Not posting enough about the craziness thats going on around here, even though I'm often on the internet, but I'll try to do it more often, let you know about the crazy monkeys that randomly appear on the side of the street and then start chasing me with shotguns and wicked knives (no that was a dream)...
Maybe I should stop...
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
Still alive...
Hey all,
I don't recommend agravating elephants, drinking the water, or travelling with fast drivers who don't recognize restraint when using their horn or the road. Any of the above can lead to trampling, massive exodus of fluids, and crowds of angry citizens seeking revenge, respectively.
To flesh out this description... it may be considered fortunate that I am still alive (exaggeration must be taken into account with this story).
I went on a spectacular animal-filled safari last weekend, well... technically speaking it would have been a spectacular animal-filled safari if monsoon weather had not washed out the roads. Fortunately, I had the wonderful chance to sit in the back of a jeep scrunched and facing three other people as I attempted to fit my anguished knees into places that cause contortionists to quit in protest. All of this while travelling on highways designed by demented civil engineers who must have practiced mine warfare during their time in the army. So after this 5 hour midnight inferno, we arrive at the park, fall asleep for an hour, wake up to find a monsoon had washed out the roads... so we decide to jog a little. Not recommended in a national park with wild elephants, roving (seemingly irritable bison), and the odd tiger or two. Innocent of all these thoughts, we jogged an appropriate amount, and after returning to our steadfast jeep, proceeded to watch in shocked awe as the elephant we were disappointedly watching disappear into the forest come charging out with the firm intent of flipping over the jeep and feeding the soon to be mashed souls to his feline friends.
Safari trail washed out... watch out for leeches when walking through leech-infested forest (follow recommendations for high boots, do not wear sandals...), do not lose helljeep when needing to return to Bangalore in a timely fashio, expect helljeep to lose himself.
Well I survived, and thought I would make it through the week until yesterday some bad water finally caught up with me, climbed inside, and on its quick exit, took every last parcel of good fluid with it... i recommend avoiding dehydration and the accompanying fever, vomiting and other "side effects." No worries though, I have some anti biotics (cipro) and a lot of good people to take care of me, almost to the point where every teacher in the school (almost all women) have coddled me into eating some of the nastiest nonreactive easily digestible fluid known to man.
We'll see how this weekend treats me, but the children have been wonderful, they're beginning to understand I'm not going to be a pushover teacher who gives them easy workloads, but they are taking to my interactive teaching style.
I don't recommend agravating elephants, drinking the water, or travelling with fast drivers who don't recognize restraint when using their horn or the road. Any of the above can lead to trampling, massive exodus of fluids, and crowds of angry citizens seeking revenge, respectively.
To flesh out this description... it may be considered fortunate that I am still alive (exaggeration must be taken into account with this story).
I went on a spectacular animal-filled safari last weekend, well... technically speaking it would have been a spectacular animal-filled safari if monsoon weather had not washed out the roads. Fortunately, I had the wonderful chance to sit in the back of a jeep scrunched and facing three other people as I attempted to fit my anguished knees into places that cause contortionists to quit in protest. All of this while travelling on highways designed by demented civil engineers who must have practiced mine warfare during their time in the army. So after this 5 hour midnight inferno, we arrive at the park, fall asleep for an hour, wake up to find a monsoon had washed out the roads... so we decide to jog a little. Not recommended in a national park with wild elephants, roving (seemingly irritable bison), and the odd tiger or two. Innocent of all these thoughts, we jogged an appropriate amount, and after returning to our steadfast jeep, proceeded to watch in shocked awe as the elephant we were disappointedly watching disappear into the forest come charging out with the firm intent of flipping over the jeep and feeding the soon to be mashed souls to his feline friends.
Safari trail washed out... watch out for leeches when walking through leech-infested forest (follow recommendations for high boots, do not wear sandals...), do not lose helljeep when needing to return to Bangalore in a timely fashio, expect helljeep to lose himself.
