Home Again - Final Entry

Well- I'm home now and wanted to round out my blog with a few notes on my final days.

First of all- my last day at BITS was Diwali which is an important holiday. There are lots of lights everywhere and what they call firecrackers. They seem too big to me to be firecrackers- more like fireworks that happen to stay on the ground. I actually got hit on the leg by one. Last year someone ended up in the hospital. Photos are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Diwali

I flew home out of Delhi which is about a 5 hour drive from BITS. Given my past experience with cars here, I wanted to leave early enough to give myself enough time for several breakdowns along the way. Luckily, nothing happened with the car and I got to Delhi with lots of time to kill. So, I went to Jantar Mantar with is an ancient observatory. It was quite cool so I'm glad I was able to see it. Photos from there and along the way to Delhi are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/OnTheWayHome

My flight home was scheduled to leave a little before midnight. We boarded the plane and started out toward the runway, and then we just sat there for a while. The pilot came on after a little bit and explained that we were not being cleared to take off and we might need to reroute the flights. One of the flight attendants later told me that when the traffic control tower said they wouldn't clear us to take off for Newark- they had suggested we fly to Pakistan instead! Eventually the compromised on a plan that would take us to Laguardia (NYC), but we had to go back to the gate to get more fuel. The pilot explained what was going on and said it wouldn't take 15 minutes tops to top off the fuel tank. And hour later, he got on to explain that we were waiting for the gas truck. All in all- with the disagreement about where we should fly to and waiting for fuel- it was 3:30 am before we took off - not a fun way to start a 16 hour flight. But- it all ended well. They were able to file an amended flight plan for Newark after we left Indian air space and I made my connection to Dullas with minutes to spare. Hurray! I can't wait to see everyone!

Mussoorie

Well, better two week late than never I figure...

The pic to the left is from Google Earth. It shows the view from Mussoorie.

A couple of weeks ago, Mallika and I took a trip up north to Mussoorie- on the edge of the Himalayas. We left around 11pm and drove all night. Well- we road in the car. We had a hired driver for the trip. On the way, we met up with some old friends of Mallika's and toured Rishikesh of Beatles fame. Then we headed up to Dehra Dun where we spend the night. By this point- the car had broken down 3 times. Twice we got flat tires and then a belt broke. The car still ran so we made it to Dehra Dun, but left the driver there to figure out the problem and took the bus to Mussoorie the next morning. Dehra Dun is in the valley and Mussoorie is at the top of the mountain. It was only about half an hour on the bus and sure, there were switch back- but nothing crazy. The ride certainly didn't bother me. I can't say the same for my fellow, Indian passengers. I didn't get an proper count - but if I had to guess, I would say half the people on the bus threw up. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. People were throwing up all over the place. When we got there, getting out of the bus was a little tricky because the floors were so slippery.

Anyway- Mallika was fine so we looked around a little and hired a cab to take us to kempty falls. We walked down to the bottom of the falls. A mountain goat passed me on the way down. The falls were very pretty and Mallika waded in the water. Then we headed back to town. The main road through Mussoorie is known as The Mall. It is on the side of the mountain and offers great views. At the end- there is a Gondola lift that takes you up to the top of Gun Hill which is the highest point in town. Theoretically, you can get a great view of the Himalayas from there - but the air is quite hazy. I'm not sure if it is caused by natural organics in the air, or if it is from pollution. Either way, it was a shame. I couldn't really see much.

So, after our tour of Mussoorie, we headed back down to Dehra Dun again (by bus). Going back down- it was the same deal. People throwing up left and right. Only this time, the bus had been going back and forth all day and had built up quite a layer. I was really happy to shower when we got back to our hotel.

The next morning, bright and early, we headed back toward home. As Delhi was on the way, we stopped for a little shopping and then continued on, getting back to BITS around midnight. So, it was a very full three days, but a good time all in all.

