Leaving for the South!

In approximately 5 hours, I will be leaving for the airport to catch a plane to Chennai (Madras). This will be the beginning of the two week university vacation as well as the beginning of my two week vacation in the south of India. I am very excited. here is the list of places we ware going to go (hopefully spelled correctly) so that you can follow along on Google Earth if you want (cough cough... Dad):

Chennai, Mamalapurram, Pondicherry, Kanyalumari, Varkala, Kollam (where we will do a houseboat tour of the back waters of Kerala), Chochi, then up to Goa, and Mumbai (Bombay).

I think it is going to be very nice. If nothing else, I will finally get to see the ocean again. I really miss seeing it! Also, the weather has been cooling down (and by that I mean that it is maybe 88 degrees rather than mid to lower 90's). Hopefully it will be the same in the south. I will try and keep some blog updates as we travel but I will not be uploading any pictures until I get back so my verbal drooling will have to suffice for description.

Very excited!

Not Just a Book

One of my least favorite classes is art history. It is not that the class itself is bad, it is just that I have discovered I just don’t like art history. It doesn’t capture my attention. But yesterday was one of the coolest days ever.

I went to class like normal, not expecting much. We were going to have the manuscripts lecture. I was marginally excited about this topic because I have always liked books and illuminated Bibles, Korans, etc. But I was just expecting more slides and a half-interesting lecture. But instead of walking into the lecture room, we were led into the manuscripts department. There was this old man sitting at a big table with maybe half a dozen or so book. If you want to picture this man, just think of an old man who looks like he had been dealing with manuscripts all his life. We all sat down around this big table beginning to realize how cool this was going to be.

In front of us, he showed books that were anywhere from 300-1300 years old. The first book he showed to us was one of the earliest surviving copies of the Koran. It was written on deer hide and was kept in a padded box. But then he started going through all kinds of books. He mainly focused on Mughal illuminated Korans and histories. The books had original Mughal miniature paintings. These books were 400 years old and absolutely beautiful. We were looking at some of the most famous Mughal miniatures in front of us. He even let us touch the pages (we were stunned at this… in fact we were stunned by how he wasn’t using latex gloves and how he non-chalantly flipped through the pages with his thumb and not tweezers).

But these books were amazing. They were painted by the equvilant of India’s renaissance masters. The paints themselves were gold or powder versions of semi-precious stones. It was amazing. And the detail was phenomenal. The faces of the characters looked like an old photo. Look at this link for an idea of the Mughal miniature (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_catalogs/Term_00026023_en?lang=en).

It may sound lame, but it was awesome. It was like Celtic manuscripts or medieval European Psalters. I really enjoyed it.

Things I Love

So I realised the other day that many of the things I have written about in my blog may seem quite negative. In order to clarify, I am really beginning to love living here. Honestly, it has taken a while. India can be a really hard place to live in if you don't know some of the 'rules' of society. So I thought I would give some of the things that I love about India:

1) FOOD! I love the really good, really cheap food that I can find just about anywhere. I love getting chana masala or thali plates with malai kofta, dal, curd, rice, and nan. Oh and nan! How I love nan. It is like the bread that just keeps on giving. And then there is pretty much anything made with potatoes: aloo mutter, allo puri, etc. And the paneer dishes? Mmmmmm...

2) The community in which i work. i love the kids, the people in the community, and the man I work with (Marang). It is one of those things where i constantly am thinking about all the people I know there. I love thinking about conversations I have had or stories told.

3) Dilip Menon. Dilip Menon is my professor at Delhi University. He is an amazing guy. He is incredibly smart and I love hearing him lecture. The class is "The Rise of British Power" and deals with the East India Company from its inception to the Mutiny of 1857. It is very interesting both learning the history and hearing him interject philosophical theory into his history lessons. It makes on see how all the intellectual history I have had can be applied.

4) My roommates. The EAP students I am living with are unbelievably cool. I love hanging out with them in the kitchen and talking about our common experiences in India. We also talk to about all kinds of things though, not just India. From politics, to relationships (or lack thereof for many) to ideas to music to anything one can imagine. It is a terribly fascinating group to be with especially in the midst of our collective Indian adventures.