Well I survived, and thought I would make it through the week until yesterday some bad water finally caught up with me, climbed inside, and on its quick exit, took every last parcel of good fluid with it... i recommend avoiding dehydration and the accompanying fever, vomiting and other "side effects." No worries though, I have some anti biotics (cipro) and a lot of good people to take care of me, almost to the point where every teacher in the school (almost all women) have coddled me into eating some of the nastiest nonreactive easily digestible fluid known to man.
We'll see how this weekend treats me, but the children have been wonderful, they're beginning to understand I'm not going to be a pushover teacher who gives them easy workloads, but they are taking to my interactive teaching style.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Everything moves slowly in fast motion
Life in India moves in a bubble, and the speed is all relative... on the street everything is super fast, but when you compare it to a western country, things are moving super slow, maybe this is why drivers from asia have so much trouble in america, its not like they're bad drivers, I would put some of these guys in a formula one race, if they raced at 40km an hour, much faster, and I start getting very worried for my health, especially in buses
My first big email
Well, for those few of you who were still holding out on the longshot that I was going under in the first week, I'm sorry to burst the bubble, but I have now survived more than 7 days in India. Well, almost, yeah, I guess it has been... god it has seemed like so much longer.
I guess I might as well give you the highlights and then tell of some little quirks I've noticed along the way.
I got on a plane on the 20th of June, and started the first leg of the trip to Tokyo Japan. If some of you are considering trying to change flights in Tokyo, please make sure you use your common sense, read your ticket flight number, and get on the right flight, regardless of the printed time. That way you won't end up like me, stuck outside the comfortable bubble of Japanese orderliness, being pulled off the wrong flight to the right city at the right time, like a Japanese Kobe cow being pummeled by 4'5" stewardesses. Apparently these stewardesses come standard with your regular Japanese airport, because regardless, they all were the same height. Well, hypothetically speaking, say you miss your flight, have nowhere to stay, find a temple to hang out at, meet some Japanese cooks, participate in a Shinto temple with huge drums, and find out their is an entire 70ft tall pagoda dedicated to peace, well, then you might have a day like mine.
Singapore was cool, too clean...
Chennai was the exact opposite, pretty dirty, dilapidated, the airport smelled of urine, oh, and before I forget to mention, anyone you see once you are in a motorized vehicle, is trying to kill you and eat your heart for courage. Surprising in this normally peaceful country but I saw several barbeques and I think they mean business. Did anyone know there was a Saint Thomas, and he was an apostle of Jesus, and best of all he has a church in Chennai built over his tomb. I didn't know... but now I do, and so do you.
Getting on trains out of Chennai is hard, it seems that every other civilized person in the city is trying to do the same... it could be the pollution, the 95 degree nighttime, under the fan temperature, the thousands sleeping on the streets, or the fact that everyone is trying to kill you, but most people are trying to leave... beats me, but it took me an extra day to hightail it out of there, and I had to leave at the crack of dawn. Also make sure you're looking at the right track and train before you try to find your coach by walking a half mile with 70lbs attached to your back and body.
I ended up in Mysore, a beautiful place with palaces, temples, beautiful markets teeming with pickpockets, and musical fountains next to a 1912 british dam that lit up at night in a concerted attempt to attract every mosquito as close to me as possible.
I liked Mysore.
I arrived in Bangalore a few days ago, and met my contact after a couple hours of sitting on some marble steps, a couple thousand people staring at me, and at least a few hundred taxi cab drivers giving me that inquisitive "please let me take your money" look. Over the past couple days I've met more people from my organization, AIESEC, ate a lot of delicious food, and had a generally terrific time hanging out with people who spoke English (quite amazing how that can spritz up a day).
I just visited my school where I will be teaching today... insane, out of this world, unlike any school you could imagine, especially in India. Try and picture a setting with Spanish style terracotta housing, on a closed campus, with manicured gardening, in a resort style layout, with little kids half as tlal as me running around in every direction. Then add to this picture constant construction of a larger building behind these buildings, and an even larger building behind that. If you're having trouble, you'll have to take a look at some of my pictures... I'll try to do the place justice.
It should be amazing.
Some things about India you should know...
