out of office reply

sorry, i won't be around for a while. i'm on holiday! i'll be in udaipur, rajhastan for four days, and of course, celebrating gandhi's birthday.

tea hut

just got back from seeing the bourne ultimatum. fantastic movie, but hardly the topic of this blog entry.

thinh and i went a little early and bought tickets. tickets divide the classes as do many things in delhi. we sat in the 'premiere' section, which is the upper deck of the theatre. upon walking in i saw a mouse/rat scurry up the stairwell and proceeded to keep my feet above ground all movie. i wonder what the standard section looks like. but wait, there was more. when we walked into the theatre the dude pointed at our bags and told us that was not allowed. i think "what, are we supposed to go home? what a screw!" but no, he points to the tea hut. i look over, in disillusion, and ask the guy to repeat himself, as thinh tries to convince him that these are our purses. but yes, he did say tea hut, which is basically a mini smoke shack that sells candy and smokes, and keeps your bags during the movie. yeah right. you are probably thinking this is crazy. indeed, i was too! so as we approached the 'hut' we saw people retrieving their bags with coat check esque tags. seemed to be pretty legit. so low and behold we did it. handed him our bags, took out the valuables and he wrote some # on our bags in chalk and confirmed we didn't have any cash or cameras. i think "yeah guy, i am a total idiot...my bag is being put in some sketchy old refrigerator looking thing and i left all my valuables in it." all for a bargain deal...$.50. safe.

so after the movie i was half expecting that tea hut to have disappeared, flashbacks to my trip in morocco at the "restaurant" that had prepared our food before we even ordered....but it was. anti-climatic end to my story...but that's the skinny on movies in delhi.

when did vowels go out of style?

ok, so i joined facebook. it's all the rage here. i have received countless friend requests from people i don't know. some are even as poetic as this one. name and email has been deleted for privacy.

Hi........ this is *(*&^ from mumbai (india) ..1 st of all gd evening to u......am working in mumbai in mnc and am well settled single guy ...am 178 cns/35 yrs/ athletic built and cool guy....am interested in frndship with elite and good girls women of all ages who dare to have real frndship... n so am interested in frndship with u...and i assure u that u wl not regret being my frnd ..and u wl get the most of everything from our frndship and no doubt u wl be the most happy to be my frnd........so­­ if u r interested feel free to call me or mail me on &*(*() @gmail­­­.com

i don't know about you, but i am always certain to give my height and age when asking someone to be their friend.

are you sensing my sarcasm???

top ten (or so) things i don't get about india

1. my toliet sometimes doesn't have enough water to flush (especially brilliant after a #2)
2. my cell phone bill is cheaper here than at home, yet i call internationally all the time
3. tuk-tuks will sometimes refuse to take me places
4. i've been drinking out of the wrong water faucet-doh. no wonder i had so many tummy aches when i first got here
5. black dal? yellow dal? what's the dif?
6. the cheese looking thing on the salad bar that i eat up and always feel sick after eating
7. cow pies and why they are perfectly round
8. everyone carries their left overs and milk products in steel jars
9. the government. and how they allow the extreme poverty to pervade the society
10.some cows have a hump that looks like a camel hump
11. if cows are so sacred why are they eating out of the dump at every corner
12. how tuk-tuk rides will be in the winter
13. where my clothes are washed when my dhobi comes
14. my maid, when she talks to me

?????
of course, these are just today's thoughts. i thought that if i wrote them down i might, just might sleep tonight. amazing how a full head keeps you awake all night.

xoxo

power

you think you want more. you get it and want much less. as a white person here working at the school i have more resources than ever before. yet it comes with much responsibility of which i wasn't quite sure i was ready for. still not sure. yesterday there were 10 people here working on my house. i strangely feel much more adult-like here than i ever have before.

i threw a killer party last night. tons of great people came to help me ring in the new year of 27. i have no evidence of the occurance. somehow my camara decided to only document one picture of the 30 or so i took. whahappened??of course, the most elegant picture remained on my camera. this is quite late in the evening. obviously

yikes. am i really 27? we deduced that quite a few people that were here last night could be my parents...they really got a kick out of that. maybe it was india, or maybe it is something much deeper, but it really didn't feel like a birthday today. it was a great day though. my fabulous friends thinh, kendra and gene and i went to a lovely champagne brunch at claridges hotel....fueling last nights reminents and leaving me partially zombied all day. went for a little swim at the embassy and had mexican for dinner. now i am trying to stay awake to answer all the calls.

i miss home today. a lot. there is something strange about having to wait until 6pm to talk to your family. like it's not really happening until they wake up too.

this quote seems to explain so much of my day to day here...

