honeymoon phase

When most people talk about study abroad, the first warnings you get are about culture shock and something that they call the "honeymoon phase." It is safe to say that I have fallen into it... hardcore. It is amazing here. There are some things about Indian culture that I love (the chai, the colors that are EVERYWHERE, the incredible hospitality), and some things that will definitely take some getting used to (the traffic, the pollution - it's seriously horrible, something like smoking a pack and a half in one day everyday, and the incredible poverty) that will take some getting used to. I was going to give you  a detailed account of the last few days of orientation,but despite my best intentions, things have been so crazy that by the time we get back to our rooms I pass out early. I'll fill you in on the highlights and post a lot of pictures.


We kissed the ashram goodbye only to find out that our homestay is... next to the ashram! Out of all the places in Delhi. Hahaha, here are some pictures I took before we left:

Overall, the past few days have truly shown me how SIT has study abroad down to a science. It was the smoothest transition for the biggest lifestyle change I have ever seen. My parents will be happy to read that the program staff are extremely concerned about our health and comfort, and every detail is taken care of. While we were definitely roughing it in the ashram (bucket showers and sketchy sleeping bags), they were constantly handing us water bottles, asking how we had slept, and making sure we were eating alright.

In other news, I’m really mad at myself that I didn’t bring one of my three guidebooks to India (one from my Mom, one from Kirsten, and one from David). I have my little Delhi one from the airport, but considering we’re doing all kids of excursions, I’d really like the big one on North India from Lonely Planet. My host mom (I'll get to that) says there is a bookstore pretty close to here, so I am going to try to find it tomorrow.

On Friday we got to go to the program center for the first time. It is a gorgeous building in an up and coming neighborhood… and when I say up-and-coming, I literally mean up-and-coming: it’s currently under construction, and we are the first people in the building. The center is three floors and meant to be a house. It is absolutely gorgeous with cool stone and dark wood that will be so nice once it’s extremely hot outside. The main classroom is in the basement, the main floor is professors’ offices, and the upstairs has a giant sunroom that will be our library, a huge kitchen, and a dining room where we are served lunch. Every time we leave and come back there are major developments that take us by surprise. Today, for example, we came in to find window treatments and a huge fridge filled with fruit (FINALLY SOME FRUIT). Here are some pictures, including our marigolds and bindis they gave us on the first day as a welcome.

One of the crazy things about being surrounded by Indian construction is that the construction workers are from more remote villages in India, and bring their entire families with them during the project. They have built temporary housing around the neighborhood, and the kids play in the construction equipment and dust in bare feet. It's an incredible dichotomy to be taking a chai break from Hindi class and to have little kids covered in dust catch sight of us and wave through the windows. We have the luxury of tea cups (among many other things) while they have no shoes, no anything. You'll see 7 and 8 year old boys and girls holding their 2 and 3 year old brothers and sisters (whoah babysitters). And the incredible thing to remember is that they are the ones who are in a good position - at least their parents have jobs and can (hopefully) afford food. Here is the difference between taking a class on poverty at Tufts where outside the windows you will find college kids tossing a frisbee, and taking a class on poverty with SIT in India: outside the windows you'll find the real systemic problem at work, in the medium of little children calling "namaste diddi!!! hiiiiiii diddi!!!!!!!" (hellllloooooo sister!!). 

They tried to get us to do a cultural thing as a group every day during orientation.We visited Humayun tomb, saw some cool Sufi music (spiritual singing... in was cool for the first half hour of the hour and a half of needing to pee... unfortunately took away from the spiritual experience), and saw a Bollywood movie called 3 Idiots. The movie was great but kind of sad and like most Bollywood films SO LONG (over 3hrs!). We also went shopping for our first shalwar kameez (Indian clothing) and had a scavenger hunt in a market called New Friends Colony (it was a competition to find things like a copy machine and places where we could add more money to our SIM cards on our phones). Part of the scavenger hunt was finding a gift for the other group. Our gift to the others were bindis (jewels to wear between the eyes) and their gift to us was from a pet store - a fish! We've named him Maachli which is Hindi for.. you guessed it, fish. He is our SIT mascot.

The rest of orientation was less exciting... they finally got the kitchen set up and have been serving us meals instead of ordering in. This is my favorite teacher, Bhavna-ji, making fresh roti, which I hope to learn how to make while I am here!