The pictures are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/ToMusoorieAndBack

It's November! (and other random statements)

It's November! I can't believe I'm coming home in less than a week. At this point, I think I've sent out my welcome back party invitations to all my Charlottesville peeps. So, if you haven't gotten it, sorry for the oversight. Just let me know and I'll send you the details.

I'd like to take this opportunity to go on the record as saying that my favorite mode of transportation has got to be the bicycle rickshaw. It is all the fun of riding a bike, but without any of the work of a regular bike and none of the noise of a motor bike. This of course excludes things from the "mode of transportation" category like say- a white water raft - since that isn't so much about getting from point A to B as it is about just having a good time.

It is really hard to explain Halloween to someone who has never heard of it without making yourself and anyone who celebrates it sound completely insane.

I was in a rush to get out the door this morning because I was late for my breakfast meeting with Mallika. Around 3 in the afternoon- I realized that my pants were on inside out.

Here is a video from a temple service: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7159809111151560757&hl=en

Oasis

Every year, BITS puts on a cultural festival where they invite schools from all over the country to come participate. There are professional shows with Indian pop starts, dance competitions, jam sessions, art showcases- all sorts of stuff. 40 schools sent students (around 1000 students total) so it was a bit crowded here. Classes were canceled, students from other schools were camped out in the classrooms, and there were events, non-stop, for 96 hours.

There was a program for the week, but I quickly discovered that it was more of a vague idea of the sorts of things that might go on, rather than an actual plan. Many of the things I tried to go, I was never able to find. Sometimes I would randomly stumble onto to something I had wanted to go to at a different location, on a different day, and at a different time. And, often- when events did happen- they weren't as advertised. The western acoustic jam, for example, was all synthesizers and electric guitars. So, I quickly learned to not get all that worked up over schedules and just wander around vaguely and see what I ran into.

On the whole I was saddened by how most of the students just seemed interested in trying to copy western styles of music and dance. There was very little that didn't have an MTV feel about it. One truly Indian thing though, happened at one of the professional shows I went to. The performer was Lucky Ali- who is apparently a really big deal Indian Pop Star/ Bollywood actor. So at the concert, the students all rush to the front and are dancing. Well, I ended up getting roped into sitting with some faculty and this big deal guy in the administration is there with us and we are sitting on the second row. So, this guy gets mad that the students are all standing and blocking his view. I suggested we move to the balcony for a better view. But of course- it was also not at all cool that men and women were dancing with each other, so he starts telling them to sit down. And here is the part that I couldn't believe- they actually did! And keep in mind- a lot of these students didn't even go to BITS. They were from other universities. They had no idea who he was and knew that he didn't know them. And when I say all- I mean all. He spread the word to every students- not just the ones in front of us- to sit down. It took almost the whole concert of him going- hey- pass the word to the guy in the red jacket- but he got them all to sit down. So around the time he got the last of them to sit down- the show was over. Then Lucky Ali came out for the encore- and everyone jumps to their feet. He started trying to get them to sit down again. It was so hard not to laugh at him.

Anyway- the pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Oasis Sorry there aren't too many. Most of what I took didn't turn out at all because of the weird lighting.

Crazy Indians

Fire! Fire! Quick- get the extinguisher! Er... I mean sand bucket...

I've made a couple of posts with crazy white lady stories, so I figure it is fair to note some crazy Indian stories.

There is a new guy working at the hostel that doesn't understand English. He speaks it ok- which is deceiving because it makes you think you can talk to him. But you can't. The worst is that he has hung up on Michael I think a total of 5 times now because he didn't understand "room 309 please." As you might imagine- I had a few words to say about this. So, I think in his mind- I'm the lady the bitches about the telephone. The other day, I came up to him and asked, "Can I have my room cleaned?" He said, "Telephone?" - because you know, those two sentences sound so much alike... I ended up having to wait until someone else came on duty.