"No one lives on top of the mountain. It's fine to go there, occasionally--for inspiration, for new perspectives. But you have to come down. Life is lived in the valleys. That's where the farms and gardens and orchards are, and where the plowing and the work is done. That's where you apply the visions you may have glimpsed from the peaks." Arthur Gordon

i suppose tomorrow i shall return to the valley....sweet dreams
xoxo

all in due time

today things started falling into place. amidst all the craziness of my day to day, i have tentatively hired a new staff member. in 1 hour she cleaned my kitchen, tidied up the place, bought and cut up fresh fruit, and didn't move a single thing around. amazing. i will actually meet her tomorrow, but for now anju, upstairs, is handling her. many people prob. wonder why help is needed. while that answer is ridiculously complicated, the skinny of it is, that between work, meetings and extra curriculars, i would never actually see india if i had to come home and clean and cook. does that sound familiar?

i got my new bed today. the icky bed buggy one is gone, and i now have a bed that my egg crate and sheets fit on. i am on cloud nine (literally). also, my birthday preps are going wonderfully well. i figured out how to order alcohol. albeit quite expensive, good friends like bacardi and tanqueray will be delivered tomorrow night. i also met with the head chef at school and we set up a little menu of finger food. what party would be complete without pigs in a blanket and paneer tikka? the one catch, and motivation i suppose, is that i need to pick it up on saturday. which of course could be done in taxi, but i am going to DRIVE! yes, my friend jen (wisconsinite) has agreed to coach me through it. shifting with the left hand, driving on the right, and the opposite side of the road. yikes!! i will need to be fully rested i suppose.


so yes, i will rest tonight more than i have in a while.
xoxo
b

bumming around

first official weekend that i truly did some bumming around. it was great to not have to spend the entire day shopping....
this pic is from a while ago....better late than never, that's thinh if you need to put a face to the name.
happy sunday/monday!!

no, it's no new gang symbol

bugs. they got me bad last night. i woke at 2am scratching like crazy. that's me, pointing to my crazy bug bites, no, it's no new gang symbol. those are just 3 of the ginormous welts on my body. there must be like 10 from last night. time to make a game plan. in addition to the bug stuff i already put on before bed i think i need to fumegate or something. if not, i could be a strong dengue contender. just kidding, kind of. i really am doing the best i can.

horn please

horn please. for real. this is what the back of trucks have painted on them.
if horns could talk in india they would say....
"hey, don't step into the road"
"get out of my flipping way"
"passing on the left"
"i just got repaired, don't i sound nice"
"&*(*#&$("
"move it"
"you're way too slow"
"i'm in a hurry"
"no reason, just bored"
"isn't this better than lane driving?"
"oops, i missed my turn and now need to cut you off"

and of course, my favorite.
"hey, pretty lady"
usually accompanied by men banging on the door out the window.

isn't india wonderful?

picture courtesy of: http://photo.net/philg/digiphotos/200103-d1-jaipur/horn-please-sign-on-back-of-truck.thumb.jpg

shipment!

my things arrived today. i'm almost all unpacked and now feeling like i can start putting up pictures, etc. it's amazing how seeing your own pots and pans gives you such a warm feeling. the smell of the clothes too, i suppose, was awesome.

i got some new furniture made for me, and the place is coming together. i am working on getting a mural painted on my wall in the dining room. figuring that is a once in india kind of thing.

found out today that there is skiing in india, believe it or not. so the shipment of my ski boots wasn't all that unrealistic. now i am thinking the skies themselves would have come in handy.

