Last week, Bobby's neighbor passed away. On Wednesday we were invited to go over to his house for the memorial. Subhamita came with us. We bought flowers and sweets which we put on the altar (beautifully decorated with flowers) they had set up for him. Then we sat down to visit with the family and they served us sweets. They invited us to come to the memorial dinner that night. It was at a building just beside the school which is also used to host wedding parties. There was another altar for him set up there, also decoated with white flowers.
The meal was delicious, and huge. We had stuffed kulcha (a fried flat bread with potatos and spices in it), about four different kinds of curry, cucumber salad, chutney, chops (breaded, deep fried things - usually potato or fish, but in this case beet - which are kind of similar to hush puppies) two kinds of sweets, and ice cream. And, with the exception of the ice cream, we of course ate it all with our hands. I did much better than I did last time.
The man who died was only 58, and in fact he was the last person I talked to in Khardah before I went to Thailand. He owned the van which Bobby hired to take me to the airport. So I knew him, and I knew his daughter, Bobby's friend. That is to say I was acquainted with them. But the other volunteers didn't really know them at all. Its interesting to see the difference in the ways cultures deal with death. In America, when someone dies, close friends and family come to mourn. Unless the person was a public figure, stangers do not attend the memorial services. I know Bobby's neighbor's were just trying to be friendly. They invited perfect strangers to the memorial services. Of course we weren't involved or present for the more intimate parts of the funeral process. It seems to me that for the dinner though, its viewed as a party and therefore the more the merrier. Interersting cultural difference. I was happy for the invite though.
On a completely different note, Manisha and Prativa began watching The Wizard of Oz for computer class yesterday. They read the book in class, so now they get to watch the movie. They really like it so far. It was really fun to share something which is so embedded in American culture with them.
Today I gave a test on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions to the intermediate group. At first they couldn't remember how to do anything (solely because it was a test; they could do it all yesterday) but after a little help from me, they did really well. The scores were 92%, 80% and 83%. Suraj will have to take it next week because he wasn't there today, but I am sure he'll do really well. He's great at math. And Sayani doesn't come anymore, so that's all. All really good scores. I am so pleased!!
~m
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Kolkata ft Mc Donald's
Today Nienke and I went into Kolkata. First, we went to the American Library of Kolkata, which I bought a membership to at the Kolkata Book Fair a few weeks ago. The security was crazy. There were armed soldiers outside and we had to go through metal detectors and get out bags x-rayed. The selection was, to me, a little disappointing. I had anticipated a library like one I would go to in the US. But it makes sense that this one isn't like that. Its more geared towards people who want to learn about America than about providing an American experience. Their fiction section was only old classics. They didn't have the Wizard of Oz movie (they had had it, but it was lost). What they had was mostly informational books about the US. So its good for what it is, but not what I had wanted. Oh well. I'll probably go back a few more times before I leave.
They recently opened a McDonald's on Park Street. There was a big poster on the front for chapatti aloo tikka. It piqued Nienke's and my curiosity, so we decided to go in. It was the nicest McDonald's I have ever seen. There was marble (or maybe granite, but real stone either way) on some of the walls. There were pillars and trellaces which gave it a garden-y feeling. Nienke and I were standing looking dumbfounded and a woman came up and asked us if we'd like a tour of the kitchen. We said sure! She gave us hair nets to wear. Its probably the cleanest McDonald's in existence. They had separate preparation counters and deep fryers for veg and non veg items. There were of course no hamburgers on the menu because cows are sacred in Hinduism so its like atrocious to serve beef. There were chicken and fish sandwiches, as well as veggie burgers (correct me if I'm wrong, but Mcy D's doesn't do a veggie burger in the US). There was a paneer salsa wrap and chapatti aloo tikka (spicy potato burger). They of course had french fries and soft-serve ice cream. Nienke got a chicken sandwich and I got a "veg surprise" which is a veggie burger with a spicy cheesy sauce and onions and tomato and we split an order of fries. My burger was pretty good. Nice n' fattening. And the fries were exactly the same as in the US. Nice change of flavors anyway. We finished off the meal with ice cream. Usually I think its dispicable when tourists go to McDonald's abroad. Why go somewhere exotic and then eat the same damn thing you can get in America? But this was so different that we just had to try it. Intersting little adventure.
