Tra la life

Well, hello there faithful readers.  It's been a while (a week to be exact).  How are you?  How's the family?  Everything is going well here for the most part.  At the end of our last episode I was in Bangalore, preparing to wake up and play ultimate frisbee the next day.  I did this, with my AIESEC friend, Alex.  We woke up at 6 a.m. and made our way to the field, which was actually more of a dust bowl with no grass to be found.  It was fun to experience frisbee in a new environment.  I can now say that I've played ultimate in three countries (U.S., Israel, and India), although this was the first time I played with locals.  They have the same rules as we do and they've actually formed a league tournament with other cities around India.  Unfortunately Hyderabad is not one of them, but maybe I can change that... Then I went to the Bangalore Palace, which is massive.  It was built to look like the Windsor Castle in England.  I was able to get a private tour with my own guide, which is good because they charged me 500 rupees just for permission to take pictures (which you can see on Facebook).  My trip back from Bangalore was bumpy and uncomfortable, with little to no sleep.  I look forward to the rest of my journeys being by train.  

This past week, I had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish.  However, as I have come to find out, things do not always happen right when you want them to in India.  Being used to seamless customer service and instant gratification left me in a state of frustration as I saw day after day go by without any of the objectives on my list being checked off.  First of all, it should be noted that my phone service was barred all week because my application was not complete.  In India the application for a cell phone for a foreigner is more extensive than the process by which I acquired my visa to come to this country in the first place.  You need proof of residence, a copy of your passport, a copy of your visa, a copy of your driver'slicense, a copy of your work permit, a passport-size photo of yourself, the right to your first-born son, the deed to your house, etc. etc.  Not having a phone made it a lot harder to get things done.  I needed to buy train tickets, figure out a new place to live, and do my laundry.  (Refer to blog #3 for an explanation of why I couldn't use the laundry machine in my flat).  

Last night, after wearing the same boxers for 2.5 days, I was finally able to wash my clothes.  I hauled my big wicker basket (that I inherited from Anne) over to one of the other trainee flats.  It's kind of a cumbersome way to carry clothes, but it was full to the brim so there wasn't really another option.  After some awkwardmaneuvers I was able to get the basket into a rickshaw and make my way to the flat.  The washing machine they have is very small and weak, so in order to wash all of my clothes in one load I had to employ the cyborg technique (half man, half machine) and spin the clothes by hand as they soaked in the soapy water.  It took a long time, but I had company from a couple of the guys living in the flat.  One is from Minnesota and it was nice to talk to an American for a while.  I don't mean to come off as ethnocentric, it's just that I don't see many Americans here so it was a nice change of pace.  In talking to the guys it became clear that they had some extra beds in their flat and that they were all fine with me moving in.  The reason that I need to change apartments is that AIESEC is closing my flat in order to open a new one.  Since I don't want to move to the new place (because it is still under construction) I have to find alternate accommodations.  Luckily, this other flat is awesome.  It takes up the whole top (4th) floor of a building and has a huge terrace that overlooks the city.

After I left my new flat I was pretty hungry from all the manual labor I did washing my clothes.  I found a nice looking restaurant down the street and walked in, hauling my laundry basket along with me.  I had a tasty meal of grilled chicken and roti (bread) with garlic sauce and onions, plus two Sprites (which tastewaaaay better here for some reason) all for $4 U.S.  Cheap delicious food is probably my favorite part about India.  As I was sitting at the table enjoying my feast I noticed that people from all over the restaurant kept stealing glances at my laundry basket.  I was worried that I had violated some traditional Indian rule about bringing laundry into a restaurant, but no one looked angry and the waiter didn't say anything about it so I figured I was alright.  A few minutes later, as one guy was passing my table he nodded at me and said "It's a dog, yeah?"  I laughed and shook my head no.  Then I lifted the lid so he could see my clothes and he got a good laugh as well.  As soon as he passed my table a man on the other side of me said "Psst...Puppy" with this sly, knowing smile on his face.  Unlike the first guy, who thought it was funny, this second fellow actually looked depressed when I showed him the contents of the basket.  I think he really wanted to play with a puppy (and who could blame him?)

In less exciting news, my job has been a big disappointment.  After waiting three weeks for the kids to return from break, I have come to realize that there is not much more for me to do now that they are back.  There are already too many teachers at the school and also none of the kids speak english (most don't speak at all).  And it's no bed of roses like working at the JCC camp in West Bloomfield.  They still use corporal punishment and yell at the kids a lot, which is hard for me to watch.  Also, their supplies are much more limited and outdated.  Over the past three days I have done a lot of sitting around watching the teachers interact with the students.  I try to interject and work with the kids, but the language barrier is insurmountable.  There is no set curriculum, so it ends up being the same basic tasks (write your name, color inside this circle, etc.) every day and when the kids are done with that there is nothing else to occupy them.  Also, no one has given me any guidance or suggested ways in which I could help out around the school.  I've spent more time playing snake on my phone than doing anything meaningful.  And that's not what I came to India for.  Obviously, the biggest reason for my trip was to see and experience this amazing country, but I also want to do something worthwhile with my time.  Hopefully I can find a new job where I will actually be able to make a difference, or at least be in a place where people are glad to have me there.  

Today I finished booking train tickets for John's and my epic journey.  We'll be traveling to Mumbai, Agra, Jaipur, and Delhi, spending a few days in each city.  Also, one of the people that I met in Bangalore is looking to travel North at the same time so she might join us.  I'm really excited for this trip.  I'm already counting down the days (19/20 days to go).  It will definitely be a great time.