I took a trip recently up to the mountains in Northern India. The professor I worked for insisted that I get permission from my husband before I could be allowed to leave. I resisted the urge to slap him (I sort of need him to like me at this point.) and said sure. I asked Michael to send him a letter saying I could go. This was his reply (and I quote)

Dear Wife,

No you may not go to Dehra Dun this weekend. I will not have you traipsing off with god-knows-who to god-knows-where without my presence and direct supervision, since you are subservient and clearly not to be trusted. You must come home directly to cook for me, clean the house, bring me little umbrella sippy drinks, and rub my feet.

Sincerely,
Your Husband
A.K.A. the boss of you

Luckily he sent a more favorable note to the professor.

Another rather interesting thing here is the use of candy for money. I doubt this is actual legal tender, and I haven't tried to actually spend it, but businesses keep hard candies or gum in their cash draws for use in place of small change.


One of my favorite bizarre Indian stories isn't actually mine- it is something that happened to Melissa when she was here. She was talking with this guy and he started talking about his kids. He said that his children were strong because when he was young he had "abstained from the sensual pleasures" so he had potent man-juice. After that- we always referred to him as "potent man-juice."

This and That

Sorry for the long silence. The internet has not been kind to me lately. But I think I'm finally caught up.

I finally finished uploaded my pictures from my village trips. You can check them out here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Raila

http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Harinagar

http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/OnTheWayToLehsidi
http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Lehsidi

OK- to be honest- as I'm writing, I haven't quite finished the Lehsidi album yet. But I expect to be done by the time any of you wake up. Hopefully those won't be famous last words - like last time when I said to keep an eye out because I would be posting these over the next few days. That was what- two weeks ago?

There has been a fair in town. I went to check out it - nothing much to see though: three small rides and some stalls selling dollar store style stuff. This week is a cultural festival that should be interesting. And then next weekend I'm heading up to the himalayas. I'm very excited about that. It looks like it might actually not be hot there. They have a totally different idea about what it hot. IT is cooling off now (meaning ) but still what I would consider hot. I've started seeing people in sweat shirts and jackets. So weird.

I've also posted some more animal pictures in the Around BITS album. There are these green parot like birds. They may be parots for all I know. It is hard to get a good picture of them because then blend in with the trees. But I finally got some decent shots. I have also loaded some monkey pictures.

Dog Tails

The other day I was walking along and this guy came up and enthusiastically said, "Doggie!" I said, "Dog?" He said "FD one!" (which means faculty division one- which is one of the building on campus.) I said, "Yes, there are dogs at FD one." (As there are everywhere.) Then he said, "biscuit! eat!" So then I realized that he was trying to tell me that he had seen me feeding the dogs by FD one. I nodded, smiled and said, "yes" and went on my way.

Here is a link to some truly pitiful begging. I've named this one Scout.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=716129924033915623&hl=en

Most of the dogs still run away from me (as they do with anyone who looks at them) but those that haven't have learned that I hand out cookies. So, it isn't unusual for me to be followed around. One day I was going to visit Mallika and the guard to the women's hostel stopped me. This was unexpected since Mallika has told them I can come see her any time and even without that - the guards generally only keep men out. I was about to ask what was wrong when he sternly said, "no dogs." I turned around and there was this little dog standing right behind me looking up expectantly.

Apparently the women's hostel has a "problem" with dogs. They have discovered a broken bit of fencing and now they know how to get in. There is a mess hall in the complex, and for obvious reasons, but dogs like to hang out there now. People here are usually afraid of dogs. (-and other animals as well. I've seen a grown man jump away in fright when a little lizard went by.) So, Mallika has been getting calls in the middle of the night from girls needing to go to the bathroom, but they can't get out of their room because there is a dog outside. Mallika seems to share their sense of danger, which I don't really get. I asked her, "Are they bad dog?" She says, "Oh, yes! They are street dogs!" I said, "I know, but are they biting people or even growling at them?" She says, "They are street dogs!" Last week there was a "terrifying" incident where a girl had some sort of plans early in the morning so she went for breakfast early. Coming out of the mess hall, there was no out around and she saw five dogs. She screamed. Another girl came out and saw what was going on and went to get the guards. Since the guards were out numbered by the dogs, they were afraid to get involved. So the two girls threw rocks at the dogs to get them to run away. Mallika was telling me about how horrible this was. I asked, "But were the dogs doing anything threatening?" Mallika says, "There were FIVE dogs and only ONE girl!" It is amazing she lived to tell the tale.