We browsed at Music World and at Oxford Bookstore for awhile, then walked to the Kolkata Panorama, a musuem which chronicles the history of Calcutta through multimedia exhibits. It was pretty neat, but unfortunately the guides and the recordings were so fast that I missed alot of the information.
~m
They recently opened a McDonald's on Park Street. There was a big poster on the front for chapatti aloo tikka. It piqued Nienke's and my curiosity, so we decided to go in. It was the nicest McDonald's I have ever seen. There was marble (or maybe granite, but real stone either way) on some of the walls. There were pillars and trellaces which gave it a garden-y feeling. Nienke and I were standing looking dumbfounded and a woman came up and asked us if we'd like a tour of the kitchen. We said sure! She gave us hair nets to wear. Its probably the cleanest McDonald's in existence. They had separate preparation counters and deep fryers for veg and non veg items. There were of course no hamburgers on the menu because cows are sacred in Hinduism so its like atrocious to serve beef. There were chicken and fish sandwiches, as well as veggie burgers (correct me if I'm wrong, but Mcy D's doesn't do a veggie burger in the US). There was a paneer salsa wrap and chapatti aloo tikka (spicy potato burger). They of course had french fries and soft-serve ice cream. Nienke got a chicken sandwich and I got a "veg surprise" which is a veggie burger with a spicy cheesy sauce and onions and tomato and we split an order of fries. My burger was pretty good. Nice n' fattening. And the fries were exactly the same as in the US. Nice change of flavors anyway. We finished off the meal with ice cream. Usually I think its dispicable when tourists go to McDonald's abroad. Why go somewhere exotic and then eat the same damn thing you can get in America? But this was so different that we just had to try it. Intersting little adventure.
We browsed at Music World and at Oxford Bookstore for awhile, then walked to the Kolkata Panorama, a musuem which chronicles the history of Calcutta through multimedia exhibits. It was pretty neat, but unfortunately the guides and the recordings were so fast that I missed alot of the information.
~m
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thailand
Thailand was so much fun! Bangkok especially is very Westernized. It almost felt like going back to America. The traffic was motorized, the streets were clean, the electricity never went out, women wore pants (or shorts and tank tops). There are 7 elevens EVERYWHERE. From the street Om lives off of, you can stand in one place and see three 7 elevens.
Om lives in a dorm room-style apartment with her friend Keau, who also did an exchange year in the US. Their apartment looks exactly like a stereotypical American dorm room, except its a little larger. I spent lots of time just chillin' with Om and her friends. We went to Khao San road, the big backpacker and tourist area. Most of them had never been before. It was neat. Lots of really cute things for sale. We went swimming in a public pool up the street from Om's apartment. I swam in a bikini. Just like in America, no one cared. We went shopping in a few Bangkok's abundant malls. Thailand is a shopper's heaven. There's so much cute stuff (clothes especially) for so cheap. Luckily I only had a very small duffel with me, or I would have bought the whole country.
Thai people are very friendly. The culture is much calmer than Indian culture, but I think that's true everywhere. Most people in Bangkok spoke really good English, but its actually easier to get by with English in India where people don't speak it as well because the Thais are very unconfident in their speaking. They're shy.
Having lived in India for five months, I have adopted the mannerisms here. I bobble my head when I'm excited and I nod to the side as a greeting, to say yes, and to say thankyou. Thai people do not. I felt so handicapped in my ability to communicate. I would not thankyou or hello and would recieve no response. By the end of the week, I was beginning to do it the right way for Thailand, but I really had to think about it. Thai people give a very forceful nod forwards in greeting and especially when saying thankyou.
On a day Om had class, I went on a group tour to Ayutthaya, North of Bangkok, to see temples, some in ruins. I met a really nice Turkish woman on the trip, and we got drinks (coconuts) together when we got back to Bangkok. The temples were really beautiful. The first one we visited had the largest bronze Buddha, and old temple ruins. The next one we went to had a reclining Buddha and a very beautiful temple. The third and final place we visited was a whole complex built by the Chinese. The temple was so intricate. It had hand-painted tiles and really detailed furniture and things. It was beautiful. We went back to Bangkok not on a coach, but on a river cruise boat. As in India, teeny dwellings huddled in the shadows of huge shiny buildings. But the contrast wasn't as great as in India.
