Oonts, oonts, oonts...

The Pushkar camel fair proved, like the guidebook promised, to offer "all conceivable types of camel fun". I'm currently sore, bruised, and blistered thanks to my camel, but all in the most positive way. Yesterday morning (early!), Kate, Laura, Julie, and I left to drive to Pushkar. We got in and started wandering through the city. It's a big spot for hippie (mostly Israeli) tourists, and the main attraction is the bazaar. We walked through the bazaar, and got some lunch. I ordered "banana pancakes" which turned out to be a giant chipati wrapped around a whole banana. I guess it was exactly what I ordered... We walked around some more- saw the outside of India's only temple to Brahma (the crowds were ridiculous, and it's not supposed to be very pretty, so we decided to check of having seen it and continue on). The lake that the city surrounds is beautiful too- we got to see women washing and drying saris in it, which I love. Yards and yards of beautiful, colorful fabrics drying on the stone steps. In our walking, we got out of the main part of the bazaar and into the main attraction, in our minds: the camel fair. This is an annual event, lasting for about two weeks in the beginning of November. It hasn't officially started yet (before it starts is supposed to be better- the other tourists hadn't arrived yet), and it lasts until the full moon. The fairgrounds held 20,000 camels and their drivers, sellers, and tents full of food, chai, and camel ornaments. We walked down the main street, being constantly harassed to ride people's camels. We made one friend, and he took us to his tent, full of men in traditional Indian clothes, drinking chai. They all seemed very confused by the arrival of these four american girls in their tent, but gave us free, very delicious, chai regardless. After the chai, we decided to take a camel ride, and suddenly four camels and their drivers appeared in front of us. My camel, Pierro, was a dark camel who made hilarious gurgling noises and loved to run. We went out for 30 minutes, stopping at a watering hole in the desert, then coming back to the fairgrounds. We got to walk through the camels, seeing herds of baby camels- so gangly and cute! After our first ride we went into town to get something to drink. Laura and I decided there that we wanted to take another, longer ride. We went back in search of our drivers, making a friend we named "Mr. Enthusiasm" for his exuberant offers of camel rides ("Pleeeeaaaase, camel ride, pleeeeaaaaseee!" paired with extreme arm motions). We searched through the crowds some, and happened to run into my driver on the way. We sat for a few minutes and had more chai before taking off again. My driver (Mr. Orange Shirt) and his friend took us out for what we arranged to be a 2 hour ride. We rode far out into the desert, stopped so that the drivers could smoke, then rode back towards the fair. The whole time, we talked with the drivers, who were really nice and interesting people. The 2 hour ride became a 4 hour drive, which culminated in both drivers professing their all-encompassing love to both of us (I love you sooo much. If no other Indian man can love you, why can't I?" I got a "your eyes are so beautiful. I love the red lines in them", and us shooting them down completely. They finally dropped us off right in town where we were supposed to meet up with Julie and Kate, as well as Kyle and Gabrielle, who were also at the fair. They told us to pay them "whatever we wanted" if we wanted to pay them at all. We each gave them 100 rupees (2ish dollars) and left.
Dinner was at a rooftop restaurant, overlooking the lake, including falafel and hummus, which was delicious after months of Indian food.
This morning, we ate breakfast at another rooftop restaurant before heading to Ajmer. We walked through ridiculously chaotic streets to a dargah for which Ajmer is famous. Because it's the week after Eid, the dargah was ridiculously crowded. We pushed our way in, just to be swarmed for money by all kinds of people. We quickly left again and went home, since Ajmer didn't appear to be worth the hassle.
This week, I have exams and final papers for my classes. I also am getting ready for and very excited about ISP. One week from tomorrow!

