Today Trina and I returned to the same area of Kolkata that we were in yesterday. We went back to the Victoria Memorial and walked around the grounds before going in. Its very pretty and actually quite peaceful (except for a few horns off in the distance). It seems to be a favorite place for couple to go and snag a bench or a place under a tree and enjoy eachothers' company. Thats the first and only time I've seen any public displays of affection in India. Anyway, the outside of the Victoria Memorial is completely stunning. I know I'll be going back, and sometime I'll take my camera, but as of yet, I've opted to leave it at the flat until I get more comfortable with the trains and such. If you're dying to see the VM (which you should be) then you can look it up on google pictures until I supply a photo of my own, haha.
The inside of the VM is not quite what I expected. It isn't the best maintained, but its obvious that efforts are being made to improve it. The inside functions of a museum of sorts - many painting of places all over India, a b&w photo collection of places around Kolkata, an exhibit of restored oil paintings by British artists done during the Raj, and an exhibit that has all sorts of art and artifacts to illustrate the history of Kolkata. I would have gone through at a much slower, more careful pace had I not known that I will be going through with my parents in a few months, and they'll both be reading every single word. It was really interesting though. The main hall inside is as spectacular as the outside, with intricately carved columns and dome.
After we left the VM, we walked back to the same grocery store that we visited yesterday. I bought peanut butter, pasta, cheddar cheese, cereal, and a box of oreos. I didn't bring enough money to buy the granola bars and spaghetti sauce I wanted though. Then we went to coffee shop of which I spoke yesterday, and I got a blended ice mocha. It was delcious!
After that, we caught a taxi back the metro station, and came back to Khardah. We beat the rush and had a fair amount of space on the metro and train - Trina even got to sit down. I got offered a seat, but only one stop before Khardah, so I let a man take it instead.
When we got back to the flat, I dipped into my stash of American food to supplement my PB&J with some Chex mix. Yum!
I can't remember if I wrote about the crazy autorickshaw driver who drove us from the mall to the metro yesterday, so bare with me if this is my second telling. This guy was honestly insane. Drivers in India are nerve-racking at best, but I was sure that we were either going to kill or be killed. We were weaving in and out of traffic (not that unusual) when we came up to a red light. We pulled up behind a truck to squeeze between it and a taxi in the next "lane". When we didn't fit, the driver got out and told the taxi driver to back up. Much yelling ensued, but eventually the taxi did back up and we were on our way. The light turned green and we cut off about six vehicles in a row as we weaved through the traffic. There was a bus pulled over on the side of the road, with a line of people filing into it. Deciding it would take to much time to go around the bus on the road side, our driver cut through the line of people getting on the bus, waving his arms for them to move. We nearly hit three people. When we got going again, we almost hit a man crossing the street. If the driver hadn't slammed on his brakes for us to skid to a halt, we surely would have hit him. If you've ever seen the N64 version of Mario Kart, thats what this guy reminded me of. He had his elbows up by his head so he could turn faster, conjuring up images of Wario precariously seated on the kart half his size. We did make it to the metro safely, but by now our driver has probably killed someone.
Well, thats all for now, I guess. Tomorrow I will take it easy and just relax at the flat between school and computer class. I'll probably go back to Kolkata on Saturday. It wears me out.
~m
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
visit to Kolkata take two
Today we got up and went into Kolkata. The train wasn't too crowded, which meant only a minimal amount of pushing, haha. We got off the metro and took a cab to the Victoria Memorial, but alas, it is closed on Mondays. The oustide is gorgeous though. Tomorrow we'll go back and tour around inside as well as walk around the Maidan (the park the VM is in, called Kolkata's Central Park). So we left the VM and the Maidan and walked around that part of Kolkata, called Chowringee or something like that. Its a pretty nice part of town; more tourist-oriented, I think, though there are like no tourists in Kolkata. Anyway, that was nice, and we found a little grocery store and a coffee shop, both of which we will re-visit tomorrow. I'm excited to buy peanut butter and things like that.
After walking around for a while, we took a cab down to the South City Mall and went to see What Happens in Vegas with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. We had wanted to see Dark Knight, but I guess last week was the last week it was showing. Oh well. What Happens in Vegas was cute. So here's something I'd never seen before: they didn't show any previews, but they had an intermission. They just stopped the movie in the middle, and vendors came in selling popcorn and coffee. Idk if thats a usual thing or if the reel broke and they had to fix it.
