Posts under the ‘India’ category

Well, I have been back in the U.S. for 10 days now. The reverse culture shock hasn’t been as extreme as the initial culture shock upon arrival in India, but it has been noticeable. For me, it’s been quite pleasant over-all. As soon as I walked out of the O’Hare airport I marveled at how clean everything looked and how fresh it all smelled. At this point I literally laughed out-loud. I was standing outside the airport in Chicago, amazed at how PRETTY everything was. Outrageous right? Well, maybe not. That was the beginning of my biggest culture shock on returning home. We, or at least I, had taken all of our country’s natural beauty for granted. The roads seemed wider than I remember, the cars larger, and the buildings taller. Even the simple hanging flowers on the streetlamps in Marquette impressed me. They’re relatively cheap and low maintenance, but it really does add so much beauty to the downtown.

When I arrived home the things that stuck out the most to me was the quiet, calm, and peaceful ambiance that the place held. It was like time had literally slowed down and you could just slow down with it. My heart-rate seemed to drop, stressful thoughts drifted to the back of my mind, and past memories of lovely summers took over in my slightly melancholic mind. India made me feel incredibly alive by forcing me to be aware of everything around me. The hectic environment made my heart race with both excitement and stress…it was fun, but not necessarily relaxing. Coming home has allowed me to both re-cooperate and also to appreciate the beauty of our natural surroundings.

Unfortunately not all shocks were so pleasant. On the negative side were the high prices of most everything, the lack of cultural differentiation, the limited (and quite frankly less comfortable) clothing styles, and the lack of Indian food around. Fingers crossed. There were also some good friends that I left behind in India, that I may or may not ever see again. When I left home, I knew I would see my friends and family again, but leaving India was less certain and that made it a lot harder.

Over-all I enjoyed my Indian summer. I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life, I’ve added to my own personality, experience, and taste, and I’ve come home to see things through fresh eyes. I feel very privileged to live in this country and grateful that my summer in India was able to increase my love for the U.S. while enjoying other various wonders that this world has to offer. I’m also very grateful to everyone that helped to make it possible: USAC Study Abroad, Greta Gustafson and the entire IPS office, the staff at Christ University (especially Jacob and Florence), my aunt Bonny for visiting and traveling with me, my whole family for allowing me to talk and share my experience with them, my boyfriend for attempting to send me packages and waiting up at night to talk with me, and my parents who supported a crazy traveler as much as they could in every way possible.

I was there. I’m back. The next adventure awaits!

Well, I have 3.5 days left in India. That’s not a lot of time! So, how have I been spending it? My roommate made me make a list last week stating all of the things I wanted to do before I left. Eating at our favorite restaurants, browsing our favorite stores, and getting a few last minute items were all on the list. Keeping this list in mind, I completely threw it out the window yesterday and instead went for a walk to the mall closest to me. (One mile!) A peaceful 20 min. stroll past all of the familiar landmarks, with a grand destination in mind: Cafe Coffee Day.

I sat down at the coffee shop where I frequent a few times a week and just observed the things around me. My first thought while grabbing a table was to wonder if anyone would be joining me this day. I have found that in the past that about 75% of the time, some stranger will sit down and initiate a conversation with me, if I am alone. This was not the case on this particular visit, but thinking back on the acquaintances I did make, made me smile. I also asked myself if perhaps I blended in so well now, that those around me no longer saw me as the interesting foreigner anymore, but just another one of their own. It’s unlikely of course that this was truly the case, but it was a pleasant thought regardless.

Sitting there I looked out at the rest of the mall and tried to compare what I saw then to what I had seen the first time I walked in. The stores were all the same and the decor as well, but it seemed to me that the people had changed. I think more accurately that my perception of the people had changed. I remember feeling so out of place, even in such a modern and upscale place, that very first day. I felt like I stood out and everyone around me was so….Indian! When I looked around me yesterday though, over two months since my arrival, I saw business professionals, families, stylish girls, cute couples, and many foreigners. I don’t know if there just happened to be more of them (of us) that day, or if I finally noticed how many there really were. One particular group of foreigners stuck out to me as they crossed the mall and sat down in the coffee shop. A group of women. A family. It looked to me to be a grandmother, mother, and three daughters. Perhaps they were cousins or friends, but they all looked alike. They weren’t American, I could tell by their accents, but I wasn’t sure where they were from either. They looked happy, tired, and very touristy. The woman I labeled mother was wearing robins’ egg blue capris and a top that matched. Both as tight as you can imagine. The daughters were wearing shorts and skirts. I smiled at their clothes and their own obvious joy at being there together. While I don’t think they ever noticed me, I felt in a way that I was passing the torch on to them so-to-speak. Mentally saying that my journey is done here and theirs is just starting. How quickly they’ll learn, I’m sure, as everyone does that India is a crazy and wonderful place that can really change people.