Lunchtime:

We also have had a lot of classes on assimilating to Indian culture. We had a session with a mental health specialist, we talked about poverty in Indian and how to mentally cope with how constantly in your face the sheer dichotomy between the rich and the poor is (they don't have room to segregate them like we do in the states). We also have had intros to our classes (they look pretty rigorous, not gonna lie, but I am SO excited to get started!) and have had sessions on basic geography, economics, and politics on both Delhi and India as a whole.

My friend Molly and I moved into our homestay on Monday night, and had all of Tuesday to hang out with our family and adjust to life in what will be our home for the next 9 weeks before the next phase of the program when we will live on our own. Our mom and dad are a young couple oringinally from West Bengal/Kolkata, and are very modern and extremely nice. The dad, Avigit, works in software in Delhi, and our mom keeps the house but I think used to study zoology. We have a host sister, Aura, who is 10, and a host brother, Aurco, who is 4. They are ADORABLE! Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to Dilli Haat (the market from the first night) in the morning, and tried our hands at bargaining, and then in the afternoon went to Qutb Minar with the whole family. It's a giant park/HUGE tower that used to be 27 different Hindu and Jain temples before the Mughals took over, took the faces off of the carved Hindu gods and goddesses, and made it into a mosque! It is truly beautiful in the afternoon sun.

We also have a host dog. His name is Coco and he's a handful... well, he's huge, so he is several handfuls (Dogfuls? Pawfuls?). He jumps A LOT and we're getting used to fending for ourselves because we're not sure of which language he knows commands... Bengali? English? Hindi? Not at all? We think the latter.

Here is a picture of my host brother, Aurco, when he served me tea yesterday. He is incredible: he is fluent in Bengali and Hindi, and understands a lot of English. His mom, Jayoti, told him to become our Hindi teacher, so he has begun speaking exclusively in Hindi around us! Not that we understand anything yet... But when he was serving me sugar, I pointed to it and said "cini, haan?" and he replied "nahi! Sugar!!" Too impossibly cute. He also helped me decorate my Indian phone since all 18 of us have the same one! Aura helped too, and gave me a beaded string to use as a cell phone charm. Also, here's Aura, who wants to be a hoseback rider, an artist, a dancer, and actress and on and on and on... but for now, here is her AMAZING artwork:

Today was our first day of class! We were supposed to have a visit to the World Health Organization office in Delhi, but it fell through, which was a bummer. They are trying to reschedule. But we did have our first Hindi class! I am really really REALLY looking forward to learning some Hindi, even if it is mostly to stop getting ripped off at markets/all the time...

We went exploring after class today and visited Fabindia, a chain clothing store, and another small shop to buy notebooks and charge up our Indian phones with minutes. We also got to take three different modes of transportation: an auto-rickshaw, which basically looks like a turtle mated with a motorcycle (I'll post a picture soon), a regular rickshaw (pulled by a bike) and the metro. The Metro is gorgeous and new and has women only cars for extra safety, the rickshaw was... interesting... I definitely prefer the autorickshaw, which will be, I think, the way we get to class everyday (a half hour ride for Rs 100 = about 2 USD)

We were ripped off a LOT today... the good news is that "ripped off" by Indian standards means paying an extra UDS 50 cents for things. We're still learning what prices should be for items and transportation so these issues don't happen in the future (for example we paid Rs 50 = $1 for a rickshaw ride that should have been Rs 20 = $.45, AND he dropped us in the completely wrong place, definitely on purpose). It's a learning curve for sure, and learning some Hindi will definitely make shopkeepers think we know at least a LITTLE of what's up.

Oh, and I ran into a tree today. After walking through busy Delhi streets and taking autorickshaws and regular rickshaws (arguably not the safest activities) I do those safely and then walk straight into a... tree. Watch out for those trees in India.. you never know when they're going to strike. One second I was following the girl in front of me, the next I was on the ground in the street dirt with a giant bump on my head. Ewwwwww. I am pleased to announce that while the homestay shower is still not like home, it is more than a bucket! 

To end, here is a picture of the Indian sunset from the metro stop tonight. :) I miss people at home!! I'm usually on skype around 10am-noon EST; my skypename is "lkroart".