so, i have these 'duh' moments which could also be called 'aha' moments i suppose, but i must admit to not knowing that tea in hindu is chai. chai isn't some sort of spicy indian tea. in fact it is just assam or darjeeling with milk and sugar. am i the only one in the world? please laugh at me, i have already laughed at myself. another duh moment was my realization that not all diplomats are gorgeous people. was that a hollywood myth? i keep looking for beautiful people. it's just a 'freak that i am' moment.

my recent thoughts about my experience: moving to third world india is nothing like moving to madrid was. home of the cafe con leche, the croissants, the street food that wasn't prepared by poopy hands. but there is something very distinct about actually being an adult and having to figure out how to set up your life in a new place. it makes it especially trying to have to bargain for every other thing, and also to battle the 95+ heat. oh, but the glory of seeing that ocassional monkey, or eating that samosa or smelling the lovely jasmine on the way home....it's all a very fine and delicate balance. i am currently dealing with a employee issue. i'm just not all that sure about the guy who is working for me. so i am in the process, with anju upstairs who is truly my guardian angel in delhi, of exiting him. he moves stuff around to weird places, and the whole aspect of common sense is just not there. of course, i am battling big time with letting him go....not wanting his family to go hungry, etc. i need to be much stronger than i am right now. i hope i don't come back to the states a real tough gal, or perhaps that could serve me well to.

dost shubh ratri ... good night friends

commenting the blog

yes please, keep commenting! but please do write your name when you post, especially if it is in question form. otherwise i don't know who you are:)
much love
b

achha

achha means 'good' in hindi. things are indeed achha. i started hindi this week. it's tough. the problem is it just goes into my spanish brain sector and hangs out there. i keep trying to relate it, somehow to what i know. not so wise. i need to make flash cards all over again.
what else? i got a haircut here. haircuts are universal wherever you go i suppose, but this one was good, as was the massage you get with it.

choraliers started today also. it's a choral group for the school community. that means all expats i am pretty sure. nonetheless it was sundar (beautiful) to be singing in a group again. my solfege needs some word as does my sight reading.

i went out with a new friend last night. carrie and donny from portland introduced me to raj via email and we met up last night for dinner. after dinner, italian oddly enough, we went to a bar and watched the end of the england-india cricket game. raj explained the whole game to me, and we got to see a bunch of indians get all emotional over the win. it was like american football, spain soccer, you get the idea. lots of hooting and hollering. i love it!

looking forward, very much so, to the weekend. tomorrow is delhi black, an expat party at a club...attire is, you guessed it, black. there is rumor that i might get my sea shipment on saturday, let's just say i am not holding my breath. when it does come i will be thrilled. reunited with old things. how darn materialistic? nah. just a taste of home.

much love to the west....or east, wherever you are.
xoxo
tomorrow milenge (until tomorrow, it is ok to use english words according to my teacher)

neemrana pics

Neemrana

it's raining.

these are the monsoon rains i suppose. they have been holding off until today, perhaps they could continue as to bring some more cool air our way. i just got back from an overnight stay at neemrana fort palace. school arranges this trip every year as a way for staff to get to know one another, relax and get out of the city. is is about 100 km southwest....in rajhastan. it was a 17th century fort that has been converted into what they call a "non-hotel." it was absolutely breathtaking, literally and physically. it is set within a hillside so there are stairs everywhere. but the views that it offers are some of the most incredible you have seen. i spent my 2 days laying by the pool, chatting with new colleagues, trying to read, and eating. it was delightful.

getting out of delhi is refreshing. going to this resort was great, but yet again, not very 'india.' i mean, if you think that being waited on by locals really gives you a down home good feeling, i suppose you might think it was india. for me it was still a tourist attraction, which i am beginning to realize is a little bit more of what my life is like.

very few people have indian friends. especially opposite gender indian friends. in fact, most people are very quick to tell you that the only reason indians want to get to know you is because your white. this i understand, somewhat. but i keep questioning whether there isn't that same preference anywhere you go? and that being in a pretty homogeneous cultural country (per se. i know that is a whole other bag of worms) just exaggerates it? while i know why people say it, i don't want to believe that any type of relationship i form here is based on my skin color.

the longer i am here, the less i understand about india. there is just no way to describe the rich cultures and traditions that exist. people are rooted in tradition that i cannot begin to understand yet.