I still have people asking me if I’m ready to leave, if I’m excited to go home, and if I’ll miss India. I have yet to find a concrete answer to any of these questions. ‘Yes and No’ is what I usually say. The truth is, I don’t think anyone is ever 100% ready for change in life. It’s a difficult thing, change. I myself am also yearning for it, but the process can be so uncomfortable sometimes. The present is known, all of its’ blessings and flaws, and changing it can be a rewarding yet dangerous prospect. I feel like I adjusted quickly to India, but needed more time to call it home. It has become comfortable for me lately and comfort is always hard to leave behind.

Home can be quite comfortable as well though, and I am indeed excited to return. I’ve always felt that the best part of any trip, of any length, is returning safely to the known. ‘Home’ changes too of course, but I find that the mere title and the emotions behind it, have a stability that I find peacefully relaxing after the stresses of constant excitement. I am glad that I came, I am preparing to leave, I am excited to go home, I will miss India, and I am always looking forward to my next adventure!

So this past weekend I took my 3rd and final trip to Mysore, a city in Karnataka just a few hours south of Bangalore. It was potentially my last out-of-town trip for my summer in India as well. Bitter sweet Luckily for me, it was an amazing trip. It was actually provided through USAC and stopped at a few other great places along the way. The first stop was Shravanabelagola- a city South of Bangalore. Its’ real significance lies in the fact that it is a Jain pilgrimage center, because of the huge 57 foot tall monolithic statue on top of the mountain. The statue is of Gommateshwara Bhagawan Bahubali and was created in 987 A.D. There were 400 steps up the mountain to see the statue, which I wasn’t too sure was worth that much effort, but the views from the top were incredible!

The next stop of the weekend was Halebidu, where I visited a Shiva (Hindu god of destruction) temple. The temple was built in the 16th century during the Hoysala Empire and boasts some of India’s best Hindu art. It is actually two temples on one site, because there was a temple built for the King and a temple built for the Queen. Each one has a star shaped base that is unique to the Hoysala Empire period of construction.

After leaving the Shiva temple we drove 15 minutes to a Vishnu temple in Belur called Chenakeshava. It took just over 100 years to build (less than the temple in Halebidu) and was built during the same Hoysala Empire. This means that although the temples are in honor of different gods there are still many architectural similarities. For example, Chenakeshava also has a star shaped base and both temples were carved of soap stone which is soft when it comes out of the ground but hardens with time and exposure.

In Mysore I visited St. Philomena’s church and Chamundi Hills, but my favorite place was the palace. The Mysore palace was built in the Indo-Saracenic style between 1897 and 1912. It was designed by an English architect and is still used as a residence by the prince of Mysore today. (A title with no political power.) I was not allowed to bring a camera on the tour so I’m afraid that I have no pictures of the beautiful place. There were ceilings that had 24kt gold gilding, huge doors of intricately carved wood, domes of incredible stained glass, and enough paintings to fill a small museum. Overall I was very impressed and quite happy to be walking around the place. Before leaving the palace grounds I rode an elephant and a camel. I also had a monkey sit on my head. All for a total price of around $3 U.S. Life can be so sweet sometimes!

I find myself struggling to figure out what topic to write my next article on. I haven’t done anything terribly exciting lately that I can recollect. I haven’t been on any weekend or day trips and I haven’t seen any sights that feel unfamiliar. I have a rather slow and set routine these days that would bore most readers I think. So, I find myself wondering what, if anything, about my day-to-day living would be interesting to others.

Still stumped, I stopped thinking about writing and instead thought about what I’d be doing if I were at home. Probably reading outside or in my bedroom was my first thought and I do that here all the time. A book is a book anywhere in the world. I suppose that could be part of the beauty of them. I could list off the books I’ve read while here, but that’s not saying anything about India. (Except of course that they’re much cheaper here!) So, I continued thinking and the next thing that popped into my head was food-grilling to be specific. Just like that, I knew what I was going to write about.