October 2nd

This is what I would have posted on the second if I had had internet access.

Today (Oct 2nd) is Gandhi's birthday. There is a statue of Gandhi on the campus and I correctly surmised that it would be decorated. So I went over and took some pictures.

There was a parade this morning that I figured had something to do with Gandhi, but Mallika says it was a marriage procession. I took this video from the roof of the hostel.

Pigeon Tails

In an attempt to keep the hostel clean, they try keep the birds out. There is chicken wire over the opening at the top of the courtyard. But every now and then one gets in. One got in the other day. I'm guessing it came in through a door to the roof which was left open. This MIGHT have been my fault. Ok, ok - I totally left the door open - but see- I went out on the roof the other day and the door was already open. I didn't see anyone up there, but I hated in shut it (which would involve latching it) in case someone was hiding because they had been sun bathing nude or something.

Anyway, by means that I really don't think I should be help responsible for - a pigeon got into the building. He was hanging out in the courtyard and seemed ok so I wasn't too worried about him. Then, the cleaning guys went through the rooms upstairs and they had left all the doors open. (This is typical after mopping so the floors can dry.) The pigeon started flying in and out of the rooms. I went to check on him and he was hanging out on top of the air conditioning unit in one rooms. They often roost around the air conditioners outside. I think it is cozy or something. I figured he wanted to go back home. So, I opened the window, crumbled up a cookie on the outside sill, shut the door to the room so his only exit would be the window, and opened the curtains onto the courtyard so I could look in and check on him.

I checked on him a few times and he was still chillin on top of the air conditioner. Then, I went and he was on one of the beds. So I went in to try to shoo him towards the window, which actually worked. But then as I got near the window, this other pigeon (or maybe this was the first one) swooped down from a ledge near the ceiling and scared me. But then he went out the window too which was good. So I shut the window and looked over to the bed and saw the bird poop.

I went to tell the cleaning guys. I left out the part where I shut a bird up in a room to have its way with the freshly made beds. I just explained that a bird got into the room and I opened the window to let him out.


Oh look, bird shit.

To anyone who has ever kicked an animal that was simply minding its own buisness: Your mother eats beef!

I was walking along a road today and there was this cute little white kitten off to the side. Dogs are everywhere, but I have only seen a handful of cats. I was going to go up and take its picture when this guy coming the other way kicked it as he walked past. I pretended to rush him, shooing him away with the facial expression that was intended to suggest that he reminded me of a raw sewage pit. He seemed to find this hilarious - which wasn't quite what I was going for.

This is actually a bit of a problem for me. I don't know how to express disdain here. Glares usually earn me smiles. While I usually am quite happy to be nice to the people around me, there have been a few instances (all involving men come to think of it) where I have wished I knew how to say something like "up yours." So- to all my Indian friends out there- any suggestions on how to express disdain (in a non-entertaining way) without going so far as to incite an international incident?

The saga of the package

I mentioned before that Michael would be sending me a new(er) computer that he bought on eBay for me. Well, it is still not here. I forget how long it has been now - but it is well past four times the 6-10 days that we were told. A few weeks ago I got a letter written in Hindi. Since I haven't quite mastered Hindi yet (in other words, I have only learned how to say Thank you, OK, and names of some Indian foods) I took my letter to the front desk. The guy there told me that there was a package for me in Jaipur (state capital) and that I had to give notice for it to be sent to me. I asked how I should go about that and he pointed at the letter and said - well it says right here. I explained that I couldn't actually read the letter and so he told me to go to the post office.