On another day when Om had classes, I went on a group tour to Pattaya, a beach south of Bangkok. It was really beautiful. White sand, bright blue water. I went parasailing. It was kind of a rip-off. 500 Baht (maybe $15) for only a few minutes in the air. But I had really wanted to do it when I was younger, so I thought I'd sieze my opportunity. It was fun, especially the take-off. We were at the beach for 4 or 5 hours. I put on sunscreen when we first arrived, and reapplied once. Mistake. I have never been this sunburnt in my life. The beach was hot, but there was a nice, cooling breeze and I spent a good hour in the water. I did not even notice I was burning.
One day Om and I went to the Grand Palace and some of the major wats (temples) in Bangkok. They were probably the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen in my life. So intricate. I'll upload some photos this week. At one smaller temple, off the beaten tourist track, we stopped to make a donation. Buddhists will regularly go to temples and buy supplies for a monk (robes, a bucket, and food). We did this, and the monk gave us a blessing and sprinkled holy water on us. Of course I have no idea what he said because it was all in Thai. All the monks there were really amused to see me there. I don't think they get very many foreigners there. At another temple, I did my horoscope. The way it works is you take a cup with all of these sticks with numbers on them in it. You shake the cup until one of the sticks falls out. Then you take these wooden blocks which are rounded on one side and flat on the other. You pray, then throw them in the air. You have three chances for them to land such that one is flat-side up and one is round side up. If they don't land like this in your three throws, then you don't take your horiscope that day. If on one of the tries they do land like this, then you go to a cabinet with numbered drawers and you take a piece of paper from the drawer with the number of your stick on it. On the paper is your horiscope. Alas, my blocks did not land the right way, so I didn't get a horiscope.
Another day Om and I went to a floating market. We got on a boat and floated through canals, pulling up to shops on land. It was totally tourist-oriented with only food and souveniers for sale, but it was fun nonetheless.
On Friday I went to Om's university with her. Because she is in a tourism track, all of her classes are in English. Her first class was about enviornmental sustainability. The lecture that day was about the Millenium Development Goals of the UN. I find them to be really interesting, but the students were totally uninterested. The professor wasn't very exciting to listen to, so I guess I can understand.
Om's second class was on cultural diversity, but it was cancelled that day because the professor had something else she had to do. So Om, three of her friends (Mey, Fern, and Peh) and I took a three hour bus ride to Om's home town, which is actually one of the largest cities in Thailand. I forget the name of it. We met her parents and little sister for dinner, and spent the night at her parent's house. The next day we drove to the town where Om's mother grew up and we visited some beautiful palace ruins and a park with a great banyan tree. In the middle of the Banyan forest was a temple. I did my horiscope again and this time the blocks fell the right way. However, my horoscope was very inauspicious, so, in keeping with the Buddhist tradition, I left it at the temple to leave my bad luck there as well.
Thai food is very delicious. There is fresh fruit for sale everywhere. Two of my favorite things I tried were unripe mango slices which you dip in chilli sugar, and ripe mango served with sticky rice and coconut milk (can you tell I like mango?) Thai food is very heavy on pork and fish, so there wasn't a whole lot I could eat as a vegetarian. I had lots of pad thai, and lots of fried rice. I also had spicy green papaya salad with sticky rice a few times. It was all delicious. Indians cook their food for a very long time. Thai food is not nearly so done. I loved all the fresh vegetables (I even had a few green salads, which I don't eat in India for fear of parasites).
It was a fabulous trip; I had so much fun. I could have enjoyed staying a bit longer, but I am happy to be back. I of course missed my students. They were pretty happy to see me today, and I was happy to see them too.
Great vacation!!
~m
Om lives in a dorm room-style apartment with her friend Keau, who also did an exchange year in the US. Their apartment looks exactly like a stereotypical American dorm room, except its a little larger. I spent lots of time just chillin' with Om and her friends. We went to Khao San road, the big backpacker and tourist area. Most of them had never been before. It was neat. Lots of really cute things for sale. We went swimming in a public pool up the street from Om's apartment. I swam in a bikini. Just like in America, no one cared. We went shopping in a few Bangkok's abundant malls. Thailand is a shopper's heaven. There's so much cute stuff (clothes especially) for so cheap. Luckily I only had a very small duffel with me, or I would have bought the whole country.