After the movie we made our way back to Khardah. We were able to get an autorickshaw to the metro station no problem, and the metro was fine too, but when we got to Dum Dum, it was rush hour and the local trains were packed. People were crazy trying to get onto those trains; hanging onto the outside of them. We decided to wait for it to calm down a little. Three times we didn't get on the train, we just watched the others in their mad scramble. It got a little better, but evetually we just decided to bite the bullet and squeeze. Trina almost didn't make it on. We made it alright, and it was QUITE as crowded as last time, but its still way more than most Americans, or maybe most people in general, would put up with. When we got back to Khardah, we stopped by the flat and then came here.
So it was a fun, eventful day, and tomorrow should follow suit! I'm finally getting over my culture shock, and I'm settling in much better.
~m
After walking around for a while, we took a cab down to the South City Mall and went to see What Happens in Vegas with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. We had wanted to see Dark Knight, but I guess last week was the last week it was showing. Oh well. What Happens in Vegas was cute. So here's something I'd never seen before: they didn't show any previews, but they had an intermission. They just stopped the movie in the middle, and vendors came in selling popcorn and coffee. Idk if thats a usual thing or if the reel broke and they had to fix it.
After the movie we made our way back to Khardah. We were able to get an autorickshaw to the metro station no problem, and the metro was fine too, but when we got to Dum Dum, it was rush hour and the local trains were packed. People were crazy trying to get onto those trains; hanging onto the outside of them. We decided to wait for it to calm down a little. Three times we didn't get on the train, we just watched the others in their mad scramble. It got a little better, but evetually we just decided to bite the bullet and squeeze. Trina almost didn't make it on. We made it alright, and it was QUITE as crowded as last time, but its still way more than most Americans, or maybe most people in general, would put up with. When we got back to Khardah, we stopped by the flat and then came here.
So it was a fun, eventful day, and tomorrow should follow suit! I'm finally getting over my culture shock, and I'm settling in much better.
~m
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Once again, not much to report today. Jen got here last night. She's 26 and from Australia, though she's doing her masters on agricultural development in Denmark. She came to India to write her thesis in Hyderbad, which she'll be doing after CRAWL. I haven't really gotten to know her yet.
I slept in really late today, and never really seemed to wake up. I need to do some exercize, but I'm in no hurry to go running out in that heat. So I just lazed around the flat until four of the girls came for the computer and reading class. The computer still isn't working, so we just had them read out loud.
At school they made envelopes and drew, and Bobby passed out bananas and cookies. After that, I came here.
Tomorrow, we're going into Kolkata. I believe the plan is to go to the Maidan (Kolkata's version of Central Park) and then to go to a movie. Monday and Tuesday are our weekend, so no projects.
Thats all for now.
~m
I slept in really late today, and never really seemed to wake up. I need to do some exercize, but I'm in no hurry to go running out in that heat. So I just lazed around the flat until four of the girls came for the computer and reading class. The computer still isn't working, so we just had them read out loud.
At school they made envelopes and drew, and Bobby passed out bananas and cookies. After that, I came here.
Tomorrow, we're going into Kolkata. I believe the plan is to go to the Maidan (Kolkata's version of Central Park) and then to go to a movie. Monday and Tuesday are our weekend, so no projects.
Thats all for now.
~m
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Not much to report today. Babai ended up having something else he had to do, so he couldn't take us to the monkey temple. I opted out of Sealdah this morning, in favor of sleeping in. When Trina got home and told me we weren't going to the temple, we both went back to sleep for awhile. Then we got up, had lunch, and took a bicycle rickshaw to the ATM. When we got back, the kids arrived for their computer and reading class, but we couldn't get the computer to turn on. So they just read books aloud and we did a few puzzles. One boy who is in both the advanced math and english classes can't really read. He was struggling alot, and I realized that he doesn't know most letters, and he often doesn't know their sounds. He thinks a "W" makes a "d" sound because of the way your pronounce the letter. He can speak pretty well though.