5) SETTLERS! I brought Settlers of Catan, a board game, from home to India and it is easily the best comfort thing I brought from the USA. I play with a group of 5 other people and we love it. Before I had to get up early (ie before I was volunteering), it was not uncommon for several of us to play until 2 or 3 in the morning. And I really have a blast... we are all such nerds.

6) Traveling. Traveling in India is wonderful. First of all it is entirely too cheap. I mean i feel like I am seeing another country, another world really, for so cheap. I mean the trip to Varanasi for a weekend totaled to about $35. You can't beat that. And secondly, the places I am visiting are ridiculously cool. Jodhpur, for example, was basically like the movie Aladdin. I was just waiting for the flying carpet. Or Yamunotri. I was in the Himalayas looking at some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever scene. There is something all to wonderful and exotic, even still, about traveling in India.

7) Getting India. While I don't feel I know the ins and outs of India, its politics, and its culture, I do feel that I am beginning to be able to function normally in this country. I feel less surprised by things (minus kids peeing on the train floor) and no longer am just bewildered by everything. I feel like I can keep up and even contribute a little to the mass chaos that is Delhi.

8) Delhi. Delhi is a great city. It is very cosmopolitan in some senses but in other senses it is a world away. I love going to Chawri Bazaar and walking to Karin's for dinner. I love taking the metro and not having to look at the map to see which stop I am at or where I need to go. I love talking cycle rickshaws to class and hanging out in the canteen for a quick lunch before jetting off to go to Connaught Place to hang out. It is world class city and I am enjoying what it has to offer.

So that is my shortlist. Hopefully now people will also see the lovely side of India that I get to see everyday. There are a lot of things that seem trying here but there is also just so much that I love about this place.

Restful Weekend

This weekend was the first in nearly a month where I didn’t have anything going on. It was wonderful. I sat at home, watched movies hung out with my roommates, played computer games, and ordered food in. I was getting over being sick too so it was nice to finally conquer that.

But one thing exciting came up. After I went to church (the same one I preached at), I went to Madhu’s house for lunch again. It was wonderful. I really love that guy and his family. His house just has such a warm environment and already so many good memories of good talks and community. Not surprisingly, most of the conversation was about Dalit issues. We are both involved in it now and both very interested in it. Furthermore, I think he is enjoying educate me on the Dalit issues. I am slowly learning the history and knowing of the thinkers and leaders of the Dalit community. It is very interesting. After talking about this a while, I thought that it would be a good idea to try and organize a conference for EAP students and other American/ western students on the Dalit issue so as to further educate others. I mentioned this to him and he got really excited and said he would love that. He asked me to try and organize it and said if I could make it happen with my group that he would get some of the national leaders he works with to come and speak to us. He was saying that he could get people who spearheaded much of the modern Dalit movement. How cool would that be?! It would also be good for them because they could get good press for it, even if only like 15 Americans show up. Needless to say I was very excited. So it looks like I have a new project in Delhi.

I am also excited because I will be going to do my South India Trip soon. I and four other leave this Friday. For those that are interested in the itinerary, here is the basic outline: Chennai, Mamallapuram, Pondicherry, Kanyakumari, Varkala, Kerala backwaters, Cochi, Goa, Mumbai. It is going to be a worldwind tour but I think very cool. I am very excited!

Update from Patel Nagar

I realized that I haven’t given an account of my escapades in the slums recently. So in order to remedy that…

I love working where I am working. I love the people who I am working with too. It is like the best possible outcome for what I wanted in terms of working with a non-profit organization in the slums that is Christian based. While it is really sad to see the slums knowing that this is where they live (I am only there two days a week and I can leave whenever I want, much different reality), I love talking with the people of this community and working with these beautiful kids in the school. The kids in my school are just amazing. They have so much life in them in such a life-sucking community. And to help with their education after these people have been denied a decent education for so long, even in a small way, is a truly rewarding and sobering experience. Marang, the man who is in charge of the program with whom I work closely, is an amazing man. He is so humble and has such a wonderful story of his life and faith. I feel I continue to learn a lot form Him. I think a real and deep friendship will develop by the time I leave India.