Here are some reasons why I love camels:
Squishy feet
Legs that bend different ways
Ridiculously long legs
Their humps, of course
Tufts of hair along said humps
Necks that curve in any direction
Floppy lips
Heads that constantly point upward
Long eyelashes and big eyes (I guess we like things that look like us...)
Hilarious/disgusting noises


Pictures!
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lannf33/album?.dir=3551scd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lannf33/my_photos

Rants on my family (since I can't exactly do it over the phone while living in their house)
In the beginning, they were both really nice and friendly. As we've gotten more comfortable together, they've been more open. My mother is still amazing. She's nice, interesting, and makes me a lot of food (without being as pushy as most Indian mothers). My father, on the other hand, has begun to show a less positive side. He's constantly harassing my mother about various things. Usually, he just tells her she's fat - he said she should be my size, she's too fat to run, she shouldn't eat so much, etc. She's now started making herself chipates without ghee (butter+ oil, pretty much), which just isn't done in India. He also complains to me for hours if she asks him to do something and makes a huge deal out of any favor he does for her. One morning, she asked him to make tea (he makes the second cup of tea every morning since she makes breakfast) while he was reading a poem in the newspaper, and I heard about it all morning. He also has some very strange ideas about America and American culture and doesn't believe me that they aren't right. I never knew that the only dessert people in America eat is pudding. I do enjoy the odd pudding cone, but it's definitely not a staple of my diet. He still doesn't believe me. I've also gotten many lectures on social security, retirement, and Christianity (he has the main theological ideas completely wrong, but wouldn't listen let me try to correct him- it's not like I would know any of that...).
He tells long-winded, uninteresting stories every night that almost put me to sleep. One night last week, I heard a two hour lecture on how meditation has given him super powers. One day, his 30-year-old daughter got scratched by a dog, and he decided he wanted to visit her without knowing this. Obviously these events were related and show his super powers.
My favorite lectures of his are on how I should live my life. The low-point of our relationship (the moment where I lost all respect for him) was one morning, while I was waiting for my van to school, he ruthlessly attacked S-day fun, telling me that it was immoral because my mom isn't involved and all of the other activities I should be doing on Saturday so that my mom and grandma can be involved. If there's one thing you don't attack with me, it's S-day fun.
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about getting out on my own for ISP (one week from Monday!) Most people are really ready to get away from their families- it's been an intense experience living with them, but it's gotten to be too much.
Until ISP, I'll be busy with the camel fair (starting tomorrow morning!), then exams and practicum (folk dance) presentations.

Oh, and the answer to a big debate: Baby camels (oonts) do exist. I'll report back after this weekend.

Facts

1. My iPod officially killed itself this morning. It now has 0 songs. I have 0 access to sanity.
2. I thought I had made great strides in finding an ISP advisor today until he somehow doesn't think email addresses need a second half.
3. I'm going to Pushkar this weekend to attend the camel festival. One event includes putting 12 people on a camel and trying to get it to stand up. The first up wins.
4. Two more days of Hindi class!
5. I'm ready for Diwali to be over. No more fireworks or sitting through endless "visits" where I stare into space while people rattle off Hindi for hours or desserts that include "cashew nuts, sugar, and silver foil" as their only ingredients. Turns out eating metal is not a good idea for me, as my stomach told me.
6. I have plane tickets to get to Banaras! A one hour flight is much more pleasant than a 14 hour train ride and not much more expensive. Worth it? Yes.
7. Young (and not so young) boys playing video games and screaming at the top of their lungs do not make for a good work environment, it turns out. I don't recommend it.

