India page 2 of 4
Hello all,
She found a phone in a mall in chennai that worked with the ATT phonecard. So I had a good, long talk with her before boarding the ship. She had just returned from a homestay in Erode (southern India).
The overnight train ride was "great", she spent time with a wonderful family. Overall the whole trip enabled her to really get a sense of rural India - the culture and people, "...open , welcoming, amazing!"
A group of 10 kids (elan,racheal, anna were mentioned) stayed with a Dr.'s family in Gobichettypapayam or "gobi" as she called it. 20 other kids split to another city for their homestay. They ate everything Indian and NO "delhi belly". She said they all became very close and experienced every moment to the fullest! They visited a "slum" area , sorry, not many details as I said.
Great news! A phobia has been cured! She has always had some driving anxiety. Forcing herself to brave the Taxi drivers has been a major challenge throughout the voyage. Well, India has done it! No more fear, LA. traffic will be a breeze.
She commented on how religious most Indians are and the resulting strength they possess to rise above their circumstances. Unlike in America, you are considered an "outcaste" if not religious.
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Julia [item22]
India
Dearly Beloved,
Before going to India I was told by various friends and faculty members the following things, India is the most intimidating port on the SAS itinerary, India will assault your senses, and India will chew you up, spit you back out and run you over. After spending five days in the hot sun, humidity, packed humanity of Chennai and Madurai I can certainly attest to these statements, but at the same time tell you that I cherished every single second of my stay. I�m actually sending this e-mail from the ship from a friend�s lap top rather than a caf� in the city. We actually have a day off, or as we call it a �TBA day� to recover before classes resume.
When we got to Chennai (previously Madras) it took about five hours of stress before we were cleared by the Indian officials to get off the ship. As what seems to be my style, my first view of Chennai was from a bus en route to an SAS program. I was required to go to the working women�s forum for my anthropology class and enjoyed the experience regardless. The forum helps uneducated women to find and keep jobs while teaching them about their roles as women in a changing Indian society. The meeting was conducted like a conversation where we were given a brief introduction about the forum and then asked questions. There were about forty Indian women who all wanted to tell their stories in relation to our questions. Some spoke about how their husbands and mother-in-laws forbid them from leaving their homes while others prided themselves on their single status.
That evening I started my Indian adventure with my friends Betsy and Joel. We decided to take a 12 hour night train to the small Indian city (1.3 million people) Madurai, which contained the Meenakshi temple, which is a huge active Hindu temple about this size of a medium sized college campus. We decided that we would spring for first class tickets (about 500 rupees or 10 dollars). First class in India, my friends, is about 758th class in the United States, which of course made it all the more fun. Private by no means, the narrow short beds folded down from the walls and were made of the same material that plastic cushion that restaurant booths are made from. There was one bathroom for the fifty people or so in our car, which of course was just a squatting hole. At that point I decided I liked the idea of holes in the ground. It much easier to squat over those than a toilet.
After about 11 hours and a decent night�s sleep we arrived in Maduari at 5 am. As we walked through the station and then outside, we passed people sleeping on the ground, covering all the free space as if they were washed up on the beach. We chose an auto rickshaw driver from the 300 trying to get our business and had him take us to a nice hotel to eat breakfast, clean up and start our day. I spent a lot of time in India traveling in the dirt cheap auto rickshaws which are essentially like dirty fast golf carts that will take you just about anywhere a taxi can. At five in the morning the streets of Madurai were packed with not only people, but with cows and hogs eating piles of trash.
After consulting our Lonely Planet Book at breakfast, we had our rickshaw driver take us to Meenakshi. We had to take our shoes off about a block from the entrance to the magnificent temple and walk barefoot over who knows what in the street and then for a few hours in the temple the size of a small town. The temple was positively bustling with activity as music blared from speakers, Hindus recited prayers and practiced rituals in several different locations, guides who spoke no English tried to escort us around for �only 100 rupees Madame!,� men came through playing drums and store keepers tried to sell us bangles and postcards. The mixture of incense and flowers gave the temple a foreign but wonderful aroma. There were elephants standing as still as statues who would take your money with their trunks and then pat you on the head as a blessing. The temple architecture consisted of towers completely covered by beautifully colored intricately carved Hindu figures.
We stayed for about three hours just walking around and observing everything going on, but I think I could have spent the whole day there. Madurai is a city known for its tailors who had absolutely no problem finding us three. I had a silk Indian outfit made for me and a silk skirt for a semi-reasonable Indian price, insanely reasonable U.S.A price. WE had a REAL rickshaw driver (a guy pulling us in a shaky cart on this bicycle) to the Gandhi museum, which housed Gandhi�s glasses and some of his clothes along with a very visual retelling of the Indian struggle for independence from Britain. For lunch we had the common dish of South India, the Thali, which was served on a banana leaf. It consists of two Dals (which I suppose are kinda like hollow tortillas only fried and smaller). You eat them with about seven different sauces which all had names and very unique spicy flavors. After the bread was gone they brought out rice to finish up the sauces. Of course we ate every bit of it, including the rice, with our hands. You won�t find silverware in India unless you are in a hotel or restaurant that hosts a lot of Westerners. It�s just one of the infinite cultural differences.
For the rest of the day we just walked around and explored on foot checking out the local stores and food stands while being stared at the entire time. The stares were of curiosity and were by no means threatening. I must have had at least 15 good conversations that day that started out with an Indian approaching me saying nothing more than �where from?�
After an exhausting, enlightening day I slept quite well on the train ride home. As soon as I returned, I cleaned up as best I could with no water (remember rationing?) and grabbed a toothbrush and film and left for my homestay and college visit. Sindhi college is a school that focuses on computer science. The college was incredibly simple with no more than desks and a chalk board in the classrooms. There was a room with about 20 computers for the entire student body. Considering that the majority of American companies have their back rooms in South India because of their technological abilities in regards to computers, it gave me an idea of what is really important in the learning process.