Well, just last week I had a mighty craving for some grilled food. A bratwurst or hamburger. Maybe even some scalped potatoes. This led me to a supermarket up the street where I purchased a tiny little fold-up grill. Now, grilling is a fairly common summer event at home, but not here. Finding that grill was more luck than anything else and it works fine enough once it’s started, but getting it going is a whole other story altogether. First off, it took me a few days to track down some charcoal. When I found it, it wasn’t at a store either…it was right under my nose the whole time.

At the steps of my apartment building there are some men that will wash, dry, and iron your clothes for a fairly nominal fee. (I’ve used their services once or twice when I was too lazy to wash my clothes by hand or too impatient to wait 3-4 hours for the washing machine.) They do it all by hand though, so they don’t use electricity. For the irons, gigantic heavy metal things, they fill them with coal to keep them hot.

I bought 3-4 giant fistfuls of this coal, wrapped up nicely in newspaper, for 10 rupees or about $0.20. Now, they don’t use any starter fluid here, so I had to ask how to light it. I found out that what they do is wrap the coal with a candle in a piece of cloth. This seemed simple enough to me and I figured that it should be pretty easy if they do it multiple times a day, every day. (I was wrong of course.) I didn’t have any cloth that I was willing to burn, but I have plenty of candles on account of the power being off just as often as it’s on it would seem. (The power is off even as I write this.) So, I took some coal, which happens to be a bit different than how we’d find it at home and put it into the grill. The coal here is in very thin chips of all different shapes and sizes and has a different smell to it as well. Not revolting, but quite strong. I think the thinness of it is suppose to help with lighting it, but I still struggled. I placed three little candles in with the coal and after about 45 minutes and a small mountain of matches, a few pieces stayed burning. At this point I was so tired of it that my victory was a bit muffled by impatience and annoyance.

I ended up grilling an apple with walnuts and cinnamon. It wasn’t what I had been craving, but it was simple and cheap to make. (Very important things when you’re living like I am.) It tasted quite good, but I think I’ll leave off grilling until I get back home. Turning on the gas grill is easier, quicker, and cleaner. Now, I bet everyone’s in the mood for a steak or burger right about now, so go ahead and turn on that grill for supper…just be grateful that you don’t need any candles to do it! : )

A class here at Christ University is a bit different than a class at Tech. First of all, getting through the gate (yes, it’s gated) is a much harder task. The dress code here is very specific and every day students have their entry barred. They are told to go home and change. The security guards are quite serious about upholding the dress code. Women must wear the traditional Salwar Kameez or Sarees and men must wear dress shirts and dress pants (ties are optional). No T-shirts, jeans, bare shoulders, or skirts.

Once you enter, there are additional rules: no listening to iPods (having headphones in) on campus, no sitting on any steps, no smoking (if you are a smoker), and a few other regulations to keep everything neat and orderly. In spite of all of these rules that I’m not use to, I find campus to be quite a nice place. It’s a little haven in a big city. Something quite important for a small-town girl like myself.

The roads and paths on campus are all tree-lined, so upon entering the gate you immediately notice a temperature drop. The shade can be such a relief on a hot day (most days)! Everything is kept very clean as well. There are garbage cans everywhere, and they’re in the shape of animals! It’s definitely a sight to see, but the message is clearly a good one: “We value our campus and wish to keep it beautiful.”

The students are all well-educated and from middle to upper-class families. This may not seem like an important detail at first, but it truly is; the more educated the Indian, the less they tend to stare at foreigners! This apparent lack of interest in my skin tone and/or origins can be so refreshing after walking the streets all day, haggling with shop keepers that are under the impression your pockets are bottomless. All of the students also have a perfect understanding of the English language, so communicating becomes a less arduous task. Now, any one of these benefits probably wouldn’t make the campus seem too terribly wonderful to me, but when you put them all together, I practically sigh with contentment.

So, back to classes. I am in separate classes as part of the USAC study abroad group, so I do not have any regular classes with Indian students. The classrooms used though are certainly different than those at Tech. First of all they are very small. The university itself is much smaller, so I’m sure that is a contributing factor. Also, the desks are not like our table-chair method at home, but more of a ‘prairie’ style. Benches that are connected to wooden desktops. They are surprisingly comfortable! A distinguishing factor for any Tech student would be the technology used. Some classrooms have projectors, so PowerPoint can be used, but many do not. Additionally, the chalkboards are all still literally chalk, and not the marker boards that we are accustomed to.