It is also just so amazing to hear the stories from the inhabitants of this community. I am fortunate enough to have a professor at Delhi University who is going to allow me to do an ethnography of the community by conducting interviews with community members. I hope to get an idea of the Dalit experience through that. Just to give you a quick story:

The other day, a Christian man form Patel Nagar asked for us to come into his home and pray for him and his family. Of course we obliged but I really feel like I was the one who was blessed in this encounter. He told us his testimony. He lived in a village and was running for office in the town. He was doing fairly well but as a Christian and a Dalit (both of whom are given less then second class citizenship) many opposed him coming into office. Some upper caste people ended up beating him and electrocuting his arm very badly so it was very burned and various places over the rest of his body (he showed us the scares form the burns). His arm became infected and had to be amputated by the shoulder to stop the spread of the infection. Now he begs on the street. When there are so many people vying for jobs of manual labor, why would anyone ever hire a one armed man? But he is so faithful saying, “But God provides for all my needs. I never have been in want.” He has so little yet is so joyful of his circumstances and was tearful when we prayed because he was so shocked that I, a white American, would come from, as he said, “where you live to this place where I live.” It was a truly moving thing to see a man with such a story be so faithful and happy in a place of seemingly utter darkness.

But that is the amazing thing about this community, this slum. In the midst of some of the worst living conditions in the world, amidst people whom have never been treated with dignity (even in cosmopolitan Delhi) and have stories of human atrocity, you find light and joy. There is something all too redeeming about that quality in this place. And I think it is that quality that makes me anxious to go back every week and makes me constantly think about those I know there. It is a world of its own but a world that I am learning to absolutely love.

Big Victory

Yesterday, I had a major victory. I mean, HUGE. I have done the impossible. I have figured out cricket. I know it seems impossible but I have done it. You may ask, "Why might it be so hard to figure out cricket. It is only a game after all. What could be so hard about that?" Let me give you an example of what a cricket article in the newspaper sounds like and tell me if you can understand it:

"Openers Gambhir and Sehwag, more watchful this time, notched 29 off the first four before disaster struck in a series of soft dismissals. Three wickets off four balls, 33 for three. Enter Rohit Sharma (50 not out, 40 balls, 7x4, 2x6), finally getting a look-in, and an 85 run stand with skipper MS Dhoni (run out 45, 33b, 4x1, 1x6). They gave the Indian total respectability - 153/5."

Understand it?

It has taken me 3 months, but I finally had a man sit down with me in front of a TV and answer all my questions. I now know what the paper means!

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "Oh, oh, Tyson please explain the fascinating game of cricket to me so I too can understand the Indian obsession and not be woefully culturally ignorant if I ever visit India someday!" My answer is... NO! It took me too long to figure out this silly game and I am going to bask in the glory of understanding this terribly jargon filled game! If you want to learn (and I am not sure why you ever would unless you came to India) then you will have to struggle for 3 months too.

WAHAHAHAHA!!!

As you can see, it was a major victory to finally understand the game. The real reason I won't explain is that it would take to long, I wouldn't be able to explain it well without watching it with you, and it would probably be boring for you. But nonetheless, it was very exciting for me to be able to understand the paragraph i wrote to you. It is like knowing some big secret that only the Indians know. Besides, now I can read the newspaper and understand it because it seems like the front page is almost always devoted in part to cricket.

Varanasi

So here are some of my pictures from Varanasi. Don't worry, there are no burning bodies in the photos!It is rude to take pictures of such a ceremony after all. But hopefully these pictures give an idea of what Varanasi looks like! Just so you know, the last picture is of a dance/ceremony around sunset when they offer pujas (prayers) and little flower bowls to the river. The picture is of the dance.

Public Utilities

It is a running joke between me and some of my friends that India basically a giant version of one of things bellow:

1) Trash bin. There is no such thing as a trash bin in India it seems. Rather trash is thrown anywhere and everywhere. It is too bad. Some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen was marred by litter everywhere. For example, when the EAP group did a trip to Yamunotri, we climbed to the foothills of one of the holiest rivers in India and found its source. As I was looking at the mountains around me, I saw a bunch of trash right by the base of what was otherwise a gorgeous waterfall. But it is like that all over India. On a train ride, you go by some of the poorer houses and you see little ponds filled with trash.

2) Toilet. It is a common site for a man to be peeing on the side of the road. Heck, it is a common site for a man to be peeing on the road itself. In fact, the more I think about it, it is common to see people peeing just about anywhere at anytime. The smell of urine is something I have just come to terms with. Kids even poo pretty much anywhere (although usually they at least try to aim for the gutter). But this next story made even my new calloused senses go, "Really?"

