Swan Lake

Dancers of Swan Lake

After having a rather craptacular morning, having to go to economics twice in one day (zzzzzz), and finding out that my trip to Orissa this weekend with my NGO was cancelled due to terroristic threats (apparently foreigners must go through extensive bureaucratic paperwork to get in and out of the state), I was ready to go home and burrow under my bedsheets. However, Kelsey and Courtney's host mother was able to get us all tickets to a production of Swan Lake.

The best part of my day...all it needed was a cheeseburger (drool)

After eating my McDonalds dinner (probably the best part of my day because not only did I get to eat fries, but I also had an ice cream cone!) we all traipsed to the theatre where the production was held. After taking our seats the production started and we soon realized that this Indian version of Swan Lake deviated from the traditional ballet by infusing many different types of dance including flamenco, modern, tap, ballet, and kathak (an Indian style of dancing). My roommate, Rachel, and I especially enjoyed the performance seeing as we are both dancers (Rachel performs kathak dancing in Trinidad). At one point they were dancing both tap and kathak, and I told Rachel it would be really fun for us to try it (if I can somehow get my hands on tap shoes). Watching the dancers made me miss my own dancing days and I was tempted to jump on stage after the performance and start twirling around. Ah well, maybe later in the semester I will be able to show off my dancing skills (or maybe lack of dancing skills seeing as I am quite out of shape) in the folk arts performance that we are supposed to put on. Anyway, it was the best of days, it was the worst of days (actually it was quite hot today...90 degrees) and now I will say adieu!

A fusion of dance styles

A Good Deed

Yesterday our group went to a rural village to volunteer teaching young children. Our college, St Xavier's, has a program called NSS, which volunteers and performs various social work throughout West Bengal. We met early (6:45 am) at St Xavier's and headed out on a long drive to the rural village in which we would be volunteering. Adam, Erik, Kelsey K, and I, rode on the bus with 50 Indian students. Kelsey compared it to being in junior high where everyone stands in the aisles and shouts (or in the case of the Indian students, they enjoy singing). Needless to say, no one took a nap and towards the end of the bus ride we were all ready to leap out the window in order to escape.

Adam doesn't like the smell of the boat's motor

Once we got off the bus we were sheparded (literally it was like we were goats being herded by staff, and in some cases, students) to a boat in which we would travel to the rural village. There was 75 of us piled on one boat and we cruised along the river for about an hour, chatting with Indian students, and trying to avoid the smoke from the boat's engine.

Inside of the school where we taught

On arriving at the rural village, we walked along a dirt road until we reached the school. We sat briefly and drank some tea and biscuits before being lead to a large room where we split up the students into classes (grades). I, along with four St. Xavier's students, taught students from class 8 (8th grade). I worked with one girl named Sunita. We began by reading and I slowly read the English words to her as she repeated them back to me. Then she started reading and stopping once every sentence to have me sound out the word for her. Many of you must be thinking that everyone in India must speak English, but surprisingly there are many people who have a hard time speaking English, and numerous Indians feel self-conscious speaking English so they choose not to. Finding English-speaking people is even harder in rural villages so I was glad that they were being taught the language so they could go to schools like St. Xavier's (an English-taught collge) in the future. From the short time I spent with Sunita, I got the impression that she was more advanced than some of the other students, and once we got to multiplication and I had her multiplying 1465x1465, I knew that she was an intelligent young woman. Sunita had some trouble being able to talk with me so she mostly just smiled, but I was very grateful to be able to spend an afternoon getting to meet her.

Outside of the school where we taught

We ate a lunch of rice, dal, potatoes, popper, and bringer (eggplant). After we were done the principal of the school addressed us in Bengali and we were off to the boats to cruise back to the mainland and hop on the bus. It took awhile to get back and on the way back I was lucky enough to sit in the car that was reserved for American students. The driver drove like a maniac but we made it back without running over anything (apparently if you run over a goat it is a 2,000 USD fine, a chicken is a little less than that and a cow is even more. If you don't have the money than the people will steal all your valuables including your gold jewelry that you are wearing) and without anyone getting car sick (though Courtney looked a little green for most of the ride). We all had a great time hanging out with the kids and Panchali (our St Xavier's coordinator) was so happy that we volunteered that she cancelled classes today as a treat. All in all...it was a good day.