At the post office they said that the package wasn't there. I asked how I could have it sent here and they seemed very confused and took the letter and several of them had a little conference in the back, huddled around my Hindi letter. One guy came back to me and said, "Come tomorrow." I asked what time and he said, "10 o'clock." Then another guy came from behind the counter and said, "Come two three days." I said, "um... ok?" Then the guy in the cage (I don't know why but they keep one guy in a cage.) yelled out, "Come tomorrow." I decided two out of three wins and came back the next day. They told me that the package wasn't there and to "come two three days." I asked why the letter had been sent. It didn't seem likely that they had sent me a letter to inform me that I would be receiving a package. So they called Jaipur and handed me the phone. The guy on the phone told me that they needed to inspect the package but before they could open it- I had to give permission. I said, "Ok, you have my permission." He said he needed it in writing. I asked what the letter needed to say but he didn't understand me and so he hung up. I had one of the guys at the post office call him back and asked them to write the letter for me. They agreed, I signed, and they said, "Come two three days." After a couple weeks of me checking in every two or three days, I asked them to call Jaipur again. The people in Jaipur said they were still inspecting it and that I should (you guessed it) "Come two three days." This was around the 30 day mark from when Michael sent the package - which was the point at which he could file a claim for the insurance we took out on the package. So, we have officially given up and learned our lesson. Don't send electronics to India.

Q&A

I've realized that I haven't done a very good job of answering questions posted in the comment section. Some - like "What's up with Mike's job search?" have been answered -but a couple of other's haven't and I wanted to cover those.

Q. How hot is it there?

A. It isn't as bad as it could be. I understand that in the height of summer it gets into the 120's. For the time I've been here -the high has almost never been below 100 and over 110 isn't unusual - but I don't think it has been over 120. What I really wasn't expecting for an "arid" region is the incredible humidity. The heat index is rarely below 120. The monsoon isn't quite what I was expecting. Elsewhere in India it rains. We just get waves of humid air. I can count the number of times it has rained while I was here on one hand. After a rain it is wonderfully cool (high nineties) for maybe a day and then the temp goes back up and the humidity is even worse. Mike's blog actually has a rather good description of the heat for those interested in his take. It is supposed to be cooling off now and next week it looks like the highs will all be in the high nineties with heat indices below 110. It is very exciting!

Q. How is Mike holding up without you?

A. As I'm sure many of you suspect - he is utterly devastated. He has been crying himself to sleep every night. (But don't tell him I told you so.)

I've been busy lately with village trips. I'm working on uploading pictures now. Currently I'm adding to the Raila album and then I'll start on new albums so keep an eye on my Picasa page over the next several days. (Link on the right hand side.) What with the slow / intermittent internet connection and my old computer- this could take a while...

Seattle Here We Come!

For those who haven't heard - Michael (my Michael, not the other student here) has signed on the dotted line. It is all official now. We are moving to Seattle next summer! You are all required to come visit. Michael will be working at Virginia Mason Medical Center which, though not a university, has its own residency program so he will be able to teach.

Hospitality

Mike left earlier this week for Delhi. He plans to travel around India a bit before meeting his family in Nepal for a one month trek. So, I was feeling a little blue- being the only American left here. I came down for lunch the next day and sat down at one of the tables with some of the other guests but then one of the servers starts insisting that I move. I got up and he directed me to this other empty table on the opposite side of the room. I was sitting there thinking how strange this was and eyeing the food on the other tables when they come out with this special lunch they had made just for me! It was my favorite- stuffed peppers, this cheesy hash brown sort of stuff, roasted tomatoes, and banana fritters for dessert. Yum, Yum. The guys in the dining hall speak almost no English, but such a simple act of kindness went such a long way in making me feel less alone.

