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Believe it or not, this flighting America has successfully made her way out of Asia and into Africa. And as I sat in the Abu Dhabi airport on June the 1st waiting for 14 hours to make my way to Joburg, already I found it difficult to contemplate the place I had just come from. The land of camels and saris was already fading with the Dolce and Gabana everything, and US$4 Burger King French fries. Bored with guessing games—like what designer clothes are hiding under the burka—I began to organize my thoughts more clearly of the land of Bharat Mataji.
Free from the scholastic world since the end of April, I have invested my time into seeing the world outside Rajasthan. Heading to Mumbai for a short stint with a friend from the MSID program, I had my first spotting of a real body of water (the Arabian Sea) and came to the realization that in some parts of India dogs are actually domesticated. From Mumbai I headed back to Jaipur where I was able to take one last visit to the village before heading off on my next adventure to Varanasi. The trip to the holiest Hindu city in
the world was marked by the most memorable train ride of my life where I road general class for the first and last time. For those of you not familiar with the Indian railroad system, general class is amounts to being crammed into a railcar with wooden benches with as many people as can possibly fit. Luckily I was able to sit in the women’s coach with the women and children. Becoming the spectacle of the ride, I enjoyed fourteen hours of having babies periodically plopped on my lap while the mothers had to attend to their other, astoundingly patient, children. The ride confirmed, once again, two things: 1. how lucky I am to be in the position that I am in the world and 2. how incredibly strong Indian women are. Yes indeed, they are! Happy to be off the train, I halled my slightly bruised behind to the hotel where I was to meet my friend (and colleague one might say), Lindsay and her boyfriend, Travis.
Varanasi, probably one of my favorite places I have been in India, is where many Hindus go to die. There you will find both residents and pilgrims bathing in the holy river
Boys at the taj Mahal
Noticing these boys were trying to get a snap of Maddie and I from their camera phone, we were able to catch them first.where hundreds of bodies are cremated and thrown to the waves every day. Yes, I seriously contemplated a bath. No, I did not actually go through with it. The closest I got were boat rides along the river both at sunrise and sunset, each adventure being equally as spectacular. The morning ride gave me an appreciation for the acknowledgment and embracement of death rather than hiding it away as if it doesn’t exist as a part of our very being. It also made me wonder why there aren’t any Olympic swimmers coming out of Varanasi. In the evening I was calmed by the evening ceremonies held along the Ghats (the stairs that lead down to the water) where Hindu priests danced, incense in hand and all in unison, to the music of the harmonium as they stood on stone pillars for all to see. Whether it was by its very holiness or not, Varanasi is a city with great feeling to it indeed.
From Varanasi we traveled to Darjeeling for a taste of cooler weather, snow peek citing, and lovely cups of tea (certainly). There we stayed in a lodge with a view of the Himalayas and a hot bucket
spotted elephant
we went to a place in Varkala (southern india) where Maddie could ride an elephant. bath. My favorite part was that we were, very literally, in the clouds. Walking from place to place through the cumulous, we had little chance to see the snowy peeks until the very last day when, out of nowhere, they appeared in the distance. Spectacular! Visited the museum of my forefather, Sir Edmond Hillary, we got to see the equipment he used on the summit. Other highlights: visiting the city zoological where we came face to face with snow leopards, touring a tea plantation and factory, drinking (as well as learning how to make) Darjeeling “five second tea,” eating Tibetan momos and Chinese chowmien, spending time with good friends in a beautiful place.
From Darjeeling I flew back west to Delhi where I anxiously awaited the arrival of my good friend Maddie from Ameerika…my first and only visitor from the states! Though I’m sure she could give a much better account of our adventure than me, like every journey in India, it was filled equally with times of caos and confusion as with it was with majestic highlights, making me realize how desensitized I have become to the insanity, and how amazingly resilient Maddie was the entire trip (and Maddie
Terecatta Statues
a collection of terecatta statues for sale on the road near my house in Jaipur if you’re reading this you must believe me when I say this….I’m sure you do). After almost 2000 miles of travel over the course of less than three weeks of travel, Maddie was back to America and I about to find my way to South Africa. In the hours following Maddie’s departure, Lindsay, our friend Kapil from Delhi, Tarvis, and I wasted time in the parking lot awaiting my flight. Over the course of the wait, Lindsay and I remenissed over the time we spent with our visitors, agreeing that 3 to 5 weeks is just not enough time to expect the body and mind to adjust to India. And for this we owe so much to our American visitors.
My last month of India I found myself shifting from a position of residency to one of a tourist, something I discovered to be more difficult to cope with than expected. Going from my homeland of Rajasthan to places like Mumbai and Kerela where they speak Marathi and Maliyalam rather than Hindi, all of a sudden I felt just as out of place as I had upon arriving in India. The fact that I had been told time and time
step dam
posing atop an old step dam/water collection site on the outskirts of Jaipur again throughout my stay in Rajasthan how different other parts of India are did not seem to ease the shock of visiting these areas themselves, where the languages and cultures are, indeed, so very different than the India I had grown to know in love and hate, admiration and strife. At least the Indian head bobble was consistent, I thought to myself. India, because of its diversity, diversity, is a place I believe the whole world can learn from as we become more and more globalized. India is our world’s microcosm of order and unification in a place where people of all different cultures and languages come to coexist, cooperate, and reinvent themselves again and again. This they have been doing for thousands of years…and we from the West? Safe to say only since the invention of the internet….?
Saying goodbye as a foreign volunteer…the hardest part. Having spent the majority of my time in India working at the NGO, saying goodbye to the people I had developed great friendships with over the course of the year was easily the most difficult part about leaving the country. For how are you ever able to think things will ever be the
Indian Tali
enjoying some Indian food on Maddie's first full day in India same when you are miles apart rather than seconds away? And how are you ever to know when you will meet again? “Foreign volunteers: they come here and become our closest friends only to leave months later. They all say they’ll come back. But there are very few who actually do.” Repeated to me over and over during the up of my departure, I couldn’t help but feel even more saddened in regard to leaving. Furthermore it only made me increasingly compelled to return. So I think this is what made leaving easier for me…because saying goodbye it was more of a “see you later,” (a “Phirmilage,”) rather than anything else. So anyone who is considering doing any long-term traveling or volunteering abroad, I advise you to keep in mind how your presence (and eventual absence) will affect the people you develop relationships with, in junction with how you will be ultimately changed. It is indeed a challenging reality that I think is important to think about.
South Africa, Cape Town…where I find myself now…a place where I am enjoying the cool weather of the southern hemisphere, a new culture, and quality time with family. Though I haven’t been here
long, I can safely say that I am feeling well at home in this new place and excited to explore what there is to see and learn. Having already been shocked by the orderly roads, the green green green grass, the water that you can drink straight from the tap, and the giant supermarkets, I suspect coming to America may still prove to be a shocker.
Cheers to that!
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