Thai people are very friendly. The culture is much calmer than Indian culture, but I think that's true everywhere. Most people in Bangkok spoke really good English, but its actually easier to get by with English in India where people don't speak it as well because the Thais are very unconfident in their speaking. They're shy.
Having lived in India for five months, I have adopted the mannerisms here. I bobble my head when I'm excited and I nod to the side as a greeting, to say yes, and to say thankyou. Thai people do not. I felt so handicapped in my ability to communicate. I would not thankyou or hello and would recieve no response. By the end of the week, I was beginning to do it the right way for Thailand, but I really had to think about it. Thai people give a very forceful nod forwards in greeting and especially when saying thankyou.
On a day Om had class, I went on a group tour to Ayutthaya, North of Bangkok, to see temples, some in ruins. I met a really nice Turkish woman on the trip, and we got drinks (coconuts) together when we got back to Bangkok. The temples were really beautiful. The first one we visited had the largest bronze Buddha, and old temple ruins. The next one we went to had a reclining Buddha and a very beautiful temple. The third and final place we visited was a whole complex built by the Chinese. The temple was so intricate. It had hand-painted tiles and really detailed furniture and things. It was beautiful. We went back to Bangkok not on a coach, but on a river cruise boat. As in India, teeny dwellings huddled in the shadows of huge shiny buildings. But the contrast wasn't as great as in India.
On another day when Om had classes, I went on a group tour to Pattaya, a beach south of Bangkok. It was really beautiful. White sand, bright blue water. I went parasailing. It was kind of a rip-off. 500 Baht (maybe $15) for only a few minutes in the air. But I had really wanted to do it when I was younger, so I thought I'd sieze my opportunity. It was fun, especially the take-off. We were at the beach for 4 or 5 hours. I put on sunscreen when we first arrived, and reapplied once. Mistake. I have never been this sunburnt in my life. The beach was hot, but there was a nice, cooling breeze and I spent a good hour in the water. I did not even notice I was burning.
One day Om and I went to the Grand Palace and some of the major wats (temples) in Bangkok. They were probably the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen in my life. So intricate. I'll upload some photos this week. At one smaller temple, off the beaten tourist track, we stopped to make a donation. Buddhists will regularly go to temples and buy supplies for a monk (robes, a bucket, and food). We did this, and the monk gave us a blessing and sprinkled holy water on us. Of course I have no idea what he said because it was all in Thai. All the monks there were really amused to see me there. I don't think they get very many foreigners there. At another temple, I did my horoscope. The way it works is you take a cup with all of these sticks with numbers on them in it. You shake the cup until one of the sticks falls out. Then you take these wooden blocks which are rounded on one side and flat on the other. You pray, then throw them in the air. You have three chances for them to land such that one is flat-side up and one is round side up. If they don't land like this in your three throws, then you don't take your horiscope that day. If on one of the tries they do land like this, then you go to a cabinet with numbered drawers and you take a piece of paper from the drawer with the number of your stick on it. On the paper is your horiscope. Alas, my blocks did not land the right way, so I didn't get a horiscope.
Another day Om and I went to a floating market. We got on a boat and floated through canals, pulling up to shops on land. It was totally tourist-oriented with only food and souveniers for sale, but it was fun nonetheless.
On Friday I went to Om's university with her. Because she is in a tourism track, all of her classes are in English. Her first class was about enviornmental sustainability. The lecture that day was about the Millenium Development Goals of the UN. I find them to be really interesting, but the students were totally uninterested. The professor wasn't very exciting to listen to, so I guess I can understand.
Om's second class was on cultural diversity, but it was cancelled that day because the professor had something else she had to do. So Om, three of her friends (Mey, Fern, and Peh) and I took a three hour bus ride to Om's home town, which is actually one of the largest cities in Thailand. I forget the name of it. We met her parents and little sister for dinner, and spent the night at her parent's house. The next day we drove to the town where Om's mother grew up and we visited some beautiful palace ruins and a park with a great banyan tree. In the middle of the Banyan forest was a temple. I did my horiscope again and this time the blocks fell the right way. However, my horoscope was very inauspicious, so, in keeping with the Buddhist tradition, I left it at the temple to leave my bad luck there as well.