Love and Chai,

Laura

PS: There was a wedding procession in the neighborhood last night AND THE GROOM RODE PAST THE HOUSE ON AN ELEPHANT. Current elephant sighting count: 4 elephants. One week. That is all.

PPS: I showed Aura my album of pictures from home, of AOII, and of my friends and family. She promptly announced that she is definitely visiting, and wants to see all of that snow!

59 from India

More soon, but here are my pictures from orientation :) I have the day off with my host family today, and tomorrow classes start!

3 posts: traveling and first days in india

I haven’t had internet since coming to India, so this is my backlog of writing. It's been about five days since any kind of outside-of-India communication (sad to say how dependent I am/the rest of the girls on our program find ourselves).This is a crazy-long entry, bear with me :) I'm safe, I'm happy, I'm loving the food, the people, the 75 degree weather, and all of the sights so far. We literally just got set up with internet cards about 30 minutes ago at our program center! 

Can't wait to hear from people at home,

Laura

____________

2/1/2011. 

Traveling…

Delhi-time: 2:41pm. My body’s internal clock: 10:11am, with only a few hours of sleep from 30-some hours ago. Something like that. Good news: I am happy to report that my both of my bags (yahoo!) and I are in the IGI Delhi airport in the arrival hall where I will meet my group in 5 hours. I’M IN INDIA! And all I want to do is put my head down on this keyboard and nap. But I can’t – part of the nature of traveling alone; gotta watch the bags. The ATMs are having issues, so I don’t have any money, and even if I did I don’t know if I should trust the airport food (I have to get myself into don’t-drink-the-water mode). I have no internet because to use it requires a cell phone to activate the connectivity. I am disconnected. I am excited. I am exhausted. I’m watching groups of 60-something rich white British tourists emerge through customs, exchange pounds for tens of thousands of rupees, and embark with their Indian tour guides through the huge doors and into New Delhi.

But this post is about other things.

We were going up the escalator to the gate platform. It hit me: I was finally going. I must have had some kind of look on my face.

“So this is your first time going to India, yeah?” asked the guy in front of me on the escalator.

“Do I have that ‘first-time-going-to-India-look?”

He grinned. “Yes, actually.”

The past 15 hours had been a total blur. Just that morning I had been in a Madrid McDonalds with Chelsea, mentally triple-checking my bags and getting ready for the next leg of my journey. She dropped me off at the beautiful Atocha train station to rejoin her academic life in Spain, and I was travel ready. Tired, but ready. I never sleep before big trips; just too excited to allow myself more than a few hours of shut-eye.

All of the down time in the Madrid airport, the flight to Heathrow, and the layover time in London left for (FINALLY) lots of time to cram Hindi. And it’s actually going really well – the characters are fairly easy to memorize, and sounding out the letters is simple and so incredibly satisfying when you figure out even a simple word. I still have a long ways to go, and except for a few basic ones I won’t know what the word means once I sound it out, but I can read the sounds, and that feels pretty empowering.

When I got to Heathrow, I found out that I had another few hours of layover added to my time, so I had about 9 hours to kill. It was relaxing. I had a solo dinner in a restaurant that was pretending that it wasn’t in the middle of the busiest airport in the world, and spent the rest of the time on a giant red couch set out of the action.

Hours later, I was on the escalator to the gate when I met Jos. From a town north of London, Jos was headed to a Hindu wedding in Delhi as part of his father’s photography business based in London and India, where each half of his family resides. We got to the platform and sat down together at the gate.

“Long way for a wedding,” I said.

“Clearly you’ve never been to an Indian wedding.”

We chatted for a while and it was time to get on the plane. Jos’ quirky humor and conversation had distracted me enough from anxiety about the journey that I suppose my nerves had been suppressed and shoved down. There was a moment right after my boarding pass was scanned that my reservations found a voice, and screamed in my head: IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GO TO INDIA NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO TURN AROUND AND RUN, but I gave the voice a mental elbow jab and made my way down the segue. As soon as I was on the plane, it was like being shot with adrenaline, and I felt so ready (well, as ready as you can be for at least another 20 hours of travel).