After that, we went to the school for craft day. One of the boys showed everyone how to make paper frogs and then we played duck, duck, goose.
Tonight another volunteer arrives from Australia. Her name is Jennifer. I don't know how old she is, but I do know she'll be here for a month. I'm excited. The more the merrier.
Don't really have plans for tomorrow yet.
~maura
After that, we went to the school for craft day. One of the boys showed everyone how to make paper frogs and then we played duck, duck, goose.
Tonight another volunteer arrives from Australia. Her name is Jennifer. I don't know how old she is, but I do know she'll be here for a month. I'm excited. The more the merrier.
Don't really have plans for tomorrow yet.
~maura
Friday, September 5, 2008
Adventure into Kolkata
I spent lots of time doing other things online today, so I'm gonna try to make this a quick one, even though I have lots to tell.
Today school was really good. My intermediate math class was cute as always. Some of the kids don't know theit times tables very well so we'll be working on that next week. My advanced class was the best they've been. I started out by being a hard ass and getting mad at the kids that were talking and sending one boy to the corner for a few minutes - that seemed to get their attention. The kids love writing on the board, so today (we're doing order of operations) I had them take turns writing the next step to each problem on the board, one step per line. This helped them understand the rules a little better too I think. But when they did the last problem on their own, no one got it right. But I was still happy though because they all got thier own wrong answers, as opposed to yesterday when they were copying eachother like crazy. Saturday and Sunday are craft days and Monday and Tuesday are days off, so we won't be resuming until next Wednesday, but hopefully that won't be a problem.
After school Trina and I went into Kolkata for the first time. This truly was an adventure. There is no way that I can describe to you just how packed the local train that we took to the metro station was. Just saying it was packed is a bigger understatement than saying the sun is hot. When the train pulled up, there was already no spare room in the compartments. Despite this, Trina and I along with at least twenty other women, muscled our way on. This involved using brute force - putting all of my body weight into the people who were already on board to push them far enough that I could fit. I held onto the handles that dangle down and used them to pull myself through the sea of bodies. Everyone was shoving and yelling. With my hand up to hold on, there was not enough room to get it down to my pocket even if I had wanted to. I honestly think that if someone had a baby with them, the pressure from all the bodies would be enough to squash and kill it. No joke. The women were relatively surprised and I think even impressed to see a little white girl toughing the trains with them. The ten people squished closest to me would smile at me understandingly and try to speak to me in Bengali. They had enough English to tell me when my stop was coming up. Its funny because when they train is stopped and people are getting on and off, the mood is quite hostile. But once we get going and people get situated - that is they give up trying to control where in the train they are going to stand - things calm down and thats when I would get the smiles. Then the train would stop and I'd get pushed all over again.
Indians make do. That is one thing that is the most striking to me. You wouldn't think the sad, tired trains could hold so many people, but they do. You wouldn't think you can mix large amounts of cement and then pour it on the third story of a building without heavy machinery, but people do. The other day I saw people mixing a huge tub of cement with their hands, then loading it into huge metal bowls on their heads and tottering up ladders with the load. And Indians are generally friendly. When Trina and I were waiting for the train, it began pouring rain unexpectedly. After standing there for a minute, on our way to getting drenched, a lady (speaking in Bengali) told two other women to get up from their seats so we could sit under the protection of the tree. They quickly obliged, and then the people around us immediately shared their umbrellas.
Back to the hectic train ride. By the time we were nearing Dum Dum, where we make the transfer to the metro, I was a good six feet away from the door. I was so sure that I would not be able to push through all of those people to make it off the train - or worse I would and Trina wouldn't, or vice versa. Luckily, Dum Dum is a big station and lots of people needed off. Not only did I get off in time, I could not have prevented myself from getting off if I had wanted to. The push towards the door was so strong that I was nearly running onto the platform. We both made it off.
The transfer to the metro went smoothly, and it wasn't nearly as packed. We stood next to a woman who lives in Khardah and was delighted to hear that we were staying there.
When we got off the metro, we wanted to take an autorickshaw to the mall. The only autorickshaw in sight refused to take us. Apparently we had come out on the wrong side of the station. We made our way around, to the other side, but couldn't find another autorickshaw, so we settled for a cab, which is more than six times as expensive - its about $1.10 The first cab we hailed, the driver was utterly confused when we asked about South City Mall, so we sent him on his way without us. The next guy looked similarly perplexed but told us to get in, and suceeded in getting us there.