This weekend, I went to Varanasi. Varanasi is a holy Hindu town situated on the banks of the Ganges. It is a holy place for people to die, be cremated, and then have their ashes spread in the river. I went and saw the burning ghats, where they take their dead and cremate them. It was rather surreal to see dead bodies be burned. I mean I was probably at one point like 10 feet from where I could see the fat dripping off of a body being cremated. Kinda weird for me, not gonna lie. But honestly, after being here for a three months now, Varanasi seemed less shocking then I though it would. Once you get used to India, seeing weird things seems like part of the package. But the train ride was different experience.

I usually take a sleeper class train. This means that i have a smallish bed put in a compartment with 8 other people. I have never had any problems with it (and I still don't... kind of) but this train ride shocked even my new senses if only because it was a little to close to home. Me and a friend are just casually playing card when the girl who is with her family stands up and pees all of herself and the floor. You heard it, right in the middle of the cabin where we sit and sleep. But the real shocker was that it happened just so non-chalantly. Furthermore, the surrounding family just kept on doing what they were doing. They cleaned her daughter but not so much the pee... It just puddled there and stayed there. Well actually I guess it rolled around on the floor a little as the train started, stopped and moved. They just kept their sandals (notice: sandals, not shoes) in the puddle and talked. This was a new one for me, especially since I have thrown my bags on sleep train floors, one of my friends slept on such floors, and I have walked on the floor in my own bare feet. Eeeewwww....

Moral of this story: Never lick, smell, place bags on, thoroughly examine, or otherwise touch any public floor in India.

Patel Nagar

On Wednesday, I had my first day teaching in the slums. In case you don’t know, I am working with an organization called Dalit Freedom Network, a Christian organization to the betterment of the Dalits (also known as the Untouchables). I am going to be working in a slum community in Patel Nagar helping teach English. While on Wednesday I didn’t actually teach, I just observed so I could know what to expect next week. It was an amazing experience.

The slum is crazy. It is this living breathing place where kids run around naked. Sewage, feces, and everything all runs together in the open air gutters. Houses are more like four wooden posts and a tarp for a roof. 7-10 member families live in a place smaller than a dorm room and a family that size has to pay for food, clothing, rent, education, and medications (if they can afford it) on a measly income of about $1,200 per year or less. The government schools don’t even educate them, they just give them food.

The school I am working at has about 15-25 kids. It is a little pink room with three and a half walls. The half that is missing is used as an entrance and a tarp is used as a door. The children are so beautiful. They have so much life in them despite this suffocating environment. But the classroom is crazy! They are 4-8 years old and many have yet to be socialized into ‘school life.’ But it is wonderful to see these beautiful kids get an education! I can’t wait to go back next week!

This weekend I am going to go to Varanasi, the Hindu holy town where many people go to die. They are then cremated and their ashes are put into the river. From what I have heard, it is a crazy place but also very interesting. There are funeral pyres and elderly bating in the river and the occasional dead body that floats up from the bottom of the river (many bodies are just tied together and sunk to the bottom… but sometimes they come loose). Regardless I am looking forward to it. From one experience to the next, such is India…

Jophpur Pictures

So these are the pictures form my Jodhpur trip. If you want to read about it then you can look at earlier blogs. It was a great trip, probably one of my best weekedns in India. So here are the long overdue pictures but I do have an excuse: it takes about 3-4 hours to upload all of these pictures, so enjoy!

Pictures of My Apartment

So Dad, as per request, here are some photos of my apartment in Delhi. Description is from top photo to bottom:

1) Here is the alleyway from the main road to my house. This is looking toward the road.

2)This is a picture of my apartment building. All the windows you can see on the second story are part of out apartment.

3) This picture is taken form the corner of the room. Across form where Amy is sitting is the front door. Behind me in this picture is two doors to two bedrooms, one of them is mine. This picture shows the living room and dining room.

4) This is the kitchen with Julie by the sink, Molly by the fridge, and Sam by the burners.

5) This is a picture of my bed. I couldn't find a good shot of my bed room!

Hope this gives you some visualization of where I am!