Thai food is very delicious. There is fresh fruit for sale everywhere. Two of my favorite things I tried were unripe mango slices which you dip in chilli sugar, and ripe mango served with sticky rice and coconut milk (can you tell I like mango?) Thai food is very heavy on pork and fish, so there wasn't a whole lot I could eat as a vegetarian. I had lots of pad thai, and lots of fried rice. I also had spicy green papaya salad with sticky rice a few times. It was all delicious. Indians cook their food for a very long time. Thai food is not nearly so done. I loved all the fresh vegetables (I even had a few green salads, which I don't eat in India for fear of parasites).
It was a fabulous trip; I had so much fun. I could have enjoyed staying a bit longer, but I am happy to be back. I of course missed my students. They were pretty happy to see me today, and I was happy to see them too.
Great vacation!!
~m
Friday, February 13, 2009
Off to Thailand
Tomorrow morning I am flying to Thailand. I have to leave India to renew my visa, because with a tourist visa I can only stay in the country for 180 days at a time, even though the visa is valid for 5 years. So anyway, I'm gonna be staying with my friend Om who was an exchange at my high school. I'll be there for 8 days. I'm so excited!
School was pretty good this week; things are going well.
~m
School was pretty good this week; things are going well.
~m
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I didn't go into Kolkata this "weekend". Jen, one of the volunteers, had an appendicitis (idk how to spell that) and she came back to the flat yesterday. She is doing pretty well, considering the circumstances. But she's in alot of pain, I think. She is being really stoic about it.
Anyway, pretty much my whole day yesterday was devoted to getting her home. It was way more trouble than necessary, because all sorts of small problems kept arising. But in the end it all worked out.
Today Bobby went to Dum Dum with Sabine, the new volunteer from Germany. So Lauren, Nienke and I were on our own at school. Bobby had obviously threatened the students and told them to be good, because they were on their best behavior. With Bobby gone, we decided to spice things up, and we played charades. They weren't allowed to speak in Bengali, only English. To our immense disappointment, the kids didn't rise to the occassion. They really have almost no creativity. One of them would go up to act something out (we had things like Maura Auntie, a sad person, a tiger, and Gandhiji written on paper that they pulled from a bag) and they would just say "no, Auntie." They didn't even try. So eventually we gave up and went back to doing regular class.
I started pre-algebra with the advanced group, and they did pretty well. They all tried and paid attention, so I was happy. We did things like 4ab + 3a - 2b - 3ab -2a + 4b.
On Saturday I'm going to Thailand, so I'm really excited.
~m
Anyway, pretty much my whole day yesterday was devoted to getting her home. It was way more trouble than necessary, because all sorts of small problems kept arising. But in the end it all worked out.
Today Bobby went to Dum Dum with Sabine, the new volunteer from Germany. So Lauren, Nienke and I were on our own at school. Bobby had obviously threatened the students and told them to be good, because they were on their best behavior. With Bobby gone, we decided to spice things up, and we played charades. They weren't allowed to speak in Bengali, only English. To our immense disappointment, the kids didn't rise to the occassion. They really have almost no creativity. One of them would go up to act something out (we had things like Maura Auntie, a sad person, a tiger, and Gandhiji written on paper that they pulled from a bag) and they would just say "no, Auntie." They didn't even try. So eventually we gave up and went back to doing regular class.
I started pre-algebra with the advanced group, and they did pretty well. They all tried and paid attention, so I was happy. We did things like 4ab + 3a - 2b - 3ab -2a + 4b.
On Saturday I'm going to Thailand, so I'm really excited.
~m
Saturday, February 7, 2009
School was kind of empty, but pretty good this week. Half of the intermediate group is working on adding fractions with uncommon denominators, and the other half has moved on to multiplying fractions. The advanced group went over problems involving negative numbers, but by Friday I was spinning my wheels. I have completed the syllabus for the advanced group. Next week, S and K and I will make a new one. I want to do simple algebra with them. I love algebra, I'm excited.