The most significant difference in classes, I feel, is the teaching style. Here at Christ University (and India as a whole I believe), professors simply lecture. There is no group work or class discussion. The teacher may ask a question concerning the homework or a past lecture, but he/she will call on someone to answer it. Everyone is expected to be able to answer every question, so forgetting to do the reading is not really an option. For the most part, it seems that both instructors and students take their classes much more seriously here. Education is highly valued and you do not go to college simply because that’s what everyone does.

So, I will try to keep the Indian spirit in mind while studying and doing my homework. I will try harder to appreciate my education, instead of daydreaming about the places I could be traveling in India. I will also try to keep in mind how much I appreciate the quiet, clean, calm of campus.

This past week has been a restful one for me. I’ve spent my time reading a handful of books, talking with friends, eating good food, and other lazy activities. It’s been delightful. I’ve found that I have come to a point now in my time here that I am not quite ready to go home, but I am thinking about it more than I originally did. I bought some peanut butter at a store that imports foreign food while traveling in Chennai and I have been using that to make peanut butter toast in the morning and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well. I also gave into my craving for macaroni and cheese and made one of the two boxes that I had brought with me from home. It was absolutely divine. Now if I could just get to a hamburger place in the next few days all of my cravings would be satiated…for the time being anyways!

So, apart from my personal observations of the onset to homesickness (or the next step in the relocation transition curve) I should mention some of the changes that are happening here in India. First, as many may or may not have heard, India legalized homosexuality last week. That seems like such an odd phrase for me to type out, but it is the correct term. Up until this past week, homosexuality was illegal and punishable here. I’ve heard many people talk about how it looks like there are large gay communities because of all of the male hand-holding and hugging, but that is not the case. In fact, men were free to be as affectionate towards each other as they pleased, because they had no fear of being mistaken for a same-sex couple. It will be interesting to see if over the next few years or decades this hand-holding and hugging ceases. I think it would be a shame, for as odd as it might seem to a ‘Westerner’ at first, the idea behind it is good and pure. The young men here are free to express their affection for their friends without wondering/worrying how it appears to those around them. Apart from that possible cultural loss, this definitely seems like a good thing to me. I am American enough to believe that everyone should have the freedom to live and love, regardless of the country or culture they reside in.

Another important change that is affecting both the Indian population and myself, would be the lack of rain water. The monsoon still has not come to Bangalore and its affects can be seen in a variety of places. The largest impact is on electricity. Much of Bangalore electricity is produced by dams, and without the water, they are failing. The power goes out in my apartment multiple times everyday, and the length of the outages are increasing. Two nights ago, the power was off for 17 hours with a 2 hour respite in-between. I’ve been told that if the rains do not start soon, we will be without water and power on a permanent basis. (A very scary thought for such a large city…and an American girl living there!)

The last major observation that I have recently made is that the gas prices have significantly increased here over the past few weeks. This means that rates are going up everywhere. Not just taxis but restaurants as well. As a temporary resident that will be leaving in a month, I do not foresee this as being too problematic for myself, but for the general population this is a big thing. Remember when our gas prices skyrocketed? People bought cars with better gas mileage, new running shoes, and even dusted off the old bicycles. I’m sure changes to the same effect will take place here, but unfortunately for Bangaloreans most of the things that were done in the U.S. are already normally done here. I’m not sure then, what exactly they will do, but I suppose that if I’m observant enough I will find out in due time.

Well, back on a more personal note, the second session of classes has begun for me today. I have ‘Art and Architecture’ in just a few hours. The class should be wonderful and I’m quite excited to get to know the new students better. The second session students just arrived a few days ago, so I’m still working on names, but I think we’ll all get along just fine. So, I suppose, I better start getting ready!

My trip up to the north of India with my aunt took me to many cool places and fun experiences, but it was not without its troubles. Along the way we experienced many setbacks and delays due to health and, in my opinion, a bout of general bad luck. So, because my last article was about the differences between Delhi and Bangalore, I think it would be right to continue the story by telling you how the rest of the trip went.

We left Delhi by train. We struggled for some time to locate the correct platform, and upon finding it, we climbed aboard. Unfortunately we climbed aboard the wrong car, so with people coming in and out from both directions we had to force our way through with all of our luggage only to reemerge outside the car alive and whole if not entirely happy. We moved onto the next car and found our seats next to a nice elderly couple. There was plenty of room even if the seats couldn’t have been any harder. The bullet hole in the window pane that had made a spider-web of the glass was a bit disconcerting, but easily ignored with the curtains shut and my iPod on. It was a stressful endeavor, but ended fine and as the old saying goes: “all’s well that ends well.”