A house in the village where we taught

If I Were a Rich (Wo)Man

Seeing as I am in India, I think it would be highly idiotic of me to not comment on the poverty that can be seen here. There are quite a few people that beg on the side of the street every day and rarely can you go a few hours without someone rattling a can at you, holding out their hand, or asking for money. As sad as this seems, many of us were astounded when we learned in our economics class that these people weren't even considered to be in poverty. Our economics teacher informed us that these people tend to make at least 300 rupees a month if not more (this is about 6 USD). In India, the people that are below the poverty line are actually those who are dying from starvation and haven't been able to feed themselves.

Hearing this it just brought me to think back about the worst economic situation that I had seen in America, and immediately things like Hurricane Katrina or the man digging in the dumpster when I was in Seattle, jumped to my mind. But even so, these people still were able to receive food and didn't die from the lack of food. As sad as it seems to go to school every day and pass by and elderly lady whose wrinkled face calls out for money, I know that there are people in India whose conditions are far worse. Poverty is even more rampant in the rural sectors of India and unfortunately this is something that has been a problem for quite some time (there is a huge gap between the middle class and the poor). Tomorrow I am excited to go volunteer at a rural village in West Bengal where I will get to see the lives that people lead and how much more simple things can be. Even going to places like the Sundarbans and having electricity, something that may not have existed there a couple years back, is amazing.

Seeing and experiencing things like this definitely makes you grateful for what you have. Unfortunately the problem with just giving money to people begging on the side of the street is that you don't know what they are doing with the money they get, and if you give money once they will recognize you and expect money all the time. Talking to some of my fellow students about poverty has also been interesting. Some just feel so heartbroken by what they see that they just decide to give money because they can't say no, while others don't want to be taken advantage of so they rarely give money. Talking to my roommate Rachel, I told her that as hard as it is to pass by the elderly woman every day, I know that she isn't below the poverty line, while many people in the rural villages are. That is why I have decided to give money instead to the NGO that I am working with. Their aim is to educate rural women in things like financial planning, sexual and reproductive health, etc. I know that REACH does a good job in educating these women so they can try to make a better life for their families and next weekend I will get to visit a rural village in the state of Orissa, where I will get to see firsthand how these women who might not have much money, are getting educated to ensure their well-being and the well-being of their families. If you would like to donate at all, please let me know. I will definitely be blogging about my weekend in Orissa so you can see the kind of work that is done with these rural women.

A picture of the shacks that people live in throughout India

The Sundarbans

Mangrove Trees

A boat floating down the river

One of the monkeys on the shore near our boat

A picture of the village that we stayed in

Me with a monkey

This weekend our study abroad group took an excursion to the Sundarbans. For those of you who don't know what the Sundarbans are, they are a large mangrove forest that stretches across over 7,000 km of India and Bangladesh. Mangrove trees have roots that run deep into the water and on the surface it looks like many trees scattered in a row, when in actuality it is one large tree with an intricate root system. We headed out very early in the morning on the bus and most of us just slept the whole way there, but upon arriving, we all climbed into the boat and took off cruising along the waterways of the Sundarbans.

There are many exciting animals to see in the Sundarbans but it is most famous for its Bengal tigers that inhabit the area. Every so often we would stop at a tiger viewing area and get out of the boat to explore around the fenced areas for tigers and other indigenous animals. The probability of seeing a tiger is actually rather slim because the area that they can be found in is so vast and there are only a few hundred of them left in this area.

Upon getting out at our first tiger reserve sighting area, we saw tons of monkeys roaming along the sand and in the nearby trees. We took many pictures of the monkeys because you could get sooo close to them. At one of the stops we decided to take our picture with one and he got rather testy and howled at Steph and started biting his arm to warn her to back away or he would take a nice chunk out of her arm (Steph ran out of there pretty fast...good thing I got my rabies shots!) Some other animals that we were lucky enough to see were a monitor lizard, numerous birds, a red junglefowl (sorry that I wasn't fast enough to take a picture Chuhu), crocodiles, cows, ducks, and deer. At one point on the first day we were cruising along and we saw a group of monkeys on the shore. One of the guides, who was using his binoculars started shouting about a tiger right behind the monkeys. I had seen a flash of orange but I had just assumed that it was a rather large monkey and everyone else had thought this as well. After the tiger spotting we stopped at one of the fenced-in spotting areas to see if we could spot the tiger again because the men who work for the forest reserve wanted to make sure that the tiger did not come into the surrounding village and decide to eat anyone.