Sealdah was empty as usual on Friday. We roamed around to give out food. Today was really busy. We had to buy extra food to feed everyone. I played with a bunch of kids for an extra long time today. It was nice, they loved it. One girl has always had a puppy with her for the past month or two, but today we got there and the puppy was dead on the sidewalk. The girl didn't seem too upset. I guess that's a good thing, but it shows how adjusted she is to a hard life. Shit happens and she knows it.
There will be no Sealdah tomorrow because Jen, a new volunteer, has an appendicitis and is having surgery tomorrow morning. We're all going to the hospital to be with her.
~m
Sealdah was empty as usual on Friday. We roamed around to give out food. Today was really busy. We had to buy extra food to feed everyone. I played with a bunch of kids for an extra long time today. It was nice, they loved it. One girl has always had a puppy with her for the past month or two, but today we got there and the puppy was dead on the sidewalk. The girl didn't seem too upset. I guess that's a good thing, but it shows how adjusted she is to a hard life. Shit happens and she knows it.
There will be no Sealdah tomorrow because Jen, a new volunteer, has an appendicitis and is having surgery tomorrow morning. We're all going to the hospital to be with her.
~m
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Saraswati Puja, Brahmo Samaj, Book Fair
Saturday was Saraswati Puja. It was really fun. In the morning, Lauren and I went to Piya's house to have her neighbor wrap our saris for us. (I can wrap one myself, but I don't do a very beautiful job) We met everyone at school, where we had a small worship service (puja) for Saraswati. We had bought a Saraswati statue for the classroom, and a priest came and we prayed and made offerings. All the girls came in saris. Everyone looked gorgeous, and when the puja was over, we played around and took lots of photos. In the evening, we walked around Khardah to look at the pandals. However, they weren't really pandals, they were just small shrines. Saraswati Puja isn't nearly as big as Durga Puja and Kali Puja. I did glimpse a few really large pandals in Kolkata though.
On Sunday, I went to New Alipore (in South Kolkata) to visit some family friends. They are of the religion Brahmo Samaj, and that night was the culmination of their biggest festival. I went to the "church" (Samaj) service with them. I didn't understand it because it was all in Bengali, but it followed the format of a Christian church service - singing and a sermon. The Brahmo religion is similar to Unitarian Universalism. However, from what I understand, they are monotheistic, but they respect all the religious leaders throughout history. After the service, we had a community dinner of ghee bhat (rice lightly fried in ghee), aloo dum (potato curry), roasted cauliflower, and tomato chutney. It was really yummy.
The next day, I went to a big mall and then to the Kolkata Book Fair (Asia's largest book fair) with some of the other volunteers. At the mall, I had Pizza Hut for lunch and it tasted truly American. I bought two kameez (long shirts) that both went with one salwar (big baggy pants) and dupatta (scarf). At the book fair, I bought a membership to the American Library of Kolkata. Their booth at the fair was a pandal of the white house with a big cardboard Obama out front. I also got some books in Bengali that teach English. I gave these to Piya's sister in law. (The girl whose wedding party I went to a few months ago).
~m
On Sunday, I went to New Alipore (in South Kolkata) to visit some family friends. They are of the religion Brahmo Samaj, and that night was the culmination of their biggest festival. I went to the "church" (Samaj) service with them. I didn't understand it because it was all in Bengali, but it followed the format of a Christian church service - singing and a sermon. The Brahmo religion is similar to Unitarian Universalism. However, from what I understand, they are monotheistic, but they respect all the religious leaders throughout history. After the service, we had a community dinner of ghee bhat (rice lightly fried in ghee), aloo dum (potato curry), roasted cauliflower, and tomato chutney. It was really yummy.
The next day, I went to a big mall and then to the Kolkata Book Fair (Asia's largest book fair) with some of the other volunteers. At the mall, I had Pizza Hut for lunch and it tasted truly American. I bought two kameez (long shirts) that both went with one salwar (big baggy pants) and dupatta (scarf). At the book fair, I bought a membership to the American Library of Kolkata. Their booth at the fair was a pandal of the white house with a big cardboard Obama out front. I also got some books in Bengali that teach English. I gave these to Piya's sister in law. (The girl whose wedding party I went to a few months ago).
~m
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