There are a lot of people coming through here. We get a lot of recruiters visiting the campus hoping to hire soon to be graduating students, people attending conferences or giving guest lectures. There are some students here now to take exams for their distance ed program. I met them yesterday when I sat with them for lunch and they all seemed rather nice. Later in the day yesterday, one of them came into my room. He said he was sorry, that he was mistaken and thought it was his room because he room was next door. I said it was no problem and he asked if we could be friends. I said sure and then he said that is was customary for friends to kiss. I said this was not my custom. He said he was very offended and didn't I like Indians? He kept insisting that I kiss him and I said I really needed to get back to work. So he said to go ahead and he would watch me work. I said that I preferred to work alone so he said ok - we can just sit on the bed and talk. I told him I wanted him to leave so he did - though he came back later and asked if he could take me out to dinner. I think he is maybe a little slow. Anyway - I went to talk to my friend Mallika (I don't know if I have talked about her before - she is a superintendent in the women's dorm.) and asked her if I was right in thinking that this was not at all normal behavior in India. She was horrified and said there was no where in India where this would be acceptable behavior and insisted that I tell the front desk at the hostel. So, I told the guys at the front desk that I didn't think he was a nice man and that he had tried to get me to kiss him and sit on the bed with him. Well, apparently this news has spread all over the place now. This afternoon I was called into a meeting with a couple of the deans and there was this other guy taking minutes of the meeting and they had me tell the whole short story and showed me a photo-line up so I could identify him without having to go through the trauma of seeing him again. At the end they asked if I had anything else to say and I said - Well, he did leave when I asked him to... Anyway, I find it rather sweet how horrified everyone seems to be on my behalf and it is nice to know that so many people care that I am ok. I feel a little bad for having started all this fuss - after all, he is just a creepy jerk - hardly a unique characteristic.

Random Stories

Please forgive the long silence. The internet has been up an down here lately - well, mostly down. At first I thought it was because we were getting more rain, but now the rain has stopped and it has turned hot again, so I don't know what the problem is.

Anyway- here are a few random stories:

The other day the cleaning guy mopped the floor in my room and left the door open with the fan on so it would dry. A wasp decided to take the opportunity come in. Now, I'm generally hesitant to go around swatting at wasps because if you don't kill it right off - now you have an angry wasp in your room which is much worse. So, I thought I would attempt to encourage it to move on first. I opened my windows and hoped that it would decide that it looked nice outside. At first I thought it had worked because it flew over to the window. But instead of going out it just sat on one of the bars on the window. Now, the wasp isn't leaving and a bunch of other bugs are saying- gee, it looks nice in there. So, when the wasp flew back into the room, I just closed the windows and went in search of a fly swatter. I found the cleaning guy and asked if there was a fly swatter which, by the way, is REALLY hard to explain using sign language. So I motioned into my room and showed him the wasp who had moved back to one of the bars on the now closed windows. The the cleaning guy went and got a broom and I'm thinking- that is not going to work. So, out of wisdom or cowardice (you decide) I thought it would be a great time for me to go get some more water because boy was I thirsty. When I came back, he was leaving and explained that he had let the wasp out the window. Then he takes me over to my window and shows me how to open it. Once I had demonstrated mastery of this new skill, he left and I thanked him.

I have a new room now: 309 instead of 102. The move was precipitated by the painting they have been doing here. I think the original plan was just to move me next door while they painted my room, but I took the opportunity to explore the hostel (Most of the rooms were open with all the painting) and find my favorite room. So here are the things I like about my new room:
1 - I can see the sunset and just have a better view in general being higher up
2 - There is a big tree outside my window that the pigeons like to hang out in. (See Mike's blog for a good pigeon story.)
3 - It is quieter up here and I generally have more privacy
4 - It is in the far corner away fro the stairs so again - more privacy
5 - I now have easy access to the roof. When (if?) the weather turns nice I expect to be spending time out there.
6 - There is more light from the courtyard because I am up near the roof opening.

There is this odd thing they do here- in many places, they don't let grass grow. You will see the landscapers with hoes scraping at the grass to dig it up. It is so dry and dusty here that you would think grass would be nice so Mike and I didn't understand what was up with this. We wrote it off as Indian logic - which is our explanation for everything we don't understand. Well, I found out today that is is because insects like the grass so they keep grass away from the building. So pretty smart really.

PS Listening to Grisman's Dawgnation

PPS Do you like the peacock feather I found?

New Outfit

I got a new outfit so I thought I should show it off.