I have learned now that traveling “alone” on these journeys becomes much less lonely than that feeling of walking away from my parents in airport security. You somehow begin talking to othersand connect through the shared experience of travel and all of the baggage of emotions it brings with it. Over the course of the travels from MadridàLondonàDelhi, I met a host of characters. In addition to my conversations with Jos, on the flight I sat between an Indian woman living in Texas, who helped me with some of my written Hindi, and a French couple from Toulouse who spoke no English. I got involved in a crazy game of telephone when Hindi announcements were made, wherein she would translate for me, and I would turn to the couple and translate for them (the Toulouse accent is beautiful and slow and laid-back and oh-so easy for the girl who hasn’t had French class in a year to understand).

I met others, too: I listened to a global hotel tycoon and a man whose occupation remains unclear but was certainly wealthy as well discuss their craziest experiences of racism as Indians in Moscow airport security, and also complain about how awful it is to fly “anything but first class.” The two of them kept me company in the Delhi airport, and when I told them I was studying public health, the hotel tycoon told me about his son’s Harvard MPH/MD public health degree, and his wife who is an infectious disease public health specialist (what are the chances? – you never know when someone is even going to know what public health is). There was also a particularly funny moment when they asked when I was getting picked up. “You’ve been in the arrival hall waiting all day?! Are we really still that disorganized?” (We, I assume, meaning all of India).

And more: I exchanged pleasantries with an incredibly beautiful Afghani girl my age with her baby, and had a slightly awkward but nice experience sitting in silence with her only Arabic-speaking mother (unfortunately in my sleep deprived state my few statements were pretty lame: “Oh I’ve never met anyone from Afghanistan before” and an awkward moment when I was glad I wasn’t too sleep-drunk to do something completely ridiculous like apologize for the war, although my first thought was about how obnoxious it would be for me to do so. “Sorry about that. No, really.”). I met a woman going to Nigeria to visit her family, and she was from, of all places, Baltimore (small heart-pang for home on that one). And I ended up in conversation with an interesting character originally from the Czech Republic, but living in Canada, and traveling to Mumbai for something Buddhist monk-related. She asked about my trip, and I told her that I had never traveled this far by myself before, or stayed this far away from home for so long. When she asked how long, and I told her 4 months, she laughed out loud.

“Four months?! Why, that’s absolutely nothing! I thought you meant ten years!”

Somehow her mocking tone made me feel a lot better about the challenge. Perspective is everything.

Around 8pm in the arrival hall in Delhi, I got up from my new rich Indian gentlemen-friends to stretch my legs, and ran into my friend Nisha from Tufts who had just gotten in from visiting her grandmother in Hyderabad. She called the people from SIT and they arrived within a few minutes. Our academic director (Azim Khan, who looks exactly like the Indian version of Steve Carrell) and four other teachers for the semester greeted us in our sleepiness with sympathetic smiles, ready to send us in a cab with one of the teachers for the program. We walked through the doors into the nighttime Delhi air, smells, and sounds, got into the cab, and were whisked away into the mayhem of the Indian capital’s thoroughfares. This was it. After all of the build-up: Delhi.

Back in the airport in Heathrow, Jos had given me some final sage advice.

“One more thing, Laura. Don’t fall in love in India.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, expecting some sort of existential response.

“Yeah. Too many blokes looking for passports.”

______

2/2/11

-

Assigned Schedule:

7-8: Breakfast at Ashram

830-900: Introductions

930-1030: Health Orientation

11-12: “Burning Questions” session

12-1300: Lunch at Ashram

13-17: Rest at Ashram

1700: Pre-program assignments due

1730: departure for Dilli Haat (art and craft bazaar and dinner)

-

I’m trying to think of words to describe the past 24 hours.

Cold. Hilarious. Delicious. Chai. Buckets. Naps. Expectations. And… Aurobindu.

Cold – When Nisha and I got to the Ashram (basically a donation-run hostel with a devotion aspect – this one is dedicated to a Saint) last night, we quickly unpacked and made a meal out of some chips, bottled water, and whatever her grandmother had slipped into her luggage. As exhausted as we were, we were wired from the trip and the ride through Delhi and the adrenaline that comes from things finally happening. The room is extremely simple and bare-bones, and there was nothing on the beds but a sheet and old pillows. We made do and tried to sleep under jackets, but no one mentioned how freezing it is here without the sun. The whole building is made of cool, smooth stone, clearly built to keep inhabitants cool in the hot Indian summer sun (it looks like a palace in my eyes - perhaps it is just because I am not used to Indian architecture, but I think it’s beautiful). But it was absolutely freezing, and we quickly became popsicles and got very little sleep before our 7am breakfast, when we found out that there are sleeping bags in the closet (and they’re pretty gross – Mom, you wouldn’t be able to stand this, and thank you for making me pack Sue Erickson’s sleep sheet – but at least we’re warm).

Hilarious – the staff are wonderful and so caring, and so funny! Kishore-ji is in charge of logistics, finances, and electronics and will be getting us internet/cell phones in a few days (by the time you read this, obviously). Bhavna-ji is a beautiful, extremely mother-like Indian woman who is co-chair of our Hindi. Gotham-ji is HILARIOUS, and is the other co-teacher for Hindi. Abid-ji is the teacher who rode with us to the Ashram and will teach us the public health course – he has a ton of experience in the field on the logistical side of running clinics, in addition to his extensive education in public health. That leaves Dr. Azim Khan, who is just the friendliest guy. I get the feeling that he is a big deal but is too modest to share his experiences just yet (btw – he’s the one who looks like Steve Carrell, and honestly could give him a run for his money in humor as well). We also went to our clinic and met the doctor for a session on health in Delhi – while it was scary to learn about all of the awful things that could make us sick, it was great to see that they were taking health so seriously and that we’re in such good hands. I wish I could find a doctor like her at home!

Delicious: Everything is amazing. Everything. And this is just Ashram food! Breakfast was chai and curried peas and croissants, lunch was cauliflower cooked in spices with rice and sauce and naan and yogurt, dinner was at the famous Dilli-haat market where I ordered chicken tikka and chai and butter naan. Food will not be an issue. At least, barring illness.

Chai, oh Chai – I like it better than coffee. And I love coffee. Milk and spices and tea boiled together, and so much different from anything labeled as “chai” in the States.

Buckets – I now know how to shower with a nothing but some buckets. Oh yeah. At least Nisha and I lucked out and got a room with a western toilet and toilet paper, and not a hole in the ground with a spray hose instead of toilet paper. We’ve been letting more unfortunate souls on the program use our bathroom.

Naps – my body has no idea what time it is. Fortunately they are understanding of our collective afternoon exhaustion, and let us break for some rest. This evening we went to a famous market in the city called Dilli Haat and I actually thought I was going to pass out.

Expectations – I learned quickly to not have any, i.e., I have to perpetually remind myself that this is INDIA, not AMERICA, and so many things are different here and we have hardly begun to scratch the surface. This moment was solidified for me when staring out the window at the main drag we took to the clinic. I had begun to think “Well this isn’t TOO different from York Road at Timonium or Broadway in Somerville…” And then WE PASSED AN ELEPHANT. It was so aptly timed with my thought process and such a shock that instead of “Oh look everyone, there’s our first of surely many elephant sightings,” I could only manage to point and emit “uuhhahhhhomgomg!” I’m going to take that as a clear sign from above that expectations will get you nowhere in India, and to keep a constant open-mind.

Aurobindu – The guy the Ashram is dedicated too. The reason for the giant sign in the cafeteria that says WASTING FOOD IS A SIN. The guy that apparently did amazing things for the poor in India. We are required to go to a session to learn about him tomorrow. Should be interesting!

Oh, and the girls are cool! We travel by bus from place to place, and so far have tried to switch up the seating a bunch to meet new people. Some know each other from school (like Nisha and myself), others are here and stranger to all. It’s going to be a great group.

More soon – It’s been a long day, and other than the new-ness, nothing too notable to describe in detail.

Breakfast is at 7am, and I can already smell the Chai…

(omg, I’m in India),

Laura

_________

2/3/11

7-8: Breakfast at Ashram

8-9: Introduction to the teachings of Sri Aurobindu

930-1230: Preparing to Live and Study in India by David Peace

1230-1310: Lunch at Ashram

1330-1630: Visit to Raj Ghat (where Gandhi is interred)

1900-2000 Dinner at Ashram

I woke up this morning at 4:30 and tried to coax my EST body back to sleep to no avail. And… I felt sick. I skipped out on breakfast and it fortunately didn’t get any worse, but it was definitely scary and a reminder to be uber cautious and, well, paranoid about not eating the wrong stuff or using the water (this morning I forgot and tossed some grapes into my mouth. Whoops).

Also, it’s still so cold here whenever you’re not in the sun. In the sun, it’s easily 75 or 80. In the shade or at night, it plummets to North Face Fleece weather (so happy I didn’t leave my jacket/warm clothes with Chelsea or ship them home!!). We all were taken by surprise on that one – wasn’t India supposed to be super-hot, all of the time? Not so.

We had a session with an Ashramite this morning that I expected (and I think the program staff expected) to be a talk on Sri Aurobindu (the guy the Ashram is dedicated to) and his life work and mission, and how the Ashram works. Not so – the older man spent about an hour telling us about his entire life philosophy. Probably the coolest part was about the difference between “happiness” and “joy and love” and how true joy and love must be sustained from within… it was… unexpected, and a lot for our early morning ears that were expecting more of a talk about how the Ashram is sustained, but it was cool overall. He offered to tour us around the Ashram another time, and offered more spiritual sessions… I think we’ll be taking him up on the former rather than the latter if we get a chance.

We then had a session with David Peace, a guy from a consulting firm that trains Americans for living in India and Indians for living in America. It was a three-hour long affair, but was extremely helpful for discussing culture shock, politeness, and just general cultural differences. He was a great speaker, and really relate-able (other than the fact that he has lived in India for 15 years) as he has kids our age studying abroad. My parents would have liked him a lot.

The group dynamic was better today, and I spent a lot of time getting to know new people. There are some extremely well-traveled, adventurous people on this trip! Talking to them about their experiences all over the world is making me feel more confident about this experience in Delhi.

We had a quick lunch at the Ashram and then left for Raj Ghat, the final resting place of Mahatma Gandhi, after he was cremated in 1948. Inscribed on the large black marble table above his remains are his parting, final words: “Hey Ram!” which generally translates to “Oh God!” The spot is famous for being the beginning visit for international politicians and dignitaries touring India. It was our first time in central Delhi, and we passed the India Gate as well (iconic for Delhi – like the Eiffel Tower for Paris) and got our first glimpses of downtown.

There were hundreds of schoolchildren at Raj Ghat, and for the first time, we realized what a spectacle we are as eighteen white female students traveling together in a group. About 200 fourth grade girls came up to shake our hands, many pulling out cell phone cameras. Another couple jumped in a group shot of us and had a photographer snap a quick picture. Gotham-ji and Bhavna-ji were quick to dispel the situations we found ourselves in, and it’s not like anything felt dangerous, but it was weird to be interpreted in this way. It took me a while to digest what happened today, and Nisha and I talked about it for a long time tonight. It got me thinking about everything I learned and experienced in and as a part of Race in America this fall. Our “popularity” stemmed directly from the color of our skin and any kind of notion these kids had about white people to begin with. I’m not going to judge others’ reactions to it because none of us had ever seen something like that before or expected anything like it to happen, but I know some of us were really uncomfortable taking pictures with them like so many children were asking us to do. Others were not, and can better see it as harmless. It seems like a question with no real answer: when all of these little kids are holding out their hands and you’re having an internal battle with “cultural tourism,” what do you do? It can be argued that the momentary contact of shaking 18 white girls’ hands or taking a cell phone picture of them brings these kids some kind of happiness, so why wouldn’t you be ok with it, but then again, aren’t we just perpetuating the idea that because of our whiteness, we are somehow “special” or better than they are? Walking away from the incident, one person turned to me and said “now I know how zoo animals feel.” But if we’re snapping photos to show people back home without really getting a chance to know these girls, who are the real “zoo animals?” I’m sure that this will not be an isolated event and this thought process will be revisited.

We got back to the Ashram and I completely passed out. I really need to be better about this napping issue… we’re all on such weird sleeping schedules. Nisha and I woke up right before dinner to Gotham-ji knocking on our door. Whoops.

Nisha, another girl from Tufts named Caroline and I went walking around the Ashram tonight and checked out the Shrine to Aurobindu out back. We spent a while just stretching our legs and taking in the gorgeous Ashram at night.

Tomorrow is our first day at the program center, and hopefully when we’ll be getting our internet cards (they look like USB drives and will provide access wherever there is cell service). We’ll also have our academic orientation.

Thanks for reading!! I can’t wait to hear from people,

Laura

ALSO: If you get a chance, see the film “Gandhi” that came out a few years ago. I watched it on the plane. It’s crazy long (about three hours), but so entertaining, and gives you an incredible look at the life of someone so influential (Dad – you’d really like this). I feel like I only ever thought about Gandhi as such a peaceful figure, but his power and snarky attitude were things I had never attributed to him before. Netflix it!

Europe ---> Asia

Just fyi that I don't know when I'll next be in any sort of communication. I think my next post will be coming at you from Asia! When, I'm not sure...

So I leave you with these words from my mother....:

Via skype:

Me: "so I was asking for recommendations for tapas bars..."

Mom: "TOPLESS BARS?!"

dias cinco/seis

I found out what the flaming alcohol was that I blogged about the other night! Elena from the desk told me that it's a 14th century tradition from the north of Spain meant to ward off "bad spirits and witches." Chelsea and I did not take part, so I supposed any witches/spirits I encounter here on out are no one's fault but my own.

Also, this is an awesome shot my friend Marianna took shortly after I met up with Chelsea at the Renia Sofia the other day. I'm behind the second pillar! These are a bunch of the Tufts/Skidmore in Madrid students.

Chelsea had stuff to do all day yesterday, so I had my run of the town, haha. I had grand plans for being up super early but ended up sleeping in (shocker). I guess I haven't really given myself enough time to relax from all of the crazy walking and touring we've been doing all across the city, and it had taken a little bit of a toll.

I got myself together late and left the Hostal. Gorgeous day in Madrid, but so cold! I grabbed a sandwich from a chain juice bar and walked to the incredible gem that is the Prado. 


"The collection currently comprises around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings, in addition to a large number of works of art and historic documents. At the present time, the Museum is displaying less than 1000 works in the main building, while around 3,100 works are on temporary loan to various museums and official institutions. The remainder are in storage.^[3]"


The idea that they have so many masterpieces that they need to rotate them is pretty incredible. Unfortunately they asked for my passport to confirm that I did indeed live in the US in order to get the student discount even though I had my Tufts ID (bizarre) to I had to fork over the 8 Euros anyway. I learned my lesson about the audioguide from the Renia Sofia though, and unfortunately did not have my iPhone, so let the academic Spanish that surrounded me in the exhibits be my soundtrack del dia.

Unfortunately the tickets for the Renoir exhibit were sold out for the day, but I still got to see so many masterpieces in such a short amount of time! The most notable were definitely Las Meninas (we spent so much time in high school talking about how influential this painting was to.. about every other painting since. The space that is created and all that is going on within in is incredible) and The Nude Maja. There was also this painting that I used for a project once back in the day - a seemingly unfinished nude that is so absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I did not write down the name, figuring she'd be easy to find on the internet. No such luck. I don't even remember the artist. Ho hum.

I then walked around the Retiro, checking out the sights, people watching, and taking pictures. The park used to be for the royal family only back in the day as their private getaway. 

Teletubbies?? Someone's a little behind on what's popular with the youngsters these days... 


The water was used for naval battle enactments for entertainment. I walked around its edges and I bought a bracelet from a woman who I think was an actual gypsy, and had made the bracelets from orange peels (I picked out one without orange peels - that grossed me out a little - some were already a little green, and it wasn't the dye), acai berries, and melon seeds. I had a conversation with her in Spanish that somehow used pretty much all of the Spanish I know in thirty seconds. I then gave up and did the "ingles?" hand gesture I talked about before - you know, the "I'm stupid, sorry," motion. She told me "they NO touch the water!" and i was grateful for the warning - this thing gets wet and I'll be holding a rainbow.


I reset the options on my camera so that the shots are taken with a wider aspect ratio (10:1).

I got an ice cream cone from a vendor and checked out the other sights in the park.

I got a little lost at the end there, but it was still pretty close to my hotel, so a few more turns and I was on the right track.

I got back to my hotel around 7 and met Chelsea online and planned our evening. We went with our friend Amira (another Tufts in Madrid kid) to the same local bar from the other night for tapas and a feast of, you guessed it, meatcheesebreadalcohol. This time with mushrooms too :) We stayed at the bar for a few hours and it got late (they kind of kicked us out.. it was an older crowd that probably doesn't party like the youngsters). We headed back to start the day early Sunday, my last full day in Madrid!

Today we met up and went to el Rastro, the HUGE flea market held every Sunday and every national holiday in Madrid. You could purchase absolutely everything at ridiculously low (even back home standards low) prices. I picked up a few things: some earrings, a pillowcase for a throw (I know I'm supposed to travel light to India but it was 1 Euro and SO COOL!), and a scarf cause even though I'm headed to scarf land, I was freezing, and it's beautiful. Together they were less than $10 USD. And good news! Found a bag. It still smells like a stable (seriously, it kind of reeks) but hopefully that will go away, and it's really gorgeous! If it were any smaller it would not fit my netbook, but hopefully the soft leather will stretch and wear in a bit. Chelsea also got a few pairs of earrings and we walked around for a while just to take it all in.

Next we headed to the Opera metro station to see the palace.

This little girl was really interested in Chelsea's addition to the palace statues.

For lunch we stumbled around in the rain until we found a place that, oh my god, served salad. Green veggies! Yahoo! It was a great lunch and since we had it so late (4pm ish), it felt like we had rented out the whole restaurant to ourselves.

After lunch we walked to Chelsea's homestay where I got to finally meet Manuela, Chelsea's hostmom. Even though I can't speak Spanish and she can't speak English I liked her right away - she just has that "mom" vibe, and was so warm and welcoming even though Chelsea was translating the warm welcome. I know Manuela must be one in a million, but I really really hope that I get a hostmom like her! Living with another family for an extended period of time is something so new and different, and something I have so much hope for to go well.

We came back to the hostal where Chelsea worked on her schoolwork and I packed up my stuff. Unfortunately, this was also when I found out that the laundry service needs at least a day to do laundry and everything was closed tonight, and it is too much of a time squeeze to try to do it tomorrow morning, so I will have to go to India with clothing that doesn't have the Madrid washed off of it just yet. This is a challenge since I packed so little. Fingers crossed that our ashram where we're staying for the first few days has a washing machine! (I know my Mom is cringing reading this).

I know it sounds dumb, but the laundry thing really got to me. I've been so anal about making sure I had everything ready for this trip that the idea that I'm now less prepared that I hoped I would be made me have a moment of panic. Having clean, modest clothing has been stressed by my program as important, and right now most of the things that I have clean are my Delhi "going out clothes." Whoops...

And I guess it isn't just about the laundry... I'm nervous. And excited. And crazy nervous.

I cooled off and Chelsea finished her reading, and we set off in search of one last serving of Brie con Bacon, but to our dismay, it was closed. We got recommendations from Elena (I love you so much Elena) for another place on the top story of a building not too far away.

We took the sketchiest elevators I've ever seen to the top with a bunch of British ladies celebrating one of their birthdays. They asked if we were Spanish... between my tennis shoes and Chelsea's blond hair NOTHING about us says Spanish so we had a good laugh. Chelsea became the translator for their party during the meal as we watched them laughing hysterically as they tried to order from the extremely friendly, jovial Spanish waiter. We got on with them for a while and they asked about our studies, etc. "Well done, girls, well done!!" We were glad we had their approval :)

We had one more meal of... I won't even bother saying it again, because yes, you guessed it. No cheese this time though. And Sangria in huge frozen mugs!

We had a great last meal out in Madrid (for me at least) which is no surprise. We laughed so hard at times during dinner, I think I developed a six-pack. I always have so much fun with Chelsea, and always know that when we hang out I'm guaranteed to be laughing. I'm gonna miss you girl! Have an amazing semester.

What a fantastic way to start out this time abroad. For those of you still reading, thanks for bearing with me through the heavily detailed stuff... my guess is that I won't really be able to do that as much during the semester, so being able to remember my "vacation" visiting Chelsea before India through these entries is a better souvenir from this time than anything euros could buy.

My flight tomorrow to Heathrow is at 2pm, so I'm headed straight to the airport tomorrow. This time tomorrow I'll be on my flight to Delhi!

Love from Europe, soon to be love from Asia,

Laura

Ps: I'll leave you with shots of my hostel room in Madrid. It rocks.