Bala, our host picked up me and three other SAS girls and we departed for his home. It was located about an hour from the harbor in a clean upper middle class neighborhood. Bala was a very well educated lawyer with a great high-pitched laugh who conducted classes in his home on Gandhian Thought and Sanskrit. He lived with his mother (as most Indian men do) and Aunt; two lovely older women who would not stop feeding us� tea, pomegranate, soda, homemade crackers.. all right after lunch. We sat in his Aunt�s bedroom for several hours talking and then singing. I told them I study music and they demanded a song. In return, Bala�s mother sang Carnatic (classical Indian music of the South) melodies. I pulled out some more show tunes, the other girls sang some spirituals, the national anthem and the women continued to sing for us for the next hour. At the same time visitors would constantly pop in to meet us without warning so that eventually there was about 20 people sitting in the �bedroom living room� with us. I have been studying Indian history, the caste system and Hinduism in one of my classes on the ship and the conversation I had with the Hindu next door made me understand Hinduism and Indian society 4000 times more than I did reading books and articles and listen to lectures. We visited another house were Nan�.(I can�t remember his name� I have it written down) played some interesting fusion music for us and a little girl performed a dance and then invited us to dance with her. We were then taken to a women�s house who made Saris (the outfit that every single women regardless or class wears) and sold them to us for REAL prices rather than the hundreds of dollars some kids were paying in the tourist shops. I got a beautiful purple one that has hand stitched flowers on it. For dinner we were taken to another house where we were served thalis once again.
After dinner and a great evening where we met so many people who just wanted to share everything they knew with us we retreated to another women�s home to sleep. I�m going to have to be honest and say that it was by far the most miserable night�s sleep of my life (I�m still suffering). It was raining and the power went out (it does that everywhere all the time in India) so we didn�t have any fans. As I mentioned before, I was in a hurry getting to my home stay trip and neglected to pack my bug spray. I laid in bed sweating everywhere possible and feeling bugs crawling all over my body and buzzing in my ears. Somehow I fell asleep and when I woke up I had hundreds of little red bumps on my legs, stomach, arms and neck, which, with all the medical staff on the ship, I�m trying to figure out why� Our best guesses are either fleas or chigger bugs. My roommate Jill woke up with bumps today and I�m continuing to get new ones so we are wearing bug spray and getting the room fumigated ASAP. So I suppose I get India a little longer than most (hey� at least I don�t have diarrhea.. or Delhi Belly).
The rest of my fourth day was basically the shopping and a movie day� an Indian movie that is. It was in Tamil so I have no idea what the title even was, but it was a really cool experience. India produces a ton more movies than Hollywood and almost all of them are like huge extended music videos with blatant acting and musical numbers.
On the last day I actually missed the trip I was supposed to go on due to a cold and lack of sleep, but I looked at is as an opportunity to visit Mother Teresa�s missionaries of charity orphanage. It was such an eye opening depressing experience that I don�t think my writing abilities can respect it. All of the orphanages function solely on donation and never turn a child away. The babies are usually adopted, but all the other children had physical or mental disabilities and unless someone is kind enough to dedicate his or her life to taking care of one of them, they will be there for life. Many times Semester at Sea offers programs where we go to poor areas and schools to play with children and it�s always sad, but at the same time a lot of fun. Well it�s quite difficult to run around and chase kids that can�t move, speak or even express themselves in a way we can understand at all. It�s so difficult to sit next to a five year old child in a crib hold his hand and talk or sing to him and receive absolutely no recognition. There were some children of all ages in better shape who we could make connections with and would smile at the slightest things. All I can do is hope that me and the rest of the Semester at Sea students that visited the orphanages gave enough love to brighten the days of those children. I hope to keep the memory with me to encourage me and others to visit similar places at home who need our help just as much as the one in Chennai.
Well, it seems as though I have written significantly more than normal and I still feel like I have barely expressed how much I have taken from my experiences in India. The poverty is completely in your face as soon as we walked out of the gated harbor and children would follow you around for at least a mile. My friends Gabe and Jonathan and I tried to buy shoes for some of the kids, but we found it impossible to go anywhere without being followed or hung on to by at least 10 people� It�s the most frustrating thing in the world to want to help people who have nothing, but to be unable to do so even when I have so much to give� India.. a land of contrasts. If you want to come to India with me when I go back, let me know sometime� for now I�m going to do some homework and try not to scratch my legs.
Love
Julia
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Christina India [item 23]
Subject: After India
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 09:31:44 -0500 (EST)
Greetings, everyone!
Well, we have left India and are now sailing through the Indian Ocean, soon to be in the Pacific! I have delayed writing this email, but I decided that I need to get it sent off since you are all probably curious as to what happened in India. Well, the reason I didn't want to write this email is that I had some strange feelings about India that I felt were not normal. However, in speaking to many, many other SAS students I have discovered, surprisingly, that a large portion of them feel the same as I do.
I was completely unprepared for what I experienced in India. Or, perhaps a better way to say it is that I was, in fact, too prepared. The India that I experienced was not at all the India that people had told me I would experience, and I left with a strange feeling inside - guilt. I feel guilty that India did not affect me the way I thought it should have. It affected me, of course, but so has every country that I have been to. India has left me feeling heartless and guilty, simply because I am not experiencing the distress and helplessness that so many told me that I would feel.
We arrived in Chennai (formerly Madras) on Saturday morning.
"You can smell India before you can see it" was one of the things I had been told, multiple times. I had also been told to bring an extra pair of shoes with me, because India would be so dirty I would want to throw them away afterwards. - "India will assault every one of your senses," they told me. You will see things you have never seen, beggars on the street will be grabbing you, it will smell horrible, etc - "It will be overwhelming, and full of contradictions. You will struggle not to cry." Dr. Doug informed us during pre-port that 80 percent of us would get "Delhi belly." In fact, we had no classes the day after India, because we would all be sick, not to mention mentally exhausted. - I had been excited about India until about a week before we arrived. Then, I began to wonder if I really wanted to go. I was scared, and not sure that this was an experience I wanted to have.
The morning we arrived, Yumika and I woke early to go up on deck and watch the ship dock, as we always do. "Well," Yumika said to me, "we can see India� but I can't smell it." "Maybe we are still too far away," I said. Later on, while waiting in line outside (the customs officials decided they needed to see each and every one of us, rather than doing all of our passports at once, as they did in the other countries) we still could not smell India. "Maybe it's because we're in the harbor," I told her. "It will probably be worse in the city� there aren't any people in this direct vicinity to litter or pollute." There was a smog cloud over the city, I noted.
It was after 1 PM before the ship was cleared and we were able to get off. Five people had trouble with their visas (they ended up never being able to get off the ship in India), and we were waiting with one of the girls to find out what would happen, so we didn't leave until almost 3 PM.