After spending a long time looking at deer, birds, and monkeys, and not spotting the tiger, we hopped in the boat and went down the river to the village that we stayed at during the night. We stayed in a hotel in a nearby village where many of the huts had thatched roofs and the people herded their goats along the side of the road. Our hotel was nice and had what we refer to as "western toilets" in every room and large wooden beds, similar to the ones that we slept in at Shantiniketan. During the night the locals would put on performances with singing and dancing, but we mainly just told scary stories and played games during the night. The second night we were there a couple of us had a yoga session with our program director, Sucharita. I miss doing yoga from my days when I used to dance, so this was something fun that everyone who participated enjoyed.

In the mornings they would wake us up with what people in India refer to as bed tea (literally it is tea in bed). After finishing our tea we would go down to breakfast and have puri (my favorite Indian thing to eat...it is fried dough) and honey. The Sundarbans is famous for its honey as well and I found out that many people who collect honey wear masks on the back of their heads so tigers won't try to sneak up behind them. Many of my fellow students were disappointed that they couldn't sleep on the boat but we had heard that a few days before we arrived in the Sundarbans, a man had been dragged off a boat during the middle of the night and eaten by a tiger (the tigers there can swim up to 8 km down the river). Needless to say, it was not safe for us to stay on the boat so we just relaxed during the time we were given. I had lots of fun hanging out and joking with Sucharita and I even got a little burnt on the trip (it is tan now, which will probably only last a few days). All in all our trip was very relaxing and we learned a lot about the Sundarbans.

A New Nicole

So seeing as I have been in India for awhile now, I feel that it is pertinent to talk about the biggest change that I see in myself...my assertiveness. Those who know me well would say that I have trouble being assertive and  truly telling people how I feel. Mainly I think that I am constantly worried about hurting others's feelings so instead I just prefer to keep things to myself, even if it bothers me. My lack of assertiveness has actually bothered me for quite some time and it has been something that I have gradually tried to work on over time.

Being in India has helped me to be more assertive with my feelings and emotions. I find that many Indian women tend to be more blunt and straightforward, and this is an attitude that I have had to adopt while I am here and maybe I will retain some of this attitude when I go home (instead of being the epitome of Minnesota nice). I find that communication is imporant in any relationship, but if you are not fully telling someone how you feel, you aren't communicating fully.

A perfect example (and one which I am extremely proud of) is when my roommate Rachel and I were traveling on the metro a few weeks ago. The metro can get extremely crowded (if you are claustrophobic, take another form of transportation) and at times it can feel like you can't even breathe because you are so tightly packed into such a little space. On this particular day, Rachel was standing in between the overhead bars and couldn't reach a bar, so she decided to hang onto my backpack, while her other hand lay safely at her side. As we were cruising along the lady next to us turned around and started shouting at Rachel to stop pushing her and leaning up against her. Rachel politely told her that her hands were at her sides and she hadn't even touched her, but the lady continued to argue and then abruptly turned her back on Rachel. I was quite taken aback at how blunt the woman was being, especially when I had been next to Rachel the entire time and could see that there was no way she was doing what the woman was accusing her of. So I proceeded to tell Rachel in a loud voice (so the woman could hear), that she should just ignore the woman and that the metro is always crowded, people touch one another, and that is just how it is. As the metro continued to roll along the tracks, I just kept thinking how wrong it was of the lady to yell at Rachel and that it made me feel annoyed at her unjust acusations. I decided to be assertive (with a slightly more aggressive, to the point manner) and as we were leaving the metro I turned to the woman and said, "If you don't like people brushing up against you are touching you, next time take a taxi." Rachel saw the dumbfounded expression on the lady's face as we were leaving and could not help but roar with laughter. I realized then and there that it was one of the first times I had ever reprimanded anyone for their behavior. Not only did I stick up for Rachel, but I allowed her to feel better about the situation (she later told me that it was the highlight of her day). I had rarely stuck up for myself in such a way, but I had seen something that I did not agree with and was able to vocalize my dissent.

I am hoping that with time that I become more assertive with my thoughts and feelings, and am able to tell others how I feel. I know that sometimes people won't agree with what I say, or how I say something, but that is their right, just as it is mine to say how I feel. I can honestly say that this is a way in which India is changing me...for the better.