Most people are truly nice, and willing to return a smile if you're willing to give it, they will know you are smiling at them because they will have been staring at you for the past 10 seconds speechless
All of these kind people would gladly kill you once you are on the road with them
Do your best to avoid crossing the street
When crossing the street begin praying, look both ways, finish praying, look both ways, begin praying to an Indian god, follow someone else, preferably with them in harms way, and try to make sure you can keep them in harms way the entire time by switching sides halfway across the street.
Eat everything, drink nothing that you can't twist the lid off of. Don't eat anything washable
Meet everyone you can, they all want to meet you, and will extend conversations with awkward silences in order to still be seen talking to a white person.
Have fun.
There are many more idiosyncracies, like the art of avoiding beggars and swarms of children, to the zen of figuring out what the hell type of english someone thinks they are saying, but we will save these for later. I wish all the best, and be thankful for crosswalks that people pay attention to, and median lines that people adhere to, you have no idea how lucky you are.
I guess I might as well give you the highlights and then tell of some little quirks I've noticed along the way.
I got on a plane on the 20th of June, and started the first leg of the trip to Tokyo Japan. If some of you are considering trying to change flights in Tokyo, please make sure you use your common sense, read your ticket flight number, and get on the right flight, regardless of the printed time. That way you won't end up like me, stuck outside the comfortable bubble of Japanese orderliness, being pulled off the wrong flight to the right city at the right time, like a Japanese Kobe cow being pummeled by 4'5" stewardesses. Apparently these stewardesses come standard with your regular Japanese airport, because regardless, they all were the same height. Well, hypothetically speaking, say you miss your flight, have nowhere to stay, find a temple to hang out at, meet some Japanese cooks, participate in a Shinto temple with huge drums, and find out their is an entire 70ft tall pagoda dedicated to peace, well, then you might have a day like mine.
Singapore was cool, too clean...
Chennai was the exact opposite, pretty dirty, dilapidated, the airport smelled of urine, oh, and before I forget to mention, anyone you see once you are in a motorized vehicle, is trying to kill you and eat your heart for courage. Surprising in this normally peaceful country but I saw several barbeques and I think they mean business. Did anyone know there was a Saint Thomas, and he was an apostle of Jesus, and best of all he has a church in Chennai built over his tomb. I didn't know... but now I do, and so do you.
Getting on trains out of Chennai is hard, it seems that every other civilized person in the city is trying to do the same... it could be the pollution, the 95 degree nighttime, under the fan temperature, the thousands sleeping on the streets, or the fact that everyone is trying to kill you, but most people are trying to leave... beats me, but it took me an extra day to hightail it out of there, and I had to leave at the crack of dawn. Also make sure you're looking at the right track and train before you try to find your coach by walking a half mile with 70lbs attached to your back and body.
I ended up in Mysore, a beautiful place with palaces, temples, beautiful markets teeming with pickpockets, and musical fountains next to a 1912 british dam that lit up at night in a concerted attempt to attract every mosquito as close to me as possible.
I liked Mysore.
I arrived in Bangalore a few days ago, and met my contact after a couple hours of sitting on some marble steps, a couple thousand people staring at me, and at least a few hundred taxi cab drivers giving me that inquisitive "please let me take your money" look. Over the past couple days I've met more people from my organization, AIESEC, ate a lot of delicious food, and had a generally terrific time hanging out with people who spoke English (quite amazing how that can spritz up a day).
I just visited my school where I will be teaching today... insane, out of this world, unlike any school you could imagine, especially in India. Try and picture a setting with Spanish style terracotta housing, on a closed campus, with manicured gardening, in a resort style layout, with little kids half as tlal as me running around in every direction. Then add to this picture constant construction of a larger building behind these buildings, and an even larger building behind that. If you're having trouble, you'll have to take a look at some of my pictures... I'll try to do the place justice.
It should be amazing.
Some things about India you should know...