I braced myself before I walked off the ship. I took a deep breath, composed myself, and stepped into the sunlight. As we walked through the harbor area and closer to the street, I began to become nervous. I thought about what the dean had told us the night before. I didn't think I was prepared for the mob that would be waiting for us when we exited the gates� the beggars, the starving children, all of them grabbing at me. However, when I walked through the gate, the only people that "swarmed" me were the rickshaw drivers.
My roommate Janelle and I walked down the street a little ways before finding a 3-wheeled rickshaw, as we had been told to do. We also agreed on a price beforehand, as we had been told. We asked him to take us to an open-air market. "No shopping malls!" Janelle demanded emphatically.
I later learned that we were some of a very small minority of students who had actually gotten to an open-air market rather than a shopping center or the expensive emporiums that the drivers would take you to whether you wanted to go or not. They received a kickback from the store, maybe a hundred rupees, about two dollars, simply for bringing you there, even if you didn't buy anything. Every single one of us ended up at at least one of those stores while in India, sometimes multiple times because of different drivers who all wanted the money.
Anyway, Janelle and I spent a few hours walking around the market (our driver insisted on staying and driving us back and he followed us everywhere we went). It was interesting to see the market. At one point, we walked through a huge line that stretched on until it went around a corner and we couldn't tell where the end of it was. As we crossed through the line to the other side (it cut down the middle of the market) someone in line asked us where we were from. The United States, we told him. Houston, he asked. No, we said.
We asked what he was waiting in line for. To see God, he replied. He pointed to the front of the line, which led up some steps into a brightly decorated temple. God is up there. We walked up towards the temple, but could not see inside. We asked our driver. Apparently there was a Hindu god in the temple. At least, that was what we understood him to be saying (his English wasn't the best). There was also an elephant near the temple. This was something we got used to seeing in India� they were known as the blessing elephants, and you put a coin in their trunk and they hit you over the head with their trunk, blessing you. I never actually did this. I was going to, until my friend Tara got covered in elephant snot and commented that the elephants weren't exactly gentle with their blessing "taps".
Although I saw more cows walking the streets in India than I saw western people, I never felt uncomfortable. All the glances we received were purely out of curiosity, and I never felt threatened. In fact, India is the country that I have felt the safest in so far. It was more modern than I was expecting� billboards all over, traffic clogging the streets. It smelled bad when we drove over rivers or other water, but that was the only time. (Well, other than the normal bad smell of exhaust and pollution that is in any city.) There wasn't sewage running down the streets like I had expected� at some places in the slums there was a little, but no more than I'd seen in Brazil or Africa.
Anyway, after a bit more "shopping" (really just walking around) we returned to the ship to have dinner and shower because I had to meet my group to leave on my homestay. I did not participate in one of the Rotarian homestays in Chennai. I went to a rural village called Erode and did a homestay there. In order to get to Erode, we had to take an approximately seven-hour-long train ride. The trip to the station was interesting, with our leaders trying to keep us all together and doing a head count every single time we moved more than ten feet to a new locale.
The exciting thing about the train is that it was a sleeper train, which I have never been on before. The group of students I sat with were really nice, and although the train left at 11PM it was after midnight before I climbed up into the top bunk (actually kind of hard to do) and tried to settle in for the night. The sleeper train was fun, but not something I am dying to experience again. Three days later when I returned to Chennai sleep-deprived from waking up every time I tried to roll over in the narrow space and with a neck, shoulders, and upper back that are still incredibly sore (I miss my chiropractor!) I decided it would be a while before I did another sleeper train.
Well, when we awoke the next morning, we were pulling into Erode. We then divided into two groups. I was in the smaller group, and headed off with nine other students to Gobichettipalayam (which quickly became referred to as G-town, for obvious reasons).
I really lucked out. The kids I was with were great. We all got along really well, and they were all very respectful and didn't complain even when none of us had showered in three days. We also had no trip leaders, and therefore no authority figures constantly reminding us "we have to wake up early tomorrow, you should get to sleep" etc. It was nice to prove that we all were mature enough and (luckily, the group I was with) considerate enough to not be disrespectful and represent our country and the program well.
Our host family was wonderful (and incredibly large). We stayed in a really big house and the family was very kind. The food they served us was wonderful. They all stood around with different dishes and any time one of us started to run out of something on our plate they would rush over and give us more. In India one does not use silverware. It is also rude to eat with your left hand. So there we are, trying to rip bread in our right hands, scoop up rice and chutney, etc. It got kind of messy sometimes, but it was fun.
Our hosts ran a school, so the first morning we went to the school and watched the boys chant/pray. It was Sunday, so school was not in session, but the students that were there (I think they are boarded at the school) showed us around.
We went to a market where we walked around and looked at all the different fruits and herbs and things that were there. It was interesting� very colorful! And it all looked wonderful. Then we went to a farm where we walked around for a while and later watched as one of the men who owned the farm climbed a tree to get coconuts for all of us to drink. We then went to a sugarcane place and got to see every step that goes into turning sugarcane into actual sugar. It was pretty neat, and let me tell you� real sugar looks and tastes nothing like the processed stuff that we know as sugar in the U.S.
We had a late lunch at the home of our host family's sister. It was wonderful. Then they had us all lie down for a while and take a nap. After our nap, we headed out again, this time to a textile factory where we saw them dyeing the cloth and all the different steps that went into getting it ready to be exported.
We then returned to the house we had lunch at and our host family showed us their pictures from weddings and other things, and then we had a long discussion with them ranging from everything about their society to what they thought of the war against Iraq. (Let me tell you, they did not seem to think very highly of Bush or his decisions, or some of the things our country has done in the past. They were very opinionated about everything. It was really interesting.) Then we had a late dinner and headed back to the original house where we would be staying the night. Once again, I stayed up late talking with my new friends (about 12:30), which couldn't really be helped, seeing as I was sleeping in a bed with two other people.
The next morning we met up with the other group of students at a school in Erode, where we had breakfast. Then we traveled on to Bhavani Temple, where we spent about an hour and a half going into the different temples and learning about the gods that they were for.
This temple is on a spot where three rivers meet (although one of the "rivers" was an underground spring) and any place that three rivers meet is considered to be very holy. In fact, our hosts told us, this could be compared to about as close a place that existed in the south comparable to the Ganges in the North. Indeed, we saw people bathing in the shallow river, and we learned that many people have their ashes dumped into the river after they die. However, I did not think it had quite the effect that the Ganges and Varanasi would have had on me.
After the temple we went to a carpet-weaving center, where everybody bought things. Since this was the place they were made, the prices had not been marked up. I myself bought a bed cover (yellow) that would fit a double bed and four pillow cases (red, purple, green, and pink) that came out to the equivalent of about twelve dollars. We then returned to the school for lunch.
After lunch, we went to a school for physically handicapped children. Most of the children had deformed feet or legs that made it hard for them to walk, although some had other ailments such as holes in their cleft palettes. The children were incredibly sweet, and they preformed many things for us, including a karate demonstration, a skit, and chanting. In return, we performed for them.
We had been aware this would happen, but we had not prepared much ahead of time. Ever resourceful, one of the students did gymnastics, one did Kung Fu, we all sang to them (the national anthem� something we all knew. We were going to sing John Lennon's "Imagine" also, but it didn't happen). We also helped bring the rain to India (snapping, patting your legs, etc to make sounds of a storm), and a couple of other things (like teaching them to do the wave).
The kids were thrilled. They said that Semester at Sea had never preformed that much in return for them. We had a short time to play with the kids and then we went to another school. Then the kids there (six 13-year-olds) did a dance for us to traditional Indian music and it was so amazing! They did an awesome job, even though they had only had two days to prepare.
We then visited a Sidda factory where they make herbal medicines. We got to see all the different herbs and every step that goes into actually turning them into pills. This is one of only a few places in the world that makes the types of medicines that they do, and they are the largest exporter of them in the world.
We then had a short meditation session, then went to dinner and back to the train station, where we said goodbye to our hosts. Another night on the sleeper train, and we arrived in Chennai at about six the next morning.
After taking a wonderful shower (any shower feels wonderful after walking around in 90-degree heat for two days without one), I met my friend Helen and we went into the city to a place called T. Nadar to do some shopping. Then we returned to the ship to leave on a trip through SAS. We went to a lecture on poverty and gender issues, and then went to the "slums" to walk around. Even here, I found that what I witnessed was not as horrible as what I was expecting. Maybe it is just hard to see such horrible things when you are surrounded by such beautiful, kind people. After returning to the ship and having dinner, I was exhausted after my last three nights of barely any sleep. I decided to stay in for the night, and take it easy.
The last day in Chennai, my friend Yumika was supposed to be returning from her own homestay, and we had made plans to go to one of the famous Indian movies we had heard so much about. The film industry in India is huge, and the movies are a grand experience: people clap, boo at the characters, everything. We were both excited to be going. However, the time she was supposed to meet me came and went, and I sat on the ship, wondering what had happened. Finally it was the time that we had agreed that if she weren't there, I would go do something on my own. (I later found out that she hadn't stood me up - it was a situation beyond her control).
However, all my friends were on trips or already out in the city. I went and sat next to the gangway, waiting for a group of people that I would ask to join (I actually did this in Brazil, also, and it worked out well then). After sitting there for about 45 minutes with no prospects (I didn't feel like asking the group of snobby sorority girls, the professors, or the guys who were discussing about how their time in India so far had consisted of getting drunk and passing out on the beach. I figured if I went with the first or last group I listed, some of us would not end up coming back to the ship alive� and I don't mean me).
Finally, I saw my friend Jon walking out with another girl I knew. I jumped up, asked if I could join them, and set out into the city for the final day. We went to Spenser's, the mall in Chennai, where we met up with an Indian boy that my friends had introduced to me the day before. We shopped around a little, and went to an Internet caf�, and then returned to the ship. Right as I walked into the port area, Yumika and two other friends were walking out, so I turned around and went right back to Spenser's again. Today was the only time that I had actually gone somewhere and seen other SAS kids, maybe because I hadn't gone to the mall before now, but it was swarming with them!
When we got back to the dock, Yumika had taken out 40 rupees to give the rickshaw driver (which is a little less than a dollar) in addition to what we had agreed on, when a woman ran over and snatched the money from her and ran about ten feet away. She stopped, looked at us, and counted the money. As we got out of the rickshaw she ran into the street and then away. It wasn't a big deal, it was only 40 rupees, and the lady definitely needed it more than we did. But it was a surprise how quickly it happened and it was kind of sad to see. Actually, the end of our last day was the only time since we were in India that the harbor had had a large amount of people in it. It wasn't as many as they had warned us about, but there were some children begging and pushy people trying to sell us things or get into their rickshaws.
So, I left India. I left it without the feelings that my life would never be the same again. I left without the feelings that I had witnessed horrible atrocities. I left it without the images of dirty children begging me for change haunting my dreams. I left with a feeling of guilt that I did not feel these things. It changed me as much as every port has� but it was not the change I had expected. I left thinking that I would like to return someday� for many reasons. Considering I hadn't been sure I wanted to go the first time, that was a surprise to me. I left India with my shoes� the extra pair of old shoes that I had brought, expecting to be so filthy I would throw them out. I laughed, thinking my shoes had been dirtier on my safari
So, I guess I do need more time to evaluate my feelings of India, just like they told me I would. I need to evaluate why I didn't have those experiences - did I just not witness what other people did, did it not affect me the same way, or was everything simply exaggerated beforehand? It's almost as if no one was willing to admit India hadn't affected them like everyone said it would, so they played along, telling their horror stories and exaggerating their experiences. Interestingly enough, the majority of people I have talked to seem to feel the same as I do� and I know that this ship is not full of heartless, uncaring people. So, I guess I'll just have to wait and see�
I hope you are all well, and you're staying warm and safe during the Colorado blizzards. (By the way, thanks to the THREE people who all sent me pictures/comics of snow "just in case you forgot what it looks like").
Only six weeks until I'm back. I can't believe it is that soon!
Best wishes,
Christina
Mary A [item 24]
India
On the first day of the voyage the dean told us �India will assault you,� I have discovered there really is no other way to describe it. From the moment I stepped off the ship, India assaulted every one of my senses. The sounding horns of cars, motorcycles, and rickshaws alike all swerving in and out of traffic lanes, the tastes of all the different foods in the north and the south, the smells so strong and sometimes nauseating, the feeling of the overwhelming heat and dirt against my skin, and some of the most depressing sites of poverty I have ever seen.
I spent my final day in Chennai in the markets shopping and just taking it all in. I went out in the late afternoon with a friend to hand out some of the 350 lollipops I brought on the ship. It was so wonderful to see the smiles on the kids� faces, we stopped to play with a group of 3 kids, despite the language barrier we had so much fun clapping, jumping, and laughing together. I witnessed the most heartbreaking scene of my India experience as I was entering the port area to board the ship. There was a group of 3 kids who were walking down the street with us and we all waved goodbye to each other, they turned around and started asking the next group of SAS students walking in the port for some treats or money and I looked back and saw a police officer picking them up and throwing the kids into a police car. My heart sank as I heard them scream, it was so hard to turn away knowing that there was nothing I could do.
India was definitely a country of contrast, the joy and colors with the celebration of Holi mixed with starving children passing off their food to their parents, and the peace and serenity in the temples of such a spiritual community, mixed with death defying rides in rickshaws swerving just inches away from trucks, motorcycles, and cars.
Between SARS and the war there are many strained faces in the administration office and I am confident they will make the best decisions with our safety in mind. They do not seem to be too concerned with the way other countries will receive us. Every port we have been to I continue to be amazed at people�s ability to separate people from the government. People are aware that we are not the ones making the decisions of the government and they don�t blame us for the decisions being made. I am really impressed by this as I feel like in the US if we meet someone from another country we tend to associate the actions of one�s government with that person.
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Laura K India [item25]
N/E ways�India was indescribable. It was the most foreign country I have ever been to. I got off the ship and left for my trip straight away. We took a bus to the train station. It was an interesting first view. It was very hot and humid. People were all over the place. A lot of poverty. But I couldn�t see too much from the bus. The airport was not very crowded and we quickly boarded. The flight was ok- I don�t know why I really don�t like flying. It was quite turbulent and bumpy at times with some huge drops. But we made it safely. Then we got to our hotel. This place was amazing. It was a 5+ star hotel. My roommate was Lisa, a really great girl. We talked for hours every night and had a lot of fun. I ate dinner with some friends at Chinatown restaurant. It was wonderful food. There was a hilarious band playing US songs, like Shaggy, Guns N� Roses�so funny. My friend Melody and I started a dance party and soon all joined in, it was fun. We later danced in a club that is 25 and over, but special free entry for us all night. It was a lot of fun. They played mostly rap and hip hop, but I liked dancing to the Indian music the best
We woke up at 5 am and left for the train station. This place was mayhem. It was about 6:30am and so packed. People everywhere. All over the place. People begging, dirty children pointing to their stomachs and their mouths, holding their hands out, just begging begging. It was so sad. We all got box breakfasts on the ride to the station, I wasn�t hungry so early so I planned on saving it�but I just had to give it away. I eat everyday multiple times a day and I just couldn�t keep this food in my bag for later, while all these people were so hungry now and always. The second I reached to open my bag I was surrounded, hands grabbed at me faster than anything the second I pulled the food out it was gone. It was crazy. The train station was filled with beggars and poor people. Unlike anything I have ever ever seen. There were some business people dressed in suits and beautiful sarees.
The train ride took us to Agra. Here we went to another hotel. Also nice but not as nice. In Agra we saw the Taj. It was beautiful. There were a lot of Indian tourists there, more than I expected. They all wanted to take our pictures with them. The grounds were beautiful with a long water pool down the middle, and beautiful plants all over. Inside were the tombs of Shan Jihan and his wife who he built the Taj for. We also saw the Red Fort which was neat too. We got to watch the sun nearly set at the Taj. It turned the white marble red. People all over try to take you to the best place for a picture and then ask for money. There were hustlers all over the place. They walked with you trying to sell things. It didn�t bother me too much b/c I know they need money.
Then the next day we got a city tour and went to Mother Teresa�s Ashram. It was the 4th orphanage/house of the dead and dying built in India. It was such a tough but touching experience. When we walked in, it was so overwhelming. We walked down two big open hallways. One was for men and the other for women. At first I was very nervous to touch them. It is sad to say, but I was. Many were crippled, lying there unable to move, many were blind, and mentally and physically disabled. I felt so uncomfortable b/c we just walked down the halls looking at these people like they were a spectacle. I felt rude. After walking through the halls and looking at some of their living quarters, where a few people lay unable to move, we went to the orphanage. I stayed back with Karen and Jamie. Jamie had pennies and we were playing with the pennies with the women. They loved it. We shook them in our hands, flipped them�I never knew pennies could bring so many smiles.
We then went to the orphanage. It was so sad. But it was really crowded with all the SASers so I went back to the women�s hallway. At first I was kinda nervous being there alone, but then it was fine. I just sat there with them, held their hands, communicated somehow, and tried to do anything to make them smile, like put my sunglasses on and pose. They like that. They all just wanted to hold my hands and have me sit there. A nun said the bus was leaving so I got up to go, one woman started crying. It was so sad. I felt like I did nothing by just being there, but they liked it. But only the first bus was leaving so I was able to go to the orphanage. Only about 10 of us were left. We were out playing with the kids who could run around and play. And they were adorable, but they always get the attention. I looked around the corner in an outside courtyard, there was this adorable baby prob about 10 months sitting there so contently playing with a piece of popped balloon. It was so sad. He was happy and occupying himself with a shred of balloon. After a while a nun (1 of the 7 who work there for all the kids and adults) took him to the front to play.
I went inside and it was so so sad. Tiny babies, smaller than Jack and Makenna were when they were born, laid under lights in little cribs, and babies only a few months old just laid there, not crying and barely moving. I went to the other room where about 12 kids laid in cribs that were bunched together in 4. These kids were the most severely disabled. I rubbed one blind boys arm and he smiled and started making noises. He tried to lift himself up, but he was too weak. He was probably about 3 yrs. old. I lifted him into the air over and over. He loved it. He had the strongest grip of any child ever. He would not let me put him down. And cried when I tried to pry away and lay him back down. It was so sad. All they wanted was someone to hold them and touch them. They were all like this. I tried to give all of them attention and touch. They were so frail and sad to look at, but I knew they needed it. I didn�t want to leave, I could have stayed there all day. But we had to go too soon. I cry now just thinking about it. I was really glad we had the opportunity to do that b/c it was not scheduled.
Agra and Delhi were both amazing. It was unreal how one block had huge beautiful houses, and then a block later there were tarp homes with people scrimmaging for food and living on the street. The spectrum from rich to poor was incredible. Agra�s streets were filled with trash and animals who ate it, while Delhi was filled with beautiful flowers
The last day I went on a rural India trip. I didn�t want to but it was great. We saw rural villages and got to interact with the people. A dog almost attacked me. I guess I was too close to his owners. We also saw a farm and a museum with replica homes from Indian�s past. And crafts people, the glass blower was cool. Then I went to the mall w/ Karli- she is a pirate also and her mom is always on the message board- I bet you know her�and another girl. We took a rickshaw. What a crazy experience. There are no rules on the roads. People drive all over, fast, slow, pass each other, almost hit pedestrians and cows, play chicken on the wrong side of the road. It is pretty crazy. The rickshaws reminded me of the haunted house chairs at Santa Cruz, with a drivers seat added. We told the driver the mall, but they try to take you to all these other stores b/c they get paid off for bringing people there. We argued and argued with ours, he wanted to take us to 4 other shops, I told him 2 and we would pay less�it was funny going back and forth. He was a nice guy- he said I seemed angry but I was just playing along. I didn�t really mind stopping at other stops- we watched him get paid off tho he tried to do it slyly. It was funny.
India was def an interesting place. The poverty was worse than I have ever seen. People peed all over the place and then slept in the same place on the streets. I never knew there could be so many smells outside. Humid hotness smells, rotting food, sweaty people, urine, sewage, and so much more that I can�t describe. The begging people were everywhere. One night we got personal pizzas from Pizza Hut- man have I been craving pizza. But I couldn�t eat much. I knew we were going to the train station so I saved it for someone there. I was hungry for it but I wasn�t when I thought about all the people who needed it so much more than I did. I felt much better giving it away than I would have eating it. All the emotions I felt and went through are tough to describe. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced. We are billionaires to them. Seeing the begging people and the children in the streets made me not want to go shopping and not spend my money on worthless material items. Then I was even disappointed w/ myself when I came back to the ship and wished I had bought things that others got. India was incredible
Well�this is an extremely long e-mail I hope you liked it, it is almost 2 am but I slept a lot today. I love you both so much and miss you a lot. Take care. Love you!!!!
Love, Laura
Jen [item26]
I don�t even know where to start. So the other day I was walking around India and I got stopped from crossing the road by the longest train in the history of the universe and while you�re waiting you have about fifty people who drive rickshaws asking if you need a ride to the ATM or to go shopping, then you have a whole bunch of children asking if you have chocolates or a pen for them, about four guys trying to sell you post cards and a midget asking for change�and to top it all off the train stops because there�s a cow in the way so you have to wait even longer for it to get it�s huge cow butt off the tracks��
We were told before we got to port that India was a country that gets into your blood�and that is exactly what it did�not literally but it was so easy to fall in love with it. I didn�t know what to expect they told us that it would assault your senses, that women would shove dying children in your face, that cows would be everywhere yeah there was that but there is so much more. There is the smell of incense and jasmine everywhere. The streets are lined with fruit stacked in diamonds, women riding motor bikes in brightly colored sarees. Temples on every street corner.
The city was amazing every bit of it. On the first day we walked off of the gang plank and there we had to go thru three guarded areas to make it to the street. At the street we went thru a whole bunch of rickshaws to a taxi where we paid a man to take us (Eric, Tony, Mike and I) to Kancheepuram, the city of a 1000 temples. It was wonderful after our hour and a half drive (it was so long because we had to stop for every cow that decided to cross the road) we drove into the town.
We were showed around the temple by the priest�s son. We left our shoes with a woman and walked thru. We saw the back of the temple that no one else is privileged enough to see. We were blessed by Shiva given incense and had jasmine wrapped around us. This would mark the first of my jasmine experiences, there wasn�t one day where I didn�t have jasmine given to me. In India in the morning before you leave your house the women put fresh Jasmine in their hair (a kind of perfume). I will never smell jasmine again without thinking of India. After our trip out of the city Tony and I preceded on a quest to see a movie. Well we had a rickshaw driver take us to a theater that had been recommended earlier that day. We got there only to see that we were late for the only non-american movie so we quit that idea and our driver insisted that we go see a store that he was friends of (when really they get a kickback for every sale).
The store was ridiculously priced and we treated it as more of a museum than anything else. The guys who worked there were funny and it was an enjoyable experience none the less. So with the night still being young we decided to go with 4 other girls to find a bar to get a drink at. We ended up at the Marine�s Club where there were maybe 8 Indian guys and three guys in a band who played an Indian version of Another Brick in the Wall, Yellow Submarine and other Classics. The second day I lucked out and managed to hang out with the lady in charge of the field office and a wealthy couple from Chennai. They took us to Dakshina Shitra, an Arts village. The place was amazing I saw shadow puppets, a street theater troupe where two men were dressed as very convincing women (one of the guys I think was sure that I thought he was really a women but in reality his voice scared the crap out of me when it was really low). I had Henna done on one hand, had my fortune told by a parrot and was led in a meditation and hindu song session all for free. It was so much fun. The next day I left for my home stay.
I ended up staying with 3 other girls (Haley, Janelle and Tori) we were hosted by a man in his 30�s who was still in school named Krishna. We stayed at his house with his Mom, who was just the cutest little old lady, his dad, also adorable, and his aunt Utha, and his blind uncle. The four of us ended up having to share one queen size bed, it was cozy. His father got a kick out of the way I prance and dance around to every thing�he was always laughing at me and making fun of me in a language I didn�t understand. We had a variety of foods in their stay, some of it I liked and some of it was REALLY hot, still I was brave. One of the weirdest foods was a coconut and dill sauce it was absolutely confusing to the pallet. We went to get more Henna done at a shop of Utha�s friend. We had to sleep with it on so when we woke up there were little bits of henna stuck to us. We also met a neighbor girl who was also 20 and she is a professional dancer and she showed us a few moves.
The next day we went to Mahabalipuram another holy city. It was a fun day but the best part was visiting the Crocodile bank. They had every species of crocs there and also did venom extraction of snakes. It was so cool. We saw them call the crocs and feed them and at one point there were two crocs just sitting so close with their jaws open waiting for food, so close I could just lean over and touch them, I would have lost my hand but I could have touched them.
That day was also a holiday called Holi. A festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of summer. Basically everybody runs around in white throwing colored powder, especially bright pink, at each other and attacking people with colored perfumed water. Some of the members of our group are still stained red. I was lucky and it all came off of me. For those of you back at school I�m thinking that it might come to Alfred next year as a program, outside of course Brenda.
The last day was very sad I didn�t want to go. His family was wonderful and every moment was special and amazing. They spoiled us. We went saree shopping and went out to lunch before they dropped us back at the ship. I was so sad to say good bye to India. The poverty and begging children mixed with their beauty is still overwhelming and hard to deal with but even in those people who I�m sure haven�t eaten in days they are happy just to see a new face. It�s that innocence that I miss. I need to go back. I have place to stay. Utha tried to convince me not to go back with the ship but I have a little too much invested in this trip not to come back. Everything is I don�t know how explain it. I cried all last night because my body was simply overflowing with emotions as I slowly digested everything I had seen. In love with a country, I was angry at myself for not giving more to those who needed it and yelling at children who would just not leave you alone, I missed my new family and knowing the starting war on top of it was a lot to take in. but even still If know I have to go back. I met some girls who took a couple of children who were homeless on the street for the day. They took them to the mall, bought them lunch and dinner got them a new set of clothes and took them to a movie. I think that that had to be one of the sweetest things I had ever heard. It probably only cost them 10 dollars, 500 rupees, each because everything is so cheep in India but it probably made a world of difference to that child. I�m thinking of maybe doing something similar in Vietnam or china. I also heard a story of an Older lady who 27 years ago adopted a baby boy from an orphanage in northern India. They went to go visit it to see where their child had lived and been taken in. She also told us that their son is now going thru the adoption process to try an get a child from that same orphanage. So you could just see on her face how much it meant to her to see where her child and grandchild will and have come from. Even now just thinking about the country makes me want to cry.
Those 5 days that I spent are amongst my happiest ever. I met not a single scorning face everyone welcomed you in, even when I was behind the tourist curtain. A little boy came over while we were at the tailor and asked me if I was sick, because my skin was so pale. I suppose you guys will never understand what I feel, unless you go.
So in 4days we will be in Vietnam and another 3 days after that in China. The time is going so fast now. Before long I�ll be arriving in the Rochester airport. I hope this gets to everyone. I miss and love you all so much. If anyone has any questions go ahead and ask. I look forward to hearing from every one�.and um mail would be really nice too�.hint�.hint�.
Love always
Jen
P.S. stay tuned
Ok yeah so we just had a meeting and they have, due to the virus in south east asia, cancelled our next two ports. They are Vietnam�.very sad�.and Hong Kong��they don�t know yet where we are going�but as soon as I know I�ll let you know. I hope it�s some where fun. Basically they are ruling out all of basically s.e. asia but not all of main land china. They tell us that northern china according to the CDC is ok so far. So there is the possibility of going to china still. They also told us that if one person gets infected that our ship will be quarantined and red flagged�forced to drop anchor and not be allowed to go any further until it is deemed safe�.which will mean no japan or korea�.well I�ll let y�all know so stay tuned.
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Lindsey Lee [item27]
India
�Madam! Madam! Please Madam!... Madam! Madam! Please, PLEASE Madam!�
�Please what?� I wanted to ask. �Please give you money, or please give you food? Please take you away from this place filled with pollution and exhaust that your tiny pink lungs inhale everyday? Please take you away from the horrid smell of filth, sewage and other human feces? Please give you shoes for your tiny, dirty, calloused feet? Or please explain to your mother that you should be playing and being a child like other kids as she pushes you from her familiar side into the crowd of foreigners so that you can beg while they look at you with disgust and shove you aside as they pass by with their shopping bags? Or is it that you want to know and understand why these foreigners immediately reach for their hand sanitizer cream after you touch their hands to tell them your name and ask for some help? Please Madam what?�
If you want me to look into your face, I can not. I can not gaze into your eyes for I fear that they will haunt me forever. I can not give you any money or anything at that because I know that if I do I will be engulfed by the swarming crowd of beggars. I shut my eyes as I pass the mass of starving children and pretend that I am somewhere else until I am able to pass the security gate back on to my ship� but no matter how hard I try your sweet, innocent little voice pleading for my help will not fade away�
�Please Madam please! Please Madam! Madam!�
I sit here and fell paralyzed by the blank screen not knowing what to write or where to begin. After India I will never be the same. For the first time it is all coming together and really hitting hard. I do not know what to make of this place. At times I shared some of the most beautiful and full smiles with these people and at other times I fought back some of the biggest and full drops of tears from rolling down my face.
We arrived in Chennai on Saturday and after clearing customs we stepped out into the heat. It started immediately... through the security gate I was bombarded with begging children and adults and grabbed at by rickshaw drivers (form of taxi) trying to take me anywhere but where I wanted to go� I was with Khiran and we decided to head to Spencer�s Plaza to do some shopping. We climbed into the back of a rickshaw and pulled out into the most chaotic insane driving I have ever experienced. Cars, trucks, motor bikes and rickshaws whizzed and buzzed all around in what seemed to be all different directions. Horns blared non stop from everywhere as the worst smell of sewage filled my nostrils. I could almost feel the exhaust and pollution coat my face one layer at a time. People were everywhere.
Khiran and I spent the day shopping and headed back to the ship to meet up with the others. That night Melanie, Erika, Ryan, Khiran and I spent and hour arguing with the rickshaw drivers who were quadrupling, if not more, the price for a ride to a nearby night club. We finally managed to work out a price and off we went. We arrived at The Flame, an upper scale bar and disco connected to a five star hotel. At the door we met 4 guys that are pilots for Kuwait Air. They had connection at the club so we got in free and enjoyed drinks on them. Later in the night me and Erika went to dance with a few of them. It may have been the most hilarious experience I have ever had! Talk about not knowing how to dance! It was TERRIBLE! LOL! The guy dancing with Erika was ballroom dancing and throwing her around like a rag doll! I was dying laughing! Meanwhile my guy was doing what I would call the boogie woogie and occasionally his 5� 6� self would decide to throw me back and dip me! Man! Other guys tried to cut in to dance and they would start �boogie wooging� their way right in and the guy I was dancing with would push him aside by smacking him with his hips sending the other guys bouncing across the floor� this continues for a while before I decided to head back to the group! The guys were getting a little out of hand.
I headed back to 6�5� football playing Ryan where I knew I would be safe. WHEW! We had a great night though and headed back to the ship around 6 AM. The following day I did the shopping thing again with Khiran but this time we decided to go to a more ethnic market. The rickshaw driver had other plans for us and drove us into the middle of a festival way out in the village! We drove around for an hour for who knows what but it was interesting to see. Finally we arrived for our destination T Nagar Market. The driver tried to rip us off but Khiran went crazy and told him off and walked away with all our money.
Throughout the day I was followed by a little boy begging at my side. I took a liking to him as he began to copy me and sounds I would make. He must have followed me for hours. Khiran and I stopped at a bakery and ordered some food including an extra pizza for my new friend. I gave it to him once outside but he did not even seem to want it� it was then that I noticed a midget man following closely watching our every move and figured it was his �pimp�. Children are often used as beggars and are pimped by a man who takes their money and in turn takes care of these homeless children.
I refused to give him any more than the food and we climbed into a taxi and headed back to the ship. That night we relaxed and prepared for the next day. The following day I left around noon for my service visit for children used in sweat factories called RIDE. We then took a bus for a 3 hour drive deep into rural India. Upon arrival I was greeted by all the village people as they stood on their front stoops watching and waving as I hiked down the dirt rode carrying only my backpack. Once at my families home I was served tea and a cracker and then we headed to a nearby school.
The school was a small room filled with around 20 children all sitting on the floor with either chalk and a small board or a pencil stub and a small note pad. The children were so happy to see me! They ranged from preschool to 2nd grade. They sang me songs and handed me their boards or paper pads so that I would sign them to show their parents. I handed out pens to all of them which was a huge hit! I said my goodbyes and headed to the village were the women held their support groups.
The whole village stood outside and greeted me with curiosity as I arrived. I spoke with the women about how the RIDE program was helping for the rights of the children and preventing child labor. At the end of the meeting all of the room came to meet me and introduced themselves and wanted to know my name and shake my hand! It was amazing and they were so kind. I showed them my video camera and they loved to look at themselves in the LCD screen! It was a big hit!
I continued into the village where I visited a loom with 2 men hand making fabric from silk, I also visited an Indian hut home. As I stepped outside I was horded with crowds of people wanting to shake my hand and have my autograph. They all wanted to have their pictures taken with their families! It was so touching. Their smiles felt so genuine and I really felt a part of their community! They were so happy to have me and the children were the best. I climbed back onto the bus as the village stood outside my window smiling and waving goodbye! I felt so good and could feel the love.
That night I enjoyed a traditional Indian dinner in the family�s home which I ate by hand. Then we headed to the cultural center were a dancing performance was held by some children. It was so cute and they were so excited to meet me. That night I fell asleep in my bag on the cement floor as the lightening and thunder bursted around me! The silhouette of the village under the lightening was amazing! The next day I hiked back through the village to my bus as the people came out to say their goodbyes! It was hard to leave this amazing community! On the trip home we stopped at a temple. I was blessed by the priest in a dark room lit by candle in the center of the age old, stone fortress! It was almost hypnotic!
The next 2 days I spent with my friends wandering around the city of Chennai doing some more shopping and interacting with the people. The last day in Chennai we headed to Mother Theresa�s Orphanage by rickshaw. Nobody in India seemed to know where it was but we finally managed to make it. I passed through the iron gate into the orphanage and was greeted by one of the sisters. The house was a 3 story building that resembled a church. What I was about to step into I did not prepare myself enough for. Once inside a few children that are mentally handicapped ran up to me grabbing at me wanting me to play with them, pick them up or whatever. I was in a large room lined with cribs. The cribs were filled with little bodies lying there motionless. Some were missing legs, some had no eyes, some had no idea that I was there or they were for that matter. I immediately ran right back out and tried to stop the tears that fell anyways. I did not want the children to see me so weak. I regained my composure and took a few breaths and stepped back inside� One child lay kicking his undersized deformed legs as he moaned an awful sound. His face was badly deformed. His mouth and nose were molded together and his hands attached to his shoulders. His body appeared to be the size of a 3 month old infant yet he was 3 years old. I tickled his tummy as he let out what seemed to be a laugh but when I stopped he moaned the most heart wrenching sound you can imagine as he spinned his little mangled body around his 4 by 2 foot crib. A small girl with the biggest eyes and brightest smile pulled at my leg and motioned for me to pick her up so I did. She laid her little pig tailed head on my shoulder and would not let go. I headed upstairs where their was more cribs with lifeless bodies and a row of boys laying on the ground as the sisters fed them what looked inedible.. a mashed compilation. I tried my best to make contact with all the children by stroking their arms and heads as they lay their. I took the little girl outside and let her down as she played... running after the birds. It was time to go but I could not move. I wanted to do more, I felt so helpless. I donated the rest of my money to the sister for the foundation and thanked her for her hospitality and thanked her for doing what she does. As I stepped out of the gate I was attacked by old beggars and taxi drivers� I hugged my purse and climbed into the rickshaw that dropped me off near the ship only to go through another crowd of less fortunate� I climbed on the ship not knowing what to think but that what I had just saw would forever burn in my memory�.
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�Don�t give to the beggars�
Don�t give to the beggars, they said. So I didn�t, and my heart ached as I
turned and walked away from a 4 year-old starving child.
Don�t give to the beggars, they said. So I hid my money and walked away from a
thin mother and her two children, carrying all my packages�
Don�t give to the beggars, they said. So I pushed away the little children
grabbing at my arms and tried not to cry.
Don�t give to the beggars, they said. So I laughed nervously as a leper
clutched at my friend, laughed because it was easier than to cry.
Don�t give to the beggars, they said. So I walked for blocks, trying to ignore
the kids at my side� running away instead of staying to help.
Don�t give to the beggars, they said. I thought I hadn�t, but I was wrong� I
did give, each and every time� a part of me, na�ve to the pains of others, to
the horror of others.
I gave them my innocence and they gave me their pain.
And after India I will never be the same.