Does skipping in place count as dancing? - because it totally should. And for those who are wondering: Regina Spektor, Fidelity





If you liked the auto rickshaw ride- check out the sequel: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6929147207387298139

Christmas in September!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree... - sing with me now!

Earlier this week was Lord Krishna's birthday. (a.k.a. Janmastimi) He was an incarnation of Vishnu. Thousands of pilgrims came through Pilani on the way to some temple or another. (Sorry- I forget the name of the temple. I also forget how many pilgrims came through - but it was a lot so be very impressed.) People in the community got together and set up a rest stop for the pilgrims at a local park. Visiting I got an chance to get inside the park (which is usually locked for some reason) and check out the rainwater harvesting system they have there.

Janmastimi has quite the Christmas feel - what with celebrating the birth of the incarnate god and the midnight mass er... um... I mean temple service. To top it all off there are Christmas lights! - or that is colored lights.

Check out the pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Janmastami

I'm just upset that Lord Krishna didn't bring me anything. I so wanted a pony.

Just a Note

Don't miss the "More Shopping" post. It sort of got skipped since I didn't post it right away. I was trying to figure out how to get the video to work inside blogger. I finally gave up. I think it is a problem related to my very old 64 MB of RAM Windows 98 computer. Anyway- keep an eye out for the open sewers!

Just for you Beth

So you want more crazy lady stories?

I bought a potted flowering plant the other day from a guy on the side of the road outside the campus gate. When I was coming back in, the security guard motioned me over and started asking me a lot of questions that I didn't understand, gesturing toward my plant. I finally caught "in room?" So I said yes and he said "tree in room?" I said yes and he and the other two guard bust out laughing, hooting "tree in room! ha ha! tree in room!" Since I bought the potted plant there- I hadn't expected this to be the cause of such hilarity, but it seems I was exhibiting yet more odd behavior.

One thing that is a bit frustrating is that the hotel staff hoard the toilet paper. They don't give you a spare roll and they only replace rolls that are totally gone. So you are always have to ask for toilet paper and sometimes they are busy and forget. Well- I have noticed a slightly better success rate on actually getting the toilet paper when I pair the request with a coffee request (which they get to charge me for.) So I often will go and ask for coffee and toilet paper. Well the other day, I went and asked for coffee and the guy at the front desk said, "And toilet paper?" I'm not really surprised that he has made this connection now that I think about it -- but it is still a bit embarrassing because I can only imagine what sort of underlying cause to the association he has surmised.

It has actually starting raining fairly often here now which means the long awaiting cooling off that is supposed to happen in monsoon season is starting as well. I've posted a few more pics to the Around BITS album. Also, coming soon (as soon as I get my pics sorted out) will be "Christmas in September."

More Shopping!

Mike and I went to the dress fabric shop again. He is having an Indian style man dress made. There is a proper name for them, but I forget. Anyway, not be outdone, I bought fabric to have another outfit made- and a bunch of other stuff.

Blogger lets you post video- so I thought I would take advantage of that. I shot a video on our drive back to the hostel so you can experience an auto-rickshaw ride for yourselves (almost). Only- I can't seem to get the video uploader to actually work for me - which means you will have to follow this link instead:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=704464881164783574

Enjoy!

Feeling Oddly Cuban...

I have been craving citrus lately - probably because of the cold I had earlier this week. They have started giving us bananas at breakfast- which has been very nice. Since they have a thick skin- they are safe for us to eat. Most fresh fruits and vegetables we can't have. Well, I went to a vegetable shop yesterday and they had some key limes so I bought five (They were a penny apiece!) so I could make some lime-aid. Well, I was listening to Buena Vista Social Club and so as I was shaking up my water bottle with lime wedges and sugar in it- I started dancing around my room to the music. It all seemed a bit of a surreal thing to be doing in India.

Crazy White Lady

In a previous blog I mentioned that episode where I had been complaining that my phone didn't ring when I received incoming calls - only to have it ring just fine when they came to check it out. I think at that point- they started to suspect that I was a little loopy.

