that, we got in the taxi to go to Anu's home.

The trip out to her house was a bit of an adventure. She actually lives in the country, so it was fun to explore there. 

She took us to Auroville, a town nearby, known for it’s intentional living style, comprised of people from many different countries and living and working in one common space. Right now, the community has around 1,500 members, but aspires to grow to 50,000. The town started under the leadership of “the Mother”. She had a vision that all people could live sustainably in one community peacefully, regardless of what origin. And, this would mean that the land and everything they have is collectively theirs. No specific piece of land belongs to one specific person or family. Everything is shared. 

Auroville is made up of several communities, which all have specialize further into one area of work. Some are agricultural, some manufacturing, some textiles, some are doctors, some teach, etc.

Within this thinking, it was part of the plan that your spiritual life should and could be a part of everyday living; so much so, that they have a spiritual center, the Matrimandir, in the middle of Auroville, where citizens go to meditate and try to reach the innermost part of their being. This place is closed most of the time for visitors. Only the people who are serious about worshipping are allowed in.

Anu took us to the bakery on the outskirts of the community, before heading back to the house. We bought bread and pastries, and then went to the house to make dinner.

Upon arrival, her two girls were also glad to see us, along with  her five dogs, some turkeys, and many chickens.

The girls took us on a walk down the road and through their field (like a pasture to us), which was very rocky and in some places, dense with plants. The dogs of course, came with. After about an hour of exploring, we came back hot, tired, and ready to eat. Dinner was a little later, about two hours.

But, in that time, I was able to get my fill of dog-petting, talking, and learning how to cook a couple of Indian dishes.

Our Indian meal!!!

I helped make the puri (light, airy bread in the bottom right of the plate.) Puris, anyone? And no, I did not eat totally with my fingers, this meal.

Sunday, we shopped in the morning, and looked in a DVD store. This was a great place, especially if one likes cheap copies of DVDs… Unfortunately, watching movies isn’t really my cup of tea, so I helped find some for the others and then watched them go through difficult dilemmas of finally narrowing down their choices.

Then, went back to the pasta bar for lunch. It happened to be Friendship Day, and at the end after our bill, the waiter came out and gave us each Friendship bracelets. Soooo cute! 

So, happy Friendship Day everyone! (It was really August 5th, but five days late isn't too bad, right? Everyday's a friendship day.) 

A little shopping (surprise…) at the grocery store finished our day, and we were back on the road. 

We got back to MCC, and we were all ready to rest up from the long weekend.

Some interesting pictures:
-A family on an outing to the beach. Here, people get really dressed up and make a day of it. So, the women wear their saris, men in nice western clothes, and the children are all done up.

Then, they all stood as close to the water as possible and a couple waves came that absolutely soaked them. So funny! They looked like they had such a good time.

-statue of Mahatma Gandhi alongside the Bay.

*notice the other tourist taking a video of me taking a picture of the statue, Laura, and consequently, him as well... :) 

Field Placement- Krupa time!

Hello everyone, it's been a while!

Wait. It's been already over 4 weeks; that's a month! Those days flew by... and it's August already!

There have been some difficulties and challenges, but there have been so many fun, new, and exciting things. I wish I could share it all!

Today's post: update on Field Placement.

I have chosen to work at Krupa (pronounced: kri (like KRIsten) pa-- I don't know why), a place that works especially for and with "the forgotten and forsaken", located in a village on the outskirts of Chennai. They begun their ministry helping people suffering from leprosy, but then realized there were so many other facets of Indian society that also needed assistance, that they expanded their focus. Today, they still work with people with leprosy, but also, work in areas of Chennai with gypsy communities, housing children who don't otherwise have access to homes, educating children (especially those who live in their hostels and of the gypsy community), hosting a community college for secondary school drop-outs, providing work opportunity for destitute women to learn weaving and then to accompany that, teaching embroidery and block printing, and also using a sewing machine. They are skilled in making saris, mats, bags, bed sheets, aprons, and other items. Krupa also plans to start a bakery program.