The mall was huge. It looks like something in amovie, that doesn't exist in real life, like the mall in Juno. It had four stories and you could see all the way to the top from the bottom. We didn't have enough time to catcha movie because Trina needed to be back for the Sealdah project. We got some pizza. It was awesome. If I had been served it in the US, I would have been disgusted. But I was so happy to be eating pizza that it didn't matter. We walked around the mall and spent lots of time in a huge book store. I bought the first Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book and the first Princess Diaries book - both of which I read when I was about 12. But they will help to lighten my mood, unlike Malcolm X. (I am enjoying Malcolm X though). I also bought a Newsweek.
The trip back was not nearly as crazy. In fact it couldn't have gone more smoothly. Trina made it to Sealdah in time, and I stayed at the flat, flipping through the Lonely Planet India guide and dozing a small amount. When she got back from Sealdah, we came here, stopping on the way to purchase some Corn Flakes. We expected the Indian kind, which I have been warned are quite waxy in texture and taste. But we asked the boy at the store for corn flakes, and he came back some with some Kellog's! So I'm excited for breakfast tomorrow.
It seems like the only things which I describe on here as pleasurable are American-like foods that I find. Its true that they do have so much sentimental value that they improve my mood greatly.
Oh, we didn't make it to the Kali Temple yesterday because we didn't feel ready to brave the trains. But tomorrow Babai is takin us to the Monkey Temple, which should be interesting. I hope that I'm able to get out into Kolkata at least three or four times a week. In general its no more aesthetically pleasing than Khardah, but it has much more to do. I just feel so stuck when I can't leave Khardah.
Its amazing, already I have become accustomed to the poverty here. It isn't that I'm not shocked when I think about it, but I'm able not to think about it. At Dum Dum there were people sleeping on newspaper in the middle of the floor, and hoardes of little children swarming us to beg. And I didn't even bat an eye. Maybe as I begin to feel more comfortable, I'll give these things more attention, but, as horrible as this sounds, most of the emotions I've been feeling are purely concerning me. Obviously I am reacting to the despair around me, but in self-protection rather than compassion. If I saw the same things in America, I would be gawking. I hope that didn't make me sound heartless.
So much for a short entry.
~maura
Today school was really good. My intermediate math class was cute as always. Some of the kids don't know theit times tables very well so we'll be working on that next week. My advanced class was the best they've been. I started out by being a hard ass and getting mad at the kids that were talking and sending one boy to the corner for a few minutes - that seemed to get their attention. The kids love writing on the board, so today (we're doing order of operations) I had them take turns writing the next step to each problem on the board, one step per line. This helped them understand the rules a little better too I think. But when they did the last problem on their own, no one got it right. But I was still happy though because they all got thier own wrong answers, as opposed to yesterday when they were copying eachother like crazy. Saturday and Sunday are craft days and Monday and Tuesday are days off, so we won't be resuming until next Wednesday, but hopefully that won't be a problem.
After school Trina and I went into Kolkata for the first time. This truly was an adventure. There is no way that I can describe to you just how packed the local train that we took to the metro station was. Just saying it was packed is a bigger understatement than saying the sun is hot. When the train pulled up, there was already no spare room in the compartments. Despite this, Trina and I along with at least twenty other women, muscled our way on. This involved using brute force - putting all of my body weight into the people who were already on board to push them far enough that I could fit. I held onto the handles that dangle down and used them to pull myself through the sea of bodies. Everyone was shoving and yelling. With my hand up to hold on, there was not enough room to get it down to my pocket even if I had wanted to. I honestly think that if someone had a baby with them, the pressure from all the bodies would be enough to squash and kill it. No joke. The women were relatively surprised and I think even impressed to see a little white girl toughing the trains with them. The ten people squished closest to me would smile at me understandingly and try to speak to me in Bengali. They had enough English to tell me when my stop was coming up. Its funny because when they train is stopped and people are getting on and off, the mood is quite hostile. But once we get going and people get situated - that is they give up trying to control where in the train they are going to stand - things calm down and thats when I would get the smiles. Then the train would stop and I'd get pushed all over again.