Well, I recently bought a vase from a potter on the side of the road. He charged me the equivalent of 75 cents- which was probably a horrible rip off - but I generally feel bad to argue prices on that scale. Anyway- when I came back to the hostel, I asked the men at the front desk where I could buy some flowers. They looked at me with a puzzled expression and said- there are flowers outside. I said yes, but where could I buy some and motioned putting flowers into my vase. They said - there is not a shop for flowers, but there are flowers on the lawn. I asked, surprised - I can pick them? They then decided that I was quite dense and the security guard came over and motioned for me to follow him outside.

We went out into the yard and he starts showing me how to pick flowers from the bushes. Once we had a nice bunch we came back inside and he tried to explain to me (this is all through hand motions) that I needed to put water in the vase. I nodded, but I think he was worried that I didn't get it because he set off to get a some water. While he was gone, I took the flowers out of the vase so that I could better arrange them. He came back and poured water into my vase and then tried to explain to me that I needed to put the flowers in the vase. I can only imagine how dense he thinks I am! Earlier today, I went out and picked more flowers to freshen up my arrangement and when I walked back in with them he smiled and nodded at them with a look that I think might have been pride. She's finally got it!

There are tons of stray dogs here. People rarely own dogs as pets and the strays are not treated kindly so they are usually rather afraid if you try to pet them. Actually- most people just ignore them. It is like they exist on a different plane - which seems rather odd to me. Anyway- I have started carrying cookies around in my purse to feed strays in an attempt to make friends. I was talking down the hall of one of the faculty/classroom buildings today and happened upon a cute little black dog. I should probably explain here that everything is very open so dogs wander in and out of buildings, birds fly around and nest in the corners of hallways, etc. So anyway, I'm down on the floor in this hallway holding out a cookie to this dog when along comes one of the faculty members I've been working with. She recognized me (I do stand out a bit here I guess) and said, Vicki? What are you doing? - with this tone in her voice like this is the craziest thing she has ever seen.

So, all in all- I think I'm earning quite the reputation for myself here!

Taj Mahal

Yesterday we dropped Melissa off in Delhi so she could fly home and took a trip to the Taj Mahal on the way. On the way meaning- it only added 7 hours to the trip. So we got up and left Pilani at 5 am, drove to the Taj Mahal, arriving at noon, stayed for 2 hours, drove to Delhi which took 6 hours with the lunch break, dropped Melissa off at 8 for her 11pm flight, drove back to Pilani, arriving at midnight. If you think that sentence was long, image our day! We did at least have a hired driver for the trip so we could sleep some in the car. That can be a bit hard with all the swerving, honking and sudden breaking but I got a good nap in on the return never-the-less.

As long as the day was, it was nice to see some countryside. When I came to BITS it was night and so I didn't get to take in the landscape. We drove through rugged desert hills dotted with scrubby trees, green agricultural valleys, and at one point we even drove through an old fort. The fort rather surprised me because in American it would have been made into a park and there would be historical markers up, but here there was a road running through it. The fort was on a hill and I could see remnants of the old towers and walls as we drove through. At one point we came around a curve and there was this beautiful vista, looking down over a great valley, framed on either side by crumbing towers. It would have made a great picture, but we drove on. They aren't big on scenic overlooks here.

They drive pretty crazy here. For example, they think nothing of driving on the wrong side of the road - even on a divided highway. For the first part of the drive I was gasping every time we almost hit something, but that reflex got worn out pretty quickly and I was able to settle into a quiet, albeit tense, vigil. So, when we drove through the herd of cows, I didn't even flinch.

Along the way we stopped at a roadside cafe and there was a street performer with trained dancing monkeys. I found it a little disturbing that they had been captured and were being made to dance, but that didn't stop me from holding one's hand. It was an amazing feeling. You have to love that opposable thumb! We saw lots of other monkeys in tree and such along the way, which was pretty cool too. We also drove past an oil refinery that had huge flames shooting out of the top of a tower. So, all in all, a pretty interesting drