Haridwar and the Commonwealth Games

I know you've all been glued to your computers waiting for my next post. So, here it is, a mere day and a half after the last one. (You should all try visualizing someone whose face is literally glued to their computer screen... It made me laugh... Twice.)

Anyway, last Saturday we went to the city of Haridwar, which is on the Ganges River and has an important Hindu temple, along with a huge Shiva statue. Shiva is said to be the destroyer god, but he also brings about rebirth, and the Ganges is supposed to flow down his hair. (River... rebirth... and all that). The Ganges was not as nasty as I expected it to be, but I'm told it gets worse at more important holy sites like Varanasi. We saw people swimming, drinking the water, washing their clothes, and there were idols in it too, among other things. There was no sign of the alleged red skin eating sludge though. In any case, I opted not to get in the water. The temple was high up in the mountains, and we took a gondola up there. It was like getting in a Ferris Wheel at Frontier City. We wandered around, looked at all the gods, and then made our way back out. Before you can leave, you have to walk by all the vendors that sell everything from tiny idols, to jewelry with scriptures on it, to Hannah Montana toys. Not to mention "Famous American Corn". The lines to the exit are long and narrow. They have to be narrow otherwise there would be no such thing as a "line," it would be a huge number of people all crowding their way on to gondolas. At one point, we saw the "emergency exit". It was a door that opened off the side of a cliff. I guess the idea is to gauge the emergency and decide if there's a chance you might survive, or if you should just leap off and die faster. Mercifully, we did not have to make such a decision.

Yesterday, we went to the Commonwealth Games. It's kind of like the Olympics for former members of the British Commonwealth. There was a choice between Badminton and Squash. I chose Badminton because I could not imagine anyone taking that game seriously. So, my friend and I set out. We walked quite some distance before we found a baby taxi to take us the rest of the way. Or so we thought... Our driver took us exactly 3 blocks, before arriving the athletes entrance to the game. Obviously, this was not where we wanted to be and we tried everything to convince our driver of that fact, but he would not believe us. He even brought over others to confirm his wrong opinion. Finally, out of options, we got out and continued on foot. What should have been a 5 minute ride, took us an hour and twenty minutes to walk. Then we went though security. The policewoman patted me down and then for some unknown reason took my hand and put it behind my back. Just one hand. She proceeded to move my hand from place to place on my back and twist me around, all the while speaking to me in Hindi, clearly expecting me to do what she said. It was really frustrating. My thought process went something like this:

Do you see me? White skin, blond hair, REALLY confused expression? Obviously, I don't understand and I have nothing remotely dangerous with me.

Finally, she let go of my hand. I don't know if we were done or not. I was still confused, so I just left. Eventually, we made it to venue and since we had just walked forever we brought drinks. After entering the stadium and walking up to our seats, we were told there was no food or drinks allowed and had to go back out. After chugging our drinks, we re-entered the stadium, and finally got to watch some Badminton. All I can say is, I'm sure it's much harder than it looks. We watched India beat Malaysia and England beat Canada in the quarter finals. The audience was really into the India game. It was actually fun. Afterward, exhausted, we took the first baby taxi we saw, and paid him way too much. We were just grateful we made it all the way home in a vehicle. Bring on the unique experiences!

Overload

My mind is melting. I have so many things to blog about, I don't know what to blog about. This week I've been exploring. I went to a Hindu temple and a Baha'i temple. The Baha'i temple was called the Lotus Temple and really was shaped like a huge flower. Baha'i is a religion that combines everything basically.  All religions lead to the same place and if we can unite them all, then we'll reach perfection or something like that. Honestly, I've never understood that philosophy. Religions are all so different, how could they lead to the same end?

 This week was all about using public transportation. I think I've got baby taxis down. Below is a picture of one, which I found on Google. You can fit 3 people in there, and it zooms around like a go-kart, and it's fairly cheap.

 

I also rode the train and the metro. I rode the metro Friday, I think. (I don't have cell phone, so I struggle to remember the date, day, or time...) Anyway, my friends and I were leaving the Lotus Temple and we couldn't get a baby taxi take us home for a good price. So, finally we saw a metro station and decided to try that. The first metro was really nice. It wasn't crowded, it had A/C and several helpful announcements. For example, "Please do not sit in seats reserved for the handicapped, senior citizens, and ladies" and "Please watch for unattended bags, briefcases, toys, and transistors, as they may contain bombs." Good to know. Then we changed lines. This time it was so crowded that it didn't matter we had nothing to hold on to. But then, maybe 2 people moved and all of the sudden, my friend and I were stumbling back and forth across the car. Indian metros definitely don't glide to a gentle stop. Comparatively, the D.C. metro does. Of course we were on a car with all men. They tried so hard to help us. There is a car reserved for ladies, but we would've had to get off the train, run to the front, and then push our way back on again. Plus, we had a guy with us and didn't want to leave him. Next,a guy said, "These seats are reserved for ladies. You can make someone move." But, walking up (or squeezing our way through hundreds of people) to some random men and demanding they move for us is not part of our natures. Not to mention, it would make it even harder to reach the doors on the opposite side of the car when we needed to get off. Finally, the guy found a bar for us to hold on to. The metro ended up being a lot cheaper than a baby taxi, but it took us an hour to get home, as opposed to 15 minutes.

People here are really helpful. When you've just arrived in Delhi and the only Hindi word you know is the name of your destination, taxi drivers will stop and ask directions, a shop keeper offered me a chair when he noticed a I was waiting on my friends and a policeman got a taxi for us (which helps keep the price down).

There's more to this adventure, but maybe I'll save it for another blog. Oooh, a cliffhanger. I bet that drives you crazy doesn't it?

Arrival

Ah, the sweet smell of sweat and pollution! Yes, ladies and gentlemen I have officially arrived in India, with all my luggage PTL. There was some question because the luggage belt stopped for a good 5 minutes and I didn't have any of my suitcases. Apparently, some of the containers were taken to the wrong place.

My journey began at 2:10 Monday afternoon, when I left OKC for Dallas. Then from Dallas I flew to London, where I went through  security all over again, walked about 5 miles (slight exaggeration) across the airport, and made it to my gate as the plane was boarding. Btw, for those interested, each of my long flights was about 8 1/2 hours. On the Dallas/London flight, I was seated by a man who apparently had opted not to bathe before entering a tiny space filled with recycled air. He had however, put on cologne in an unsuccessful attempt to hide his BO. It didn't help. On the London/Delhi flight I was seated next to two friendly Spanish women who did not speak any English. They repeatedly crawled over me to talk to their other friends, all the while insisting that I not move. So, I pushed myself as far back into the seat as possible and turned my head to the side in order to avoid someone's rear brushing my face. I know they were trying to be polite, but after a while I really just wanted to get up and let them out.

I'm really starting to like the OKC airport. Twenty-ish gates in 2 hallways and everything is close by. Dallas isn't that bad. At Heathrow, I left the plane and boarded a bus that drove me way far away to the arrival area. Several minutes and a ridiculous amount of escalators later I made it to security, went through that whole process,  walked a long long way across terminal A, used yet more escalators, boarded a train to terminal D and went to the far end of that. It took me about an hour to get off the plane and to my next gate.

Baggage claim in Dehli is really far away from the arrival area too.

I got the the guest house at about 3:30 Wednesday morning. The first thing I did was take a shower. I have yet to figure out how to operate the water heater, but the water isn't exactly cold. After standing around in heat and humidity it felt great. The truly important thing was that I got to feel clean again!

I woke up at nine and went shopping for clothes. It is not as crowded as I expected, but I'm told that a lot of people have left the city because they heard the Commonwealth Games would make traffic beyond ridiculous. I bought one shirt, but that's it. Orientation starts tomorrow. Hoping to go to bed early tonight! 

Sugary and Bright

Ice cream is the most glorious food in the world. Yes, you heard me, it's glorious. I get really excited about really random things and ice cream is one of them. The best kind is udderly cream with reeses and cookie dough. Can you tell I went to Maggie Moo's this weekend? It was the first time I'd  eaten there. Actually, there is one kind of ice cream that is better. The kind that is home made by my friends the Watsons. But that sadly is not as accessible as Maggie Moo's. Man I like ice cream!

But on to other things, the weather was also glorious this weekend. Warm and breezy. My whole goal for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday was to stay outside, and I did. I am now done with all of my books. At one point, there was a little Jack Russell mix that decided to be my friend. She just walked over, jumped up into my lap, and sat down. Random. I couldn't bring myself to make her move. She was too cute.

I am now an officially certified ESL instructor. I spent 2 loooong Saturdays learning how to teach it, and saved my self a lot of time and money. Usually, ESL certification is a semester long college class.

This week I've been learning more about Indian culture. What to wear, how to greet people, some cultural mistakes to avoid, etc... Some of the information I already knew, but it's good to refresh my memory. I'm so excited for tailored clothes. Being super short makes it difficult to find pants that fit me. Also, I'm a huge fan of bright colors. I'm going to have to hold myself back, otherwise I'll end up in some sparkly rainbow outfit that makes me look like a five year old.  People already have trouble believing I'm a college grad and not a junior high student. No need to make the realization harder. :)

Doom and Discovery

I am starting to be less excited about South Asia. Do you know how many shots I have to get? Hmmm? 11. Well, 10 shots and 1 TB skin test, but still, I have to get poked with a needle so 11. That's so many shots that two nurses stand on either side of me and stab at the same time. I have never fainted or thrown up at the sight of needles, but this time I was definitely nauseous. Friday was our first clinic. Three down, 8 more to go. Yesterday, I received an email saying that the medical department had an early shipment of flu mist. Guess where there has recently been an outbreak of the flu? South Asia! On top of all those shots, I have to shoot liquid up my nose. I think that might be worse. Or at least the idea of it is... Sigh.

But that's enough complaining. On to something more interesting. Last Friday, we also found out our personality types according to the Meyers Briggs test. I am an ISFP.

I: Many of you may be surprised to learn that I scored pretty high on the Introvert scale. :) 22 out of 30.
Being an introvert does not have to mean that you are shy (although I am), it just means you get more energy from being alone than with people.

S is for Sensory: S people define situations by what their 5 senses tell them. This definitely describes me. I tend to interpret things very literally. I don't particularly like sitting around discussing symbolism.

F is for Feeling: feelers make decisions based on how the people around them will respond to it. They also try to avoid conflict. My score on this trait was pretty high as well.

P is for Perceiving: I was only a 6 on the perceiving side. Basically, it means I'm not particularly organized and I don't make very detailed plans. The example given was someone planning a vacation. My plan would be: Go to a New Zealand. Stay for 2 weeks. Do whatever sounds fun/ is affordable. The opposite of that is someone who would meticulously plan every detail. I can do that if I have to. I just usually don't.

Anyway, it was a really interesting seminar. My roommate in India is an ESFJ, which I think will be helpful. She can make friends and plans. :p I will be the one who (hopefully) remains calm when all our plans go out the window.

Thoughts...

What I learned about overseas travel so far. You should not drink the water or eat any of the food, and probably go ahead and bring your own oxygen tank just in case (Note the sarcasm on that last part). You should also not wade through any water, because there is a parasite that enters the body through the pores on your feet that can cause liver and bladder damage. (Attempting to avoid standing water will be great fun during the rainy season I'm sure.)

If you happen to be riding in a taxi and the driver hits a cow, throw some money in the backseat and run. If you happen to be riding in a taxi and the driver hits a person, place some money in the backseat and walk away briskly. 

And don't even get me started on women's health. Not that this is strictly applicable to living overseas, but so far I've learned that short, blond haired, blue-eyed women are more likely to get several different types of cancers and osteoporosis. I would like to make it perfectly clear that my eyes are GREEN. Thank you.

Now on to better news, today we got to eat out at an Indian restaurant. It's called India K' Raja and it was good. I had:
mattar paneer - cheese cubes with peas in an onion and tomato sauce
vegetable kapora - apparently a ball of fried vegetables
tandoori chicken
chicken curry
rice
naan - amazing flat bread. If you've never had any you should go immediately to your nearest Indian restaurant and get some. 
masala dosa - spiced potatoes wrapped something similar to a pancake. That was odd because the dosa I've had before was wrapped in thin crispy bread, but whatever. 
gulab jamun - something like ball of pancake soaked in syrup, (the one thing I really didn't like)
mango ice cream 
chai- I'm told that chai in India is much better but I liked it anyway.

If that sounds like a lot of food, it was. But I ate small portions, it was mostly amazing, and I'm not eating dinner. Also, I plan to jog tonight if it stops raining. They say there's a drought going on in VA but it's rained almost 3 days per week since I got here...

Getting more and more excited for traveling!

Ami am lagbe.

I suppose I should start with an explanation for my title. I will shortly be journeying to South Asia, and one of the few things I can say in the local language is "I want a mango." (The title of  today's post.) Also, it is really difficult for me to hide what I'm feeling, which means that, atleast for a while, I'll be wandering about looking completely lost and confused.  So, whilst (get used to random words like whilst, all those of you who read this) at dinner with some friends, we were joking about my inability to communicate and how nationals would respond to me. One possible option was this: "Did you see that tiny, confused, American girl? I gave her all my mangos."My friends laughed hysterically, and I laughed a little aprehensively... and I had my title.

I am super excited about mangos.  They are delicious.

Presently, I'm in Virginia training for my assignment. The first night I got here, it occured to me that I had moved out of my parents' house. I've been overseas before, but always with the expectation that eventually I would return home and everything would go back to the way it was. Not this time. I've graduated from college, I have a job for atleast the next 2 years, and then hopefully, I will continue to live on my own in the States. I have to admit, I feaked out a little. I know I'm weird. But I liked living at home with my parents and sisters. I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to change that. I guess I have to grow up sometime though. That is what I intend for my blog to be about. Not only my adventures in a new country, but also about me becoming an adult.

So... I hope that you enjoy following along in this whole process, should be interesting.