A Very Religious Experience

So I can no longer wait for pictures in order to blog about my experience going to the Birla Mandir Temple and a Sikh Gurdwara in Kolkata. I went with a few of my fellow study abroaders and some very nice Indian students from St Xavier's to explore the Hindu and Sikh faiths. Our first stop was the Birla Mandir, which is one of the biggest and most majestic Hindu temples in Kolkata. The entire building was hand-carved and I especially liked the elephant statues carved into the walls outside the gates. On first entering the temple there was a beautiful hanging chandelier and underneath the chandelier was a statue of Krishna with his wife. The jewelry that adorned the statues in the main part of the temple were all made of gold and silver. Upon going closer I realized that each of the statues had a monk sitting next to them in which offerings could be given or you could receive a blessing. We each went up and received a blessing from the monk by putting out our hands and him giving us some type of sugar granules which we ate. After leaving the main temple Kanwar (our fellow Xavieran who showed us around) rang a bell which is supposed to signify that you are leaving the temple after offering your prayers.

We strolled around the entire complex and many gods and goddess were strewn about the premises. When we went over to the monkey god, Hanuman, we received a bindi (otherwise known as the red dot by Americans) from the monk. The monks seemed unperturbed by our presence and were relatively silent throughout the whole enxhange. As we were leaving we were asked to collect our shoes (you leave them outside the gates to the temple when you come in) and took a nice picture in front of the temple (excluding the surly guards at the gate). I know I will be visiting Kalighat and Dakshineswar temples while I am here, but I hope to try and visit a few more as well.

After our visit to the Birla Mandir, we headed off to a Sikh gurdwara, we were instructed to also take off our shoes as well as cover our heads. Sikhs do not cut their hair, so often Sikh men wear turbans or other head coverings in order to tie up their hair. Kanwar, who is a Sikh, explained that he did not have long hair because when he was a young boy he got an infection from swimming with his hair wrapped up, so he was forced to cut his hair (many Sikhs were upset with his decision even though it was a health issue). Anyway, we climbed up the stairs and emerged into a smaller room with an altar in which a man was chanting and waving a fan over incense. After standing for a few minutes, we were instructed to sit down and after awhile a man came around with an offering (we think it was some form of ghee, which is a type of butter used in religious services) and we ate it as a blessing (it did not taste good at all and I was happy I was able to swallow). After a couple more minutes of sitting and having the man pray, we were instructed to leave. As we washed our hands (the ghee was very sticky) and put our shoes back on, Courtney realized that she had lost her camera in a taxi. Unfortunately in India, taxis are as abundant as in New York, so the odds of finding a lost item are rather slim, even with the taxi number. She was not able to find her camera (3 people have either lost, damaged, or had their camera stolen so far on this trip) but we had all had a good time and were extremely thankful that Sam and Kanwar, our Xavierian friends were able to guide us around Kolkata for a day.

*Seeing as I forgot to bring my camera along, I will upload pictures of our religious experience as soon as my fellow study abroad students upload them.

International Relations Night at the Rotary Club

This weekend our group of American students participated in the international relations night at a local Rotary Club in Kolkata (the second oldest rotary club in Kolkata to be exact). We participated by singing our national anthem, describing what peace means to us, and talking about Minnesota and our college. They seemed very excited to have us and were very thankful to our political science teacher and study abroad coordinator at St Xavier's, Panchali, who helped to organize our participation in the event. The rotary club that we attended also turned 56 that night and they had a huge cake to celebrate, which we all got to partake in (and I was mighty happy because it was the best cake I have had in India and the man gave me a second slice of cake). We all benefited from the night and it was another successful event for the 2012 CSBSJU India students.

Service Learning

So while I spend time in India I am required to volunteer my time through service learning. As part of our common curriculum at school it is required of all students to volunteer their time and many people gain these 2 credits during their time abroad. While I am in Kolkata I am working with a women's NGO called Reach India, that works with women and adolescent girls from rural areas in order to educate them in various aspects of their well-being such as healthcare, sexual and reproductive rights, etc. I am very excited to be volunteering with this NGO because I am especially interested in the discrepancies between male and female sex ratios in India, as well as the basic human rights that should be given to women.

Currently I am working on compiling a list of female reproductive rights identified as basic human rights for women and we are going to use this list in order to add a short information session into the educational learnings that Reach India already teaches. Creating this information session and the required materials that go along with it will take approximately a year to implement in the field. I am hoping that through my current research, I will be able to help educate rural Indian women about what reproductive rights are reserved for them.

The most exciting part of working with this particular NGO, is that one weekend I will be asked to visit a rural village in order to record case studies on women who have benefited from the education that they have received from Reach India. We don't get to spend too much time in rural areas in India because we are attending school, so it will be interesting to see the drastic changes between rural life and urban life (I did experience a little bit of this in Shantiniketan). It will also be a good opportunity to meet new people and make an impact in these women's lives.

If anyone is interested in donating to Reach India (they are sponsored under Reach which is an American affiliate) you can email me and let me know!