Indians make do. That is one thing that is the most striking to me. You wouldn't think the sad, tired trains could hold so many people, but they do. You wouldn't think you can mix large amounts of cement and then pour it on the third story of a building without heavy machinery, but people do. The other day I saw people mixing a huge tub of cement with their hands, then loading it into huge metal bowls on their heads and tottering up ladders with the load. And Indians are generally friendly. When Trina and I were waiting for the train, it began pouring rain unexpectedly. After standing there for a minute, on our way to getting drenched, a lady (speaking in Bengali) told two other women to get up from their seats so we could sit under the protection of the tree. They quickly obliged, and then the people around us immediately shared their umbrellas.
Back to the hectic train ride. By the time we were nearing Dum Dum, where we make the transfer to the metro, I was a good six feet away from the door. I was so sure that I would not be able to push through all of those people to make it off the train - or worse I would and Trina wouldn't, or vice versa. Luckily, Dum Dum is a big station and lots of people needed off. Not only did I get off in time, I could not have prevented myself from getting off if I had wanted to. The push towards the door was so strong that I was nearly running onto the platform. We both made it off.
The transfer to the metro went smoothly, and it wasn't nearly as packed. We stood next to a woman who lives in Khardah and was delighted to hear that we were staying there.
When we got off the metro, we wanted to take an autorickshaw to the mall. The only autorickshaw in sight refused to take us. Apparently we had come out on the wrong side of the station. We made our way around, to the other side, but couldn't find another autorickshaw, so we settled for a cab, which is more than six times as expensive - its about $1.10 The first cab we hailed, the driver was utterly confused when we asked about South City Mall, so we sent him on his way without us. The next guy looked similarly perplexed but told us to get in, and suceeded in getting us there.
The mall was huge. It looks like something in amovie, that doesn't exist in real life, like the mall in Juno. It had four stories and you could see all the way to the top from the bottom. We didn't have enough time to catcha movie because Trina needed to be back for the Sealdah project. We got some pizza. It was awesome. If I had been served it in the US, I would have been disgusted. But I was so happy to be eating pizza that it didn't matter. We walked around the mall and spent lots of time in a huge book store. I bought the first Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book and the first Princess Diaries book - both of which I read when I was about 12. But they will help to lighten my mood, unlike Malcolm X. (I am enjoying Malcolm X though). I also bought a Newsweek.
The trip back was not nearly as crazy. In fact it couldn't have gone more smoothly. Trina made it to Sealdah in time, and I stayed at the flat, flipping through the Lonely Planet India guide and dozing a small amount. When she got back from Sealdah, we came here, stopping on the way to purchase some Corn Flakes. We expected the Indian kind, which I have been warned are quite waxy in texture and taste. But we asked the boy at the store for corn flakes, and he came back some with some Kellog's! So I'm excited for breakfast tomorrow.
It seems like the only things which I describe on here as pleasurable are American-like foods that I find. Its true that they do have so much sentimental value that they improve my mood greatly.
Oh, we didn't make it to the Kali Temple yesterday because we didn't feel ready to brave the trains. But tomorrow Babai is takin us to the Monkey Temple, which should be interesting. I hope that I'm able to get out into Kolkata at least three or four times a week. In general its no more aesthetically pleasing than Khardah, but it has much more to do. I just feel so stuck when I can't leave Khardah.
Its amazing, already I have become accustomed to the poverty here. It isn't that I'm not shocked when I think about it, but I'm able not to think about it. At Dum Dum there were people sleeping on newspaper in the middle of the floor, and hoardes of little children swarming us to beg. And I didn't even bat an eye. Maybe as I begin to feel more comfortable, I'll give these things more attention, but, as horrible as this sounds, most of the emotions I've been feeling are purely concerning me. Obviously I am reacting to the despair around me, but in self-protection rather than compassion. If I saw the same things in America, I would be gawking. I hope that didn't make me sound heartless.
So much for a short entry.
~maura
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The cake was pretty good. Not the best I've ever had, but it was good. And I had granola this morning, which was like heaven. Cereal is my favorite. Today I went to school again, and mostly different kids came to class today. Some of the kids won't stop copying their friends, so I can't tell if they know how to do the work or not, which is kind of frustrating. The younger group is still really fun though.
I made the mistake of not takin Benedryl last night, so I didn't sleep very well. After school I took a nap though, and had an incredibly strange dream, thanks, I think, to my malaria meds.
In a little bit, Trina, Zahir and I are going to Kali temple, "Kolkata's holiest spot", which should be really kool. I just hope we don't get lost on the trains!
~maura
I made the mistake of not takin Benedryl last night, so I didn't sleep very well. After school I took a nap though, and had an incredibly strange dream, thanks, I think, to my malaria meds.
In a little bit, Trina, Zahir and I are going to Kali temple, "Kolkata's holiest spot", which should be really kool. I just hope we don't get lost on the trains!
~maura
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Lookin Up
I haven't been here a week and it would seem I'm already slacking at my blog. Let m explain. Two days ago, literally all I did that day was eat, read, play solitaire, talk to my mommy on the phone, and do laundry, so nothing blog-worthy.
Yesterday I hadn't been online for 10 minutes when this part of town lost power ( a frequent occurence, though it had never happened while I was at the Internet cafe' before) so I didn't get a chance to write. But Yesterday was basically as uneventful as the day before. The biggest difference with is and the previous days is that my mood had improved a great deal, mostly thanks to being able to talk to my rents on the phone at the flat whenever I needed it.
Today, however, was a big change. I got up early to go to school. I taught math, Bobby the school teacher taught the little kids the alphabet and such, and the other volunteer who's staying with his relatives in Kolkata taught English. The kids I teach are broken up into two groups: intermediate and advanced. The inermediate kids that were in attendance today (way less than usual) were Prativa, Manisha (both 12 yearold girls) and Jayanto (8 year old boy). They're working on division. The advanced kids (also today there were way less than usual) were Dulal and Aminesh (or Animesh, I can't remember. Its like little kids saying "aminal" or something) They're working on orders of operations. So that was fun to get to work with them, esp the intermediate kids because I think they liked me more and they were more willing to do their work.
After school, Trina arrived and Subhamita and Kakoli came to interview people to permanently work the Sealdah and Dum Dum (free food and first aid at train stations) projects. They had me sit in the inerviews so at the very end I could ask the prospective a question ("If some one had a cut on their finger, what medical treatment would you give them?") To make sure that they could communicate effectively in English with someone who doesn't speak Bengali and share their accent.
After that, Subhamita showed some useful places around Khardah, then Trina and I headed over here. On the way home, we're gonna stop a pastry shop. I'm excited!!
So things are finally picking up, and its getting easier!
~m
Yesterday I hadn't been online for 10 minutes when this part of town lost power ( a frequent occurence, though it had never happened while I was at the Internet cafe' before) so I didn't get a chance to write. But Yesterday was basically as uneventful as the day before. The biggest difference with is and the previous days is that my mood had improved a great deal, mostly thanks to being able to talk to my rents on the phone at the flat whenever I needed it.
Today, however, was a big change. I got up early to go to school. I taught math, Bobby the school teacher taught the little kids the alphabet and such, and the other volunteer who's staying with his relatives in Kolkata taught English. The kids I teach are broken up into two groups: intermediate and advanced. The inermediate kids that were in attendance today (way less than usual) were Prativa, Manisha (both 12 yearold girls) and Jayanto (8 year old boy). They're working on division. The advanced kids (also today there were way less than usual) were Dulal and Aminesh (or Animesh, I can't remember. Its like little kids saying "aminal" or something) They're working on orders of operations. So that was fun to get to work with them, esp the intermediate kids because I think they liked me more and they were more willing to do their work.
After school, Trina arrived and Subhamita and Kakoli came to interview people to permanently work the Sealdah and Dum Dum (free food and first aid at train stations) projects. They had me sit in the inerviews so at the very end I could ask the prospective a question ("If some one had a cut on their finger, what medical treatment would you give them?") To make sure that they could communicate effectively in English with someone who doesn't speak Bengali and share their accent.
After that, Subhamita showed some useful places around Khardah, then Trina and I headed over here. On the way home, we're gonna stop a pastry shop. I'm excited!!
So things are finally picking up, and its getting easier!
~m
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