Trip to Agra version 2

For the past week, I've been gallivanting around India en route to Agra.
We left on Friday and made it as far as Dr. Storm's country house where we spent the afternoon swimming in her pool and on a hike with Guy-ji to look at birds. The next morning, we left for Keoleodeo Bird Sanctuary. On the way, we stopped at Deeg Palace, an old maharajah palace known best for its 2000 fountains that were filled with colored water and its lakes that were built to power these fountains. When we got to the sanctuary, we walked into our hotel near the sanctuary to find that it was under renovation. Dr. Storm was furious because the place was being torn apart, and used her anger to get us rooms in a much nicer hotel inside the sanctuary. We went out in bike rickshaws in the evening to see the birds. The next morning, we got up at sunrise to ride ourselves around on bikes. Getting out and getting some physical exercise besides walking was fantastic. We saw the world's tallest species of flying bird, and other beautiful and exotic birds. The sanctuary itself was built first by the British to serve as a hunting area. There was a large sign up with the numbers of ducks shot on each shoot- the numbers went up to 4206! Now, however, it's a sanctuary, so hopefully they're making up for the mistreatment of the birds in the past.
That evening, we left for Fatehpur Sikri. This was built by Emperor Akbar (my newest historical obsession- he was pretty amazing) to be the capitol of his empire, but was only used for 15 years. The buildings left inside it are amazing. Of the original 500 buildings, only a few remain and nothing much is known about them, but it was still amazing to visit. Dr. Storm took us around the site a little, then sent us off to draw an area of it that we chose, which is an exercise to get us to really take some time to look at the site.
In the afternoon, we visited the other half of the Fatehpur Sikri area- the Dargah. This complex included a mosque, several tombs, and other open areas. This was incredibly beautiful and interesting. The next morning, we were given the option to get up at 6 and go back to the Dargah. Surprisingly, only three of us took this opportunity, but we really enjoyed it. The light was so much more beautiful and the lack of people made the second trip much more enjoyable.
The night after our first visit to the Dargah, we had a Qwwali music performance at our hotel, which was very powerful. The family that performed traces their lineage back to musicians for Akbar. They were talented and devoted, which made the entire performance interesting for so many reasons.
After our second visit to the Dargah, we left for Agra. We stopped at Akbar's tomb on the way. The tomb, begun by Akbar and finished by his son, Jahangir, was incredibly beautiful. We did more drawings there, much to the entertainment of the tourists around us.
Agra as a city is disgusting and obnoxious. Because of the tourist spots, it has become full of tourist traps and trash. Dr. Storm was sad that the government had allowed it to fall to such disrepair. The traffic was terrible and chaotic- even worse than Jaipur, which I didn't think was possible!
We visited another tomb there, before visiting the main attractions of Agra: the Taj Mahal and Agra fort. We went to the Taj in the morning (we left the hotel at 5:45). Our vans took us to a parking lot, where we got onto horse-drawn buggies that took us straight to the Taj. The sun was rising over the side building as we got there. Because we were so early, we also missed the throngs of tourists, in the beginning at least. The building and complex are magnificent. The entire complex is completely symmetrical (except for the sarcophagus that is off center, so that it's closer to Mecca). The perfection of the geometrical shapes and images is amazing.
We spent an hour at the Taj, walking around in awe for most of it.
After breakfast, we left to go to the Red Fort. There are two parts to the fort: the military side, and the palace side. We only visited the palace because it is the prettier of the two, and more interesting to us. The white marble buildings were spectacular. We got more time there to draw and to try to make it through the maze of buildings.
After lunch, Dr. Storm offered to take anyone who was interested with her to a town outside of Agra. The town, and hour drive away, is known for its glasswork. Three of us joined her (most people were more interested in napping after our early morning). The town was full of shops and people in the street (as was to be expected the weekend before Diwali). We made it to the bangle market, which was intense. It was no bigger than a tiny alley, lined on both sides with bangle shops. The alley was full of people jostling around, carts full of brightly colored glass circles, and shopkeepers displaying their beautiful bangles. Obviously not on the normal tourist track, this town was amazing. The market was an authentic bangle market- not just the tourist trap that most markets I've been to are. We all bought some bangles (for very cheap too- because it wasn't for tourists), and took in the chaos and bustle that was all around us.
Back in Agra for dinner, none of us wanted to brave the streets, so we walked a few buildings down to the Pizza Hut (I know, lame, right?). We were all ordering take-out so that we could eat it in our rooms (even lamer?). A good song came on the speakers, and the servers all got excited. One of them turned to Jessica and said, "I'm going to dance!". Seven servers (all male, of course) lined up in the dining room and proceeded to do an intricately choreographed dance to bits of three different songs. Pizza Hut will never be the same again.

Yesterday was Diwali, Hinduism's version of Christmas, sort of. Friday night (the night before), I went with my parents to a neighborhood party in the park. We played a few games of House- pretty much Bingo. I didn't win a single thing :-( . We then ate salty and sweet snacks, and went home. Yesterday, we did a puja (worship) to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. This is supposed to bring wealth and luck in the new year (which starts today). Then we went around the neighborhood to visit neighbors, as is the tradition. Kids have been setting off fireworks for Diwali for weeks now. They were going in full blast last night. I made friends with some of the kids my age in the neighborhood. One girl kept trying to get me to tell her about life in the US. She was amazed that I can stay out past 10:00 and had been to several countries. Then, at another house, I got to set off fireworks with some of the family. We didn't eat dinner until 11:00 (people kept coming by to visit). After dinner, we went for a drive around the city to see the lights (just like Christmas!). We got home at midnight, and the fireworks were still going strong. I now know what it sounds like to live in a war zone. Supposedly, they won't stop for another week too. Good thing I can sleep through anything.
Tonight, I'm going to the temple with my father for dinner, as is the tradition.

I only have one more week of class, then a week of exams, then it's off to Banaras for a month!

Here are pictures of my trip:
http://skidmore.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013341&id=12200174&l=d1dd9

I've definitely reached the point in my semester where time is flying by faster than I could have imagined. Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving to go on an excursion to Agra (Taj Mahal), and many places on the way. We're spending the night in a tiger sanctuary (inside a hotel, sadly), going on a bike ride through a bird sanctuary, visiting several architectural sights, including some tombs, an abandoned capital city built by the Mughals, and, of course, the Taj.
I'm getting ready for and excited about my ISP that starts the first week of November. I'll be living in Banaras, supposedly the oldest city in the world, on my own, doing my own research. My topic now, for those who may be interested is:
"The Ganges River, to Hindus, is one of the holiest places; its water has the power to cleanse and purify whatever it touches. Devout Hindus often take pilgrimages to the banks of the Ganges in places such as Banaras. In these pilgrimages, people may travel long distances to have the chance to bathe in the murky waters of the Ganges. Scientifically, the water is far from pure: anything from corpses to trash to seemingly infinite bacteria can be found in this powerful river. The Ganges Action Plan, started in 1985 with international support, began a large-scale effort to clean the water of the Ganges.
This essay examines how Hindus fuse the contradictory views on their river and how the processing of the water through sanitation efforts affects the observed religious power of the water. Observations and interviews took place along the river in Banaras. Using interviews with Hindu scholars, sanitation experts, and Hindu worshipers, as well as the observation of worship and research of information released to the public pertaining to the projects, this paper explores the differing views on and reactions to the clean-up effort." (my abstract that I turned in for my project proposal)

Otherwise, all is going well. I was planning on going to a polo game this afternoon, but it was cancelled because the players fell too many times in yesterday's game and needed time to recover. Hopefully, the games will still be going on when I get back from Agra, because I feel like I need to see polo in the state where it started after spending so much time here.

Look forward to pictures of the Taj and the other sites soon!

For the past week, Laura, Kate and I had been planning a day of pampering ourselves for Saturday. We ended up going to a salon to get haircuts and pedicures. I decided to be brave and chop off a lot of my hair. I'm still not used to it at all, but it's exciting.
Pedicures in India are very intense. I got a full (knee-down) leg massage, all skin scraped off of my feet (a bit painful, especially since I'm so ticklish) and polish. I could get used to this kind of treatment- especially the low prices of all of it.
After the salon, we went to Laura's house to watch the dvd of Hindi music hits Laura had bought (some of the best videos and music I've ever seen and heard. The more ridiculous the better!). For dinner, Laura's brother said we were going to a "club". We left with him and his 9 month pregnant wife and went to the most expensive hotel in Jaipur, where it turns out we were attending the first polo party of the season. It took place on the lawn of the hotel, everything was decorated beautifully with lights and fabric. The other people there were mostly associated
with polo in some way- we talked to a television producer, a tv reporter for polo matches, a polo player... We also met up with some other americans studying in Jaipur through a U. Minnesota program. We stayed at the party for a few hours, had some cocktails and food, fun conversations, and great people watching. It was a very classy night- not exactly the India most people know about. Now I just have to go see a polo game!

Also, a few more pictures:
http://skidmore.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012920&id=12200174&l=268b2

I'm in love...

With a city, that is. The past two weeks have been spent gallivanting around North Western India.
Before we left, a bunch of us decided we really would like a chance to leave India for a few days, go home, do some of the things we miss the most here, then come back reenergized and ready to finish the semester. Delhi turned out to be like that. I remember when we were first in Delhi- our first two days of India- I thought it was terrible because it was so hectic, dirty, and crowded. After a month in Jaipur, however, I thought it was peaceful, orderly, and even bordering on boring. People drive in lanes on the right (er, left) side of the road. There are sidewalks (really big, nice ones), and barely anyone on them. We got to go out without being the only women on the streets- even after 6:00! We even were able to go out to a bar/restaurant, drink alcohol (legally!) without being stared at too much and looked down upon. It's really amazing how liberating that is after so long in Jaipur.

We had lectures every day in Delhi- some more interesting than others- and saw the National museum.
On our last day in Delhi, we were given a free day to explore on our own before heading to Banaras on an overnight train. Rachel, Jessica, Kate and I took off for the zoo, which was fun. We got to see monkeys everywhere (of course) and white tigers. We also got teased by high school boys, as always. After the zoo, we set off for a museum of toilets that had been suggested by our directors as a fun activity. We got in a rickshaw (uncomfortably, because of Delhi's small rickshaws) and began what turned out to be a 1.5 hour long tour of Delhi highways, sidestreets, and into the next town over.
By the time we found the museum, we had to leave to get back to the guest house in time. The tour guide of the museum was really nice to us and suggested we take the Delhi metro to save time. The metro system in Delhi is the best I've ever seen. The whole place was spotlessly clean, well-run, and easy to navigate.
Delhi, being the capital as well as a city set up by Westerners, has a very Western feel to it. Despite my frustrations with Jaipur, I'm glad our program is centered here because we're thrown into a more authentically "Indian" experience.
The real treat of the trip, for me, was Banaras. This is truly a city of paradoxes. The holiest city in the world is also the dirtiest. People go there to die, but it's full of life and activity. The most beautiful settings are on the dirty, gray/green/brown river, and people get sick from the water that is so holy because of terrible infrastructure.
The feel of Banaras was really encouraging after Jaipur's harassing and rude citizens. The people around our guesthouse befriended us immediately. Some wanted to take us to their "friend's" silk shops to collect on commission, but others just wanted to be friendly. Even shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers were nice and didn't appear to rip us off too much.
Western tourists were everywhere, but these were the hippies out for a "spiritual" experience instead of Jaipur's shopping tourists.
I checked out the guest house where I'll be staying during my ISP (independent study month). It's a house for scholars and comes complete with a living room full of mattresses, a nice roof area, a kitchen we can use to make dinner (lunch is provided every day) and nice, brightly painted rooms. All this for 2700 rupees a month (60 dollars)! At least three of us will be staying there- Sarah, Rachel, and I- but other people are now struggling to find reasons to go back to Banaras.
It was nice to get back to Jaipur- to a house with my own room, bed, and family. We had a Hindi mid-term yesterday (after getting in the evening before) and oral exams today. They both seemed to go alright, despite my hatred of languages. This part of the program is going to rush by- less than a month left of classes before leaving for the ISP!
It should finally start to get a bit cooler here soon, which will be a welcome change from the over 100 degree weeks we've been having. That will make exploring the city more appealing, if I can find the time for it.
In folk dance class tomorrow, we're starting to learn to dance with pots of fire on our heads! I'm buying a pot, so I can show off in the states.
Today, Jessica and I realized the beauty of being phase 3. It's encouraging to find those things that would have been frustrating, but are now just hilarious.
Thanks to my fabulous mother, I now have pictures online! They're the second batch - the first is still on a CD that I can't get online quite yet (nothing works too easily here). Highlights from Dr. Storm's country palace, Delhi, and Banaras for the most part. They haven't been edited yet (again, nothing really works here), but the raw versions are up at:
http://skidmore.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012812&id=12200174&l=4a94d