Pastor Babayco

Last Friday, I was to meet with the person who would be in charge of the school at which I will be volunteering. He and Madhu, the man with whom I went to the meeting on religious tolerance, came over to my house so we could discuss it. After we finalized times and what I would be doing I told Madhu, who is also pastoring a new church, that i would love to come and visit his church. Without hesitation he said, "Oh yes, you come and give the message." Not wanting to be rude I politely said, "Okay." but in my mind I was thinking, "YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING." Jane Marie had told me that it was not uncommon for guests to speak at the church they were visiting. I had a measly 24 hours to prepare a sermon.

The next day I prepared the sermon. I felt pretty good about it. I had been thinking about Matthew 19 and the story of the Rich Young Ruler so I decided to use that along with my testimony as the subject of my message. I was feeling pretty calm until later that evening I called Jane Marie and she reminded me, "You'll be fine. Just don't tell them to give up everything and follow Jesus because a lot of them already have." (Christians in India are still persecuted, especially in non-urban centers, by various different groups.) Well if any of you have read the Rich Young Ruler, you will know that dropping everything to follow Jesus is somewhat of the... oh, I dunno... main theme of the passage.

I started freaking out. It was 10:30 in the evening. Then I realized that I knew relatively nothing about the congregation? What backgrounds did they come from? Where in India were they from? What denomination? Would I say anything culturally inappropriate? Needless to say, I had a time of serious self-doubt. I didn't want to come across as an ignorant, know-it-all American telling the Indian 'heathens' how to be Christian. If anything, I have things to learn from them. I decided to tweak it a little (looking at it now in a more, how shall we say, mentally stable state, the sermon was fine all along) but I still went to sleep dreadfully nervous.

After a night's rest, I was much calmer. I went to the church which was held inside a classroom. There were about 30-35 people there. It was wonderful to see such a diverse group. They were from all over India. In that room alone, they spoke over 40 languages. The common language, strangely enough, was English. The worship was wonderful and heartfelt. When it was my turn to give the sermon, I delivered it. It turned out to be fine. I didn't end up saying anything culturally inappropriate. In fact, one of the women came up to me and said that the message was what she needed to hear. Thank God for His infinite wisdom that despite my own bumblings and insecurities he can work through it all!

I went to have lunch Madhu's house with him and his family. The food was good, the conversation great, and the hospitality was the best. Many invited me over to have a meal with them at their home sometime. To be in a community of believers was wonderful and this community seemed to welcome me in to their fold. I look forward to going back. It also makes me long for the day when we will all be together with one tongue to praise God. This last Sunday gave me a little glimpse of that and it was truly fantastic.

I also look forward to not having to preach!

The Running of the Bulls

Before I begin this story, I want to mention that it takes place in Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan. I went there a week ago. I wanted to post the blog but I was a little tired of being on the computer to write the story! Also, update on pictures… they are coming!

So the story…

Sam, my friend and roommate, loves animals. I mean he really loves animals. Every time we see an animal it seems that he stops and goes to look at it and touch it if possible. I think he is amazed by the animals because in India, they are just everywhere on the street. Cows, goats, dogs, sometimes even pigs all seem to litter the street. No one here seems to give them second thought, they are just a part of the landscape. The common joke is that Sam should either live on a farm with animals or run a petting zoo. He would be ultimately happy doing that (or so we think).

Now cows are everywhere in India. They are considered holy so they are given free range to roam all over the place. And I do mean all over the place. They will just lay down in the middle of a highway and the traffic will be stopped. To Sam, this is like a mini paradise. He loves to touch the cows. I am pretty used to this too; after all, I do live with him. Every once in a while the cow gets a little annoyed and turns his head and Sam quickly stops.

In Jodhpur, the city streets are small and wind everywhere. They are small and cramped but have a lot of charm to them. Cows wander these roads too. Since they are rather narrow, there isn’t a whole lot of passing room when a cow is there. So as we were walking in a single file line to get past a cow, Sam pets it as usual. But this time the cow bucks his head (and this cow had like 2 foot long horns) and begins to run a little at us. We all run away form it, and I ran up some stairs) until the cow finally stops and meanders in its usual way. From now on, I am walking behind Sam. All I could think of was being impaled by a cow. How awful would that be? “So how did Tyson get injured?” “Well, a cow impaled him with its two foot horns.” So basically, I did a mini running of the bulls (although not by choice!)… in Jopdhpur… like ya do… Ahhhh, India.