Most people are truly nice, and willing to return a smile if you're willing to give it, they will know you are smiling at them because they will have been staring at you for the past 10 seconds speechless
All of these kind people would gladly kill you once you are on the road with them
Do your best to avoid crossing the street
When crossing the street begin praying, look both ways, finish praying, look both ways, begin praying to an Indian god, follow someone else, preferably with them in harms way, and try to make sure you can keep them in harms way the entire time by switching sides halfway across the street.
Eat everything, drink nothing that you can't twist the lid off of. Don't eat anything washable
Meet everyone you can, they all want to meet you, and will extend conversations with awkward silences in order to still be seen talking to a white person.
Have fun.
There are many more idiosyncracies, like the art of avoiding beggars and swarms of children, to the zen of figuring out what the hell type of english someone thinks they are saying, but we will save these for later. I wish all the best, and be thankful for crosswalks that people pay attention to, and median lines that people adhere to, you have no idea how lucky you are.
schoolin schmoolin
I'm enjoying life, well, what life you can have when you're stranded at a school 25km outside Bangalore (the city I'm in), live in a 12ft by 12ft mansion, and constantly having to ward off an ex-champion Indian athlete who adopted me as a best friend within minutes of meeting him and calls me his "dear"...
But seriously, the cafeteria style food is delicious, wholesome, and utterly the same from meal to meal, sometimes varying in the consistency of the curd they (literally) force me to eat.
I just read through this email, and I may have painted a bleak picture, this is absolutely the opposite from the truth. Granted, I can't communicate with people in anything more than broken english after the teachers leave, but this has its benefits, my singing voice has improved, as well as my punching form, and I no longer have to tell people I don' t like them, I just glare at them until they go away.
In truth, the school is amazing, I feel like I'm on a miniature resort under construction half the time, but when the students are there, its a little jungle of monkeys running around eager to learn, and when they leave, its super peaceful once you drone out the sounds of nonstop construction. The campus is large, and could easily hold over a thousand students, although I think they only have between 4-500, and there's a large basketball court, tennis, weight room, volleyball net, table tennis, anything you could ask for.
The students have all been very receptive to my teaching style, once I brought out the brass knuckles... haven't had a problem since that first incident. They really have taken to my teaching style, which is quite different than the other teachers, or even any teacher's Ive ever had, very expressive and genuine with a lot of random trivia to back up my drivel.
In any case, I am loving it, I wish I could have a big fat juicy steak, with a plate of fries and ketchup (red robin would be perfect), and a portable jetpack for getting across streets, but I am surviving and loving life. I'm heading to the jungle this weekend to see how many leeches I can attach before passing out, and don't worry, I've already been warned that the waterfall we're going to should not be jumped off of, so I most certainly will not.
But seriously, the cafeteria style food is delicious, wholesome, and utterly the same from meal to meal, sometimes varying in the consistency of the curd they (literally) force me to eat.
I just read through this email, and I may have painted a bleak picture, this is absolutely the opposite from the truth. Granted, I can't communicate with people in anything more than broken english after the teachers leave, but this has its benefits, my singing voice has improved, as well as my punching form, and I no longer have to tell people I don' t like them, I just glare at them until they go away.
In truth, the school is amazing, I feel like I'm on a miniature resort under construction half the time, but when the students are there, its a little jungle of monkeys running around eager to learn, and when they leave, its super peaceful once you drone out the sounds of nonstop construction. The campus is large, and could easily hold over a thousand students, although I think they only have between 4-500, and there's a large basketball court, tennis, weight room, volleyball net, table tennis, anything you could ask for.
The students have all been very receptive to my teaching style, once I brought out the brass knuckles... haven't had a problem since that first incident. They really have taken to my teaching style, which is quite different than the other teachers, or even any teacher's Ive ever had, very expressive and genuine with a lot of random trivia to back up my drivel.
In any case, I am loving it, I wish I could have a big fat juicy steak, with a plate of fries and ketchup (red robin would be perfect), and a portable jetpack for getting across streets, but I am surviving and loving life. I'm heading to the jungle this weekend to see how many leeches I can attach before passing out, and don't worry, I've already been warned that the waterfall we're going to should not be jumped off of, so I most certainly will not.
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