And I get to work there!
The variety of this placement really caught my attention. Many of you who know me well know that I love to be involved in many various programs, especially differing in the level of challenges. So, I hoped to get to observe many of these different programs.

During the first day, I found out that I would be helping to teach the college students basic conversational English and to set up a weekly literary club. I would have an interpreter and/or other students from MCC joining me, so this will not be too difficult of a task, or so I thought. I have not taught yet, but have had several opportunities to interact with the students and to get to know them a little. And I think it will be more challenging than I first supposed; language can be a huge barrier... And I recognize that so much more now that I'm in the minority, or at least a minority of sorts.
The other big project that I have been asked to help with is called Arunodhaya, a program first year students developed and continued all year last year. Their task was to locate all of the autistic children and their families in the surrounding villages, and then start going door to door asking parents of their need and if they would be willing to let Krupa teach their children- free of charge. They encountered a plethora of difficulties here, ones that I would surely face. I believe I will start working on that possibly in August, but for now need to become more familiar with culture and surroundings, language, and people, to be able to help them adequately. And, once a couple of first years come to Krupa, they will be able to go with me and help me, too.

Then, yesterday I was able to see a different part of the city. I visited Krupa Headquarters in the heart of Chennai, set in a neighborhood. This was so neat! I will need to take a picture when I go again, so you all can see. Aside from being able to observe what Krupa is involved in, I was able to help work with them! They were getting ready for a grand opening of selling the women's products from Krupa, and I was there to assist in taking inventory and measuring items. In other words... Organizing! Let me tell you, I felt right at home. While there, I first helped transfer stock from the storage room in one house down the stairs and up another stairs to the room that things will be sold. Then, we sorted all of the products by kind and counted them. We also ended up measuring a lot of the bed sheets and tablecloths that were brought up as well; 6:15 seemed to come pretty fast!
The only thing was that it was a long day... I left here at 8:20, got on a train for 45 minutes, arrived at 9:30 to Krupa Headquarters, and worked there until 6:15. Time got a little away from us. I had to cross a busy road (by myself) to get back to the station and that was probably the scariest part of that journey. I took probably five or seven minutes just gathering up the courage to step out and run! :) But, I made it. Then, caught my train, and was home by 7:15. Not bad, right?

Tomorrow I'm not sure what I will be doing. Indian schedule... I might be at the headquarters, I might be at the other site of Krupa, or I might be off with the department HOD on a field trip. We'll see!

Next week, I think I'll be at the headquarters again, helping with some clerical duties. Perhaps the week after that I'll start teaching English? 

1st Excursion- Malmallapuram!

7/14 - 7/15/2012

Mahabalipuram- otherwise known as Malmallapuram, Tamilnadu, India

1^st excursion out of Chennai!

Our first stop was Dakshina Chitra, located just south of Chennai’s city limits. Here we were able to get a look at both ancient and modern styles of architecture in South India. These houses are so neat, and so well-built. They all have the feel of being very open and welcome. Generally, the windows and doors are not shut, and there were still not many bugs to be seen!

My favorite place in any of these homes, is the courtyard. Situated either inside or outside of the home, it was (and still is in some cases) a place for the whole family to gather. It was typical to have several members of the same family living together, and the courtyard was a place to sit and talk, similar to a living room. If the courtyard is indoors like the one below, the top where the roof would usually be is open to the outside. This explains why there is a lower level, so that water can drain out during the wet months. This open top was to bring in both a source of light and to provide ventilation and circulation of air throughout the home.

It was interesting to me how styles varied, just between states and regions. In the west, Kerala area, their rooftop bricks were mostly flat and layed out. Here, in a typical Tamil Nadu home on the east coast, the bricks are curved and stacked one on top of the other, layering.

And of course, we had to stop by the small shops as we left. 15 minutes turned into a 45 minute extravaganza. Bangles galore!

Finally we made it to Malmallapuram (formerly known as Mahabalipuram). To the beach!

Here is the Bay of Bengal- what an experience! This was our first time getting to be "tourists" and found that we came to the right place. White people were everywhere!

and here's a look at lunch: 

Fried fish and chips! 

In the afternoon, we stopped for a look at the great stone carvings, some carved as far back as 7th Century B.C. 



Arjuna's Penance:        

  

       Five Rathas: 

           

            

Shore Temple:

And of course the next day, we headed back to Chennai, but not before we stopped at the Crocodile Bank!

What a great trip! We had plenty of time to get out and shop, eat great food- both Indian and American, see the ocean, swim in a pool, and meet other students from the US. Their study abroad trip happened to coincide with ours, and we were able to get to know them a little bit.

Robert William, our director for BCA India from the states, came to meet their group, and spent all day Saturday with us. It was really fun to actually get to meet him in person and talk with him about India. 

Other than that, this trip was a learning experience for me. We have been exposed to several gypsy communities and this place had their share of them. The sad part about these people, is that the caste system is so engrained in the society, that these gypsies don't really have a chance at making a living. Many people here (especially of higher castes), regard these people as little more than human, along the lines of Dalit (the proper name for what was previously known as "the Untouchables".) So, on several occasions, these gypsies would come next to us, in our faces, asking us to buy things from them- primarily jewelry that they had made. It was so hard turning them down, knowing that they have such a tough way of life. 

This is going to be an ongoing internal battle I will face, perhaps on a daily basis. It depends where you are, but there is poverty everywhere. I want to help, but this is such a systemic issue, that it will take some major work for people's rights to be realized. This is not my place, at least not yet, but I will continue to work at helping those I can. 

Thus, I enter field placement work.

Week of 7/8/2012- Ups and Downs

This past week has been a crazy roller coaster ride of emotion. The main thing is, that I think I’ve beat the “Delhi belly” at least for now. I am feeling much better!

This didn’t hurt much either… a little taste of home:

Yep, that’s a cold chicken salad sandwich (double decker!!) with French fries 

and vegetables. 

Add olives on top and we were set! :)

I got out of the room finally on Tuesday and made some friends. 

Wednesday, classes officially started. Correction; class for me, started. I had one class that first-years take which didn’t start until the following Monday, so that left one that I actually went to: Development Economics. My afternoon was free, and I got to sit around the room, as well as get out and talk to people and make new friends, you know... the life. What a day of school, class for one hour... 

And to top it off, it was the first Fresher's Night in the hall. This first night was Talent Show night, and we watched all the freshers get up and show off. We got some good exposure to Indian songs and nostalgic American songs sung by Indians, Indian dancing, poem reading, and even keyboard playing (the Titanic, of course). Two hours later, we were all ready to leave. Not so fast! The girl with the microphone found us and told the three of us that we needed to do something too, because we were also "freshers", or at least new to Martin Hall. 

Oh Boy... We had nothing planned. And we were next.

So, we did what any normal, clear-thinking group of female college students would think of. We pulled out our inner Spice Girls and sang- kind of. Remember, we had never practiced before. That was certainly clear. Basically, we had a general idea of how the song goes, but we were so flustered, that the "lead girl" Becca, forgot the right order for the lyrics, and I really didn't know them, so we were a mess. But, the girls loved it and hollered anyway.

Thursday came and went. 

Friday, Anu met us for lunch and brought our BCA director from Bridgewater, VA with her, Robert. He had to come over to help with another program and decided to meet with us while he stayed in Chennai. In the evening, the president of MCC invited us to dinner. There we met with a large group of students from the University of Florida who are on a traveling study abroad program around India. They were staying on campus as well, but in their own guest house.

Dinner was outside, where we were served from a buffet featuring both Indian and American dishes. Literally, dosa (a flat, crispy Indian pancake) and French fries were side by side.

However, we got chased out by the rain, which was much needed! 

Chennai and the surrounding areas were experiencing some extreme water level issues, and people were beginning to be concerned of having enough; so the rains came at a good time.

The next day was the first trip out- weekend at Malmallapuram!