So, we climbed out of the train in Agra and upon stepping onto the platform we were immediately greeted by taxi and rickshaw drivers touting us for business. I told the first guy to get lost in Hindi (a sentence I’ve become rather good at in my own opinion) but it was to no avail. We were followed all the way to the doors and beyond. My aunt had tried to explain to the one most pesky fellow that we would not be securing his services under any condition, but he was relentless. I climbed over some obstacles to reach the pre-paid taxi stand and told him our destination hotel, only to have the same pesky fellow demand that the stand worker write down HIS rickshaw number on my slip. I was furious! I took the slip of paper and walked back to my aunt where she had found a nice quiet taxi driver to give us a ride. The other fellow was still demanding that we go with him as the paper had his number on it. This was about the time when all of the days stress had become a weight heavy enough to break through my earnest attempt at being calm and polite. I told him in no unsure terms that I would rather throw away the money I had spent on the pre-paid slip than give it to him! We climbed into our taxi and, feeling slightly childish and smug, I waived goodbye to that insufferable man with that little pink slip in my hand.

We spent the night in a very modest hotel room that was located a short distance from the Taj Mahal-our main destination in Agra. We hired our taxi driver to chauffeur us around the city the next day, and he arrived at six in the morning to bring us to the Taj. I had some troubles getting in. First, I had to pay the tourist price as they rejected my resident papers by saying that the pricing was for INDIANS or tourists, not merely residents. I grumbled, I lived. Then we went through security, where of all things, they confiscated my flashlight. My camera, my phone, and everything else in my purse was fine, but the flashlight was not allowed near the Taj. I was confused and annoyed, which quickly led to furious, but I handed over the flashlight and we continued ever closer to our goal. As we walked through the gate to finally see the Taj, a man demanded I pay the 250 rupees to take in my video camera or lock it up in his lockers. I gave him the camera and told him that I hadn’t even been able to get it to take videos lately so it shouldn’t be a problem, but he was not in a caring mood. I refused to pay money for videos I couldn’t take though, so I handed him the camera and walked through the gate hoping that the awe of being there would ease my righteously angered mind. Unfortunately I can’t say that it did entirely. I did enjoy myself, it was beautiful, and it was impressive, but after walking around it for awhile I was ready to go get breakfast and take a nap. (Which is exactly what I did!)

Breakfast was at a charming blue and white hotel/restaurant combo called the Maya. Later we found out that a German-Jewish woman and her Indian husband owned it, which is why the entire thing was coated in Star of Davids’ and the color blue and white. The restaurant was so cute and the food so good, that we decided to stay in that hotel for the night. We checked in right away (must have been 9:30 a.m.) and I took a nap. My aunt did some more touring of the city and later we both did some shopping. We had the Saree material we bought in Delhi made for us (blouses and underskirts) and my aunt wore hers the very next day. This was the cause of a very cute experience, as a group of ladies had come in to another saree shop we were in and saw my aunt all dressed up. They were so pleased by the fact that she was trying to wear it that they took the liberty of re-wrapping her, so that she was perfectly dressed. It was humorous and enjoyable for everyone, and one of my aunts’ favorite experiences in India I’d wager.

Our next destination was Jaipur, also by train. The hotel we were staying at was under heavy construction, but the room was very comfortable and the price was unbeatable. We had some plans for sightseeing, but they were all cast aside when my aunt got sick. Hoping it would pass and she would feel better, we didn’t stray too far from the hotel. The following day she felt worse though, so she ended up calling her friend that is a Doctor back home to see what she should do. It ended up being that she was simply severely dehydrated and although she felt like dying, all she need was some electrolytes. I set out for a pharmacy, found the electrolytes, and 24 hours later she was feeling good again. Disaster averted, we got on a plane for Chennai.

In Chennai we went to a very nice hotel that we realized later, was not near anything else we needed/wanted. The room was by far the loveliest we had stayed in, and the manager was very helpful, but there was not an internet cafe within 15 minutes. There was not any restaurants or shopping centers that we could easily walk to either. Inconvenience would be the title of our stay in Chennai. We hired a driver for half a day and saw quite a few things, the most impressive of which was Saint Thomas’ Basilica.

We were having a good time in Chennai, especially as we had found a store that sold many imported US foods, and I bought such things as Skippy peanut butter and ritz crackers. Once again though, travel is never without its difficulties. As we planned to leave the next day, we found all of the trains to Bangalore to be completely booked. We ended up coming to the conclusion that we would fly, but by then, we had to wait until morning. So, after our second night in Chennai we woke up trying to secure a plane ride out. It was not to happen. There were problems with the website, there were problems with the computer, there were problems with the credit card, and finally when all of the problems should have been exhausted the airlines would not let us book a flight with a departure so soon. Thus, we stayed another night in Chennai. My aunt decided that Chennai was like the song ‘Hotel California,’ with the lyrics “you can check in, but you can never leave.”

The one good thing about staying that extra day in Chennai was that I was able to get to a shopping center with internet access, where I received an e-mail from my father telling my that my cell phone bill was over $1000! At this point, I was exhausted of traveling and desperately needed to get back to my apartment in Bangalore, where it seemed the world made more sense and life was simply easier.

We boarded the plane on time and arrived in Bangalore. My spirits were soaring! (Until we got to the taxi stand of course) this was the point were India is always India, even if one town feels more like home. After shelling out a ridiculous amount of cash and driving for an hour we arrived at my flat. We promptly rushed the elevator with all of our bags and headed up to the third floor (fourth floor in the U.S.) except we never arrived. Standing in the tiny elevator with all of our stuff, the power went out. It was pitch black, but I pulled out my flashlight (collected from the security guard at the Taj on the way out) and we pried open the first set of doors. My aunt found a release switch for the second set and we looked out the doors to realize that the elevator had stopped in-between floors. We made the 3 foot jump down, gathered our bags, and walked up the last flight to my flat.

I wish I could say that was the fullest extent of my adventures, but it was not. When the power came back on at ten in the evening, I used Skype to call AT&T about my bill. After some time on the phone we came to the conclusion that my sim card had been stolen. (Rather, I dropped it at the airport on the way to Delhi and someone had picked it up and was using it.) An hour and a half later my theft report was filed and I was told that I should not have to worry about the $2000-$3000 bill that this person had racked up. Finally I was free. I went to bed exhausted at one in the morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, even if there was a whole lot of stress involved, and I am quite pleased to be sitting at my own computer in my apartment writing out the story now. I’m pretty sure today is gonna be a great day…I am in India after all!

I have been living in Bangalore for just over a month now, and calling it my temporary home most of the time. This past weekend, I traveled to Delhi in north India to meet my aunt. Shortly after arriving there I began to refer to Bangalore as home, making statements such as “our autos at home are yellow and black, not yellow and green.” It may seem like a rather harmless thing to say, but actually suggested two important facts. First, that I have become familiar enough with Bangalore to feel comfortable and base my norms of India off of that and secondly, that I am referring to myself as a real resident of Bangalore. It is no longer ‘them’ or ‘us’, but ‘we.’ I even used this new found sense of belonging to buy myself a ticket at the resident price rather than the tourist price. Shockingly enough, I think I surprised myself rather than the ticket teller, with the nerve it took to do so.

Apart from my own personal changes and growth that have taken place since my arrival in late May, I have noticed a whole plethora of differences between North and South India these past few days. Some differences are small and virtually meaningless, such as the color of the auto rickshaws or the flavors of juice you can buy in a stand on the road. Other differences seem monumental in comparison, such as the color and dress of the residents. I noticed almost immediately that North Indians are in general much fairer skinned than their Southern cousins. I have also noticed that the people here tend to be a bit bigger, both in height and girth. Not necessarily over-weight, but not quite so shockingly thin. Another difference that took me a bit longer to gather was the dress here. Possibly it’s just because we’re still in the middle of the city, but the clothing is much more ‘western’ for women here. While walking around, I’ve only seen a few women wearing Salwars and even less wearing Sarees (Sari.) The majority are wearing ‘western’ clothes or a hybrid interpretation of western and Indian. In Bangalore, only the younger girls will wear jeans and tee-shirts, and certainly not all of the younger girls either. You blend in better wearing Indian clothes in Bangalore, but I feel like it looks like I’m trying too hard here in Delhi. Perhaps when we continue our travels to Agra and onwards, I will see that some of these observations are simply that of a specific city and not the region.

Some other noteworthy differences between the two cities: cycle rickshaws, horses, shopping centers, and the opening/closing of restaurants/stores. There are no cycle rickshaws in Bangalore, so that was a different experience for me to climb up in one and hold on tight while the diver navigated potholes and such. There are many more horses in Delhi as well and they are what I would consider normal healthy horses. In Bangalore there are very few horses and most are a tiny thin type that would be considered ponies by traditional measurement. Shopping here has been more of a market style with stores acting as stalls or even like our outdoor outlet malls in downstate Michigan. I have found most of the shopping in Bangalore to be done in a mall-fashion or like that of a commerce street; one road with many stores. Timing is different here as we struggled to find breakfast this morning. We ended up eating at McDonalds, because most restaurants (and stores for that matter) do not open until noon. Some stores will open at ten a.m., but the majority open around noon.

Overall I am enjoying my observations and comparisons between north and south. I am more comfortable in the south, but I think that it could have easily gone the other way, had I first become acclimated to Delhi. The heat here though . . . well that’s another story altogether! Speaking of which, I think I shall leave this internet café and take a minutes respite in my air-conditioned hotel room.

This past weekend was wonderful for me, apart from a bit of flu that I have picked up. Leaving Bangalore with a group of ten other students (French, German, and Americans) I went to the now familiar bus stop and was off to Mysore once again. At the bus station we picked up a solo traveler, a French woman named Karen, and made our group a lovely dozen. Chattering away, the three-hour bus ride passed uneventful, and we arrived in Mysore in good spirits. It was decided prior to leaving that we would rent a van to continue our trip, instead of worrying about other buses and such. We procured such a van, with a very amiable driver, and that is where the real fun began. It was more of a mini-bus than a van, and became known as the party bus, not because of wild behavior but because the driver had tons of Indian music videos that he played at top volume during the drive.

From Mysore, we headed to Kushinagar. Our goal: The elephant reserve. (I have included a picture of myself hugging the trunk of one of the elephants.) It was a very cool experience. First, we had to raft across the water to get to the elephants, and then once there I (like most of the others) was amazed at being close to these incredible animals outside of a zoo or circus. Their skin has a very unique texture that I have never felt before and is hard to even explain. One of the girls had made the comment that she would like to have an elephant in her back yard. Without thinking, most of us agreed instantly. Another girl has the same affliction as I do, the need to think about things in-depth though, so we then set about discussing the realities of such a thing. For instance, food would be an enormous expense and elephants are herd animals so you could never own just one. They can also live to be eighty, which would be one huge commitment. Some people don’t live that long- could you imagine including an elephant in your inheritance!?!? Unfortunately I think I will have to settle for the miniature silver elephant I purchased at a trinket store the other day.

After we left the reserve, we headed out to trek through the jungle. I did not participate as I was feeling atrocious, but I saw the pictures and it looked amazing. The group saw a lot of monkeys as well as other animals and even crossed a rope-swing bridge. If I had not been asleep in the van, I’m sure I would have loved it!

We then spent the night at Rajavillas, where we rented two house-type of dwellings. They were very colorful and cute. The place also had an outdoor restaurant where we sat in the evening and had a bonfire. There was a large family gathering there of Chinese and Indians as a wedding had just taken place, so we danced with the other group and had an all-around good night. In the morning we laid around in hammocks and had bread omlettes (more common in India than plain omlettes) Basically the eggs are cooked and then just draped over a piece of bread. Simple and delicious! : ) We were also served chai and coffee (India style) before departing.

The rest of the trip was just driving, saying farewell to Karen and our driver- both of whom we had become quite attached to, and catching a bus back to Bangalore. The bus ride was hilarious as we played common games from our childhoods to help pass the time. It seems that regardless of where we go, there are good times to be had. I am constantly grateful to have such a wonderful and diverse group to travel with. Even when I was feeling a bit under, there were still laughs aplenty. Just this morning I was talking with a fellow student and observed that while in India I have experienced happiness despite illness- what a wonderful and valuable lesson to learn! I’m ready to be at full steam again though haha, so hopefully I will let you know in my next article how wonderfully healthy I’m feeling!!!

I spent just over $4.00 for a bus ticket to Mysore, a small city in the South of Karnataka, India. The city is well known for it’s spectacular palace and its fabulous silk production, but I was not on my way to see either. In fact, I wasn’t on my way to Mysore at all, it was merely a stop along the way.

Friday afternoon a group of six other US students and I went to the bus station closest to us in Bangalore and boarded a bus to Mysore in hopes of seeing a wildlife reserve in Wayanad, Kerala on Saturday. With seven foreign students, smaller towns, and nothing planned in advance it turned out to be a weekend full of adventure!

The bus ride to Mysore was very pleasant. We rode in a nice air-conditioned coach the likes of which we might have rode in if traveling in the US. We all stared out the windows hungrily, feasting on the various sites along the way. Everyone was in good spirits and disappointment was impossible. We saw fields being plowed by bulls, carts pulled by horses, camels grazing, shepherds and their flocks, small temples, large temples, huts, and gorgeous homes. The most beautiful sites I saw, and plentiful as well, were open fields, trees, and mountains. I could not tell from walking around Bangalore, but India is a truly beautiful country…when you can actually see it!

The bus ride was a bit longer than we had anticipated, but we were still cheerful and climbed out of it already looking for the next bus. Glancing around us, we began to realize the enormity of the situation. We were in a smaller town where fewer people spoke English and still less spoke it in a way that we could understand. Communication was definitely an obstacle for us, but we were determined, so we kept walking around asking people where we could buy tickets. We were given the impression that tickets could be bought once the bus was boarded, so we were feeling good about that, but we still didn’t know where to pick up the next bus or when it would arrive. The more we asked, the more answers we were given. Different answers. “Uh oh!” We decided to spend the night in Mysore and storm the bus station with fresh batteries in the morning.

We walked around to a few hotels, checking out the way the rooms looked and comparing prices. We ended up staying in a very nice hotel and I shared a room with another girl for a cost of about $22 each. We ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and went for a walk around the town. Some people wanted to find a bar and have a beer, but we quickly found out that bars in small towns are much different than in Bangalore. The few we found were tiny hole-in-the-wall kind of places with working class men. Only men. The minute we appeared in front, everyone stared out the door to see what we were going to do . . . needless to say we moved on! We went to another restaurant at a different hotel and spent a few hours chatting there. Everyone was very friendly and helpful.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to the bus station. We lucked out and found someone that understood where we wanted to go. They helped us out by pointing out the right bus when it showed up, so after an hour of waiting we piled onto a much smaller economy-style bus. There was no air-conditioning, but none of us minded much as the windows were all open and we were able to ‘feel’ India as well as see it as we drove by. People piled on as the ride continued and we got to sit by a variety of strangers, but the most uncomfortable part of the ride was when it started to rain and metal shutters were pulled down over the windows. I had gone from ‘feeling’ India to being trapped in an over-crowed metal cage that vaguely resembled a garbage can. I wanted to throw a fit like a child, but I settled for silent pouting instead.

We ended up staying in a very nice hotel again in the Wayanad district, and spent the night walking around the town. Once again everyone was very nice, but also super curious. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that most of the people we passed literally stopped in the street and just stared. Many people said hello, which may be common in the US but is a rarity here in India when you have not already been acquainted with the person. Apart from the rain, which had become an eighth travel companion, we were having a good time. I had brought a deck of Phase 10 cards with me from home, and spent the night teaching my fellow travelers how to play. I went to bed exhausted, but happy . . . even after I peeled my wet clothes off to find that the scarlet dye in my outfit had stained my skin pink!

We woke up at 5:00 a.m. and walked along the street until we found a coffee stall. Restaurants do not open until 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. so we drank our coffee and walked back to the hotel to call a cab. Unfortunately we forgot that it was now Sunday and the reserve did not open until 7:30 a.m. so we had to wait awhile. The wait was not too long though, and we headed out in the back of a very neat little jeep-like vehicle. After paying 100 rupees (20 times that of the Indian resident rate, but still only about $2 US) we piled back into the jeep that picked us up and headed out into the reserve. We ended up seeing a very pretty species of deer, razor-back boar, and elephants. There were many other animals on the reserve (even tigers) but a combination of rain, noise, and staying on the roads limited the ones we could see. To me, it was worth going to see the elephants alone, so we packed up and headed home tired and satisfied.

The trip back took 9 hours total, but was not too terribly adventurous apart from the blown out tire we experienced 40 kilometers outside of Bangalore. The bus pulled over and we scrambled out while the conductor flagged down passing buses. Most were already full, so only a few people at a time could get on, but eventually everyone found a bus and continued their trip back. Arriving in Bangalore many of us exclaimed how good it was to be home, even if we preferred the countryside to the huge mass that is Bangalore. Climbing into an auto rickshaw (auto) I laughed to myself thinking about how quickly a home away from home can be acquired. As I unlocked the door to my apartment, which is not nearly as nice as the hotels we had stayed in, I felt the familiar sense of relief that comes with ending a vacation and returning home. I may only be here for a short while, and enjoy my return back to Michigan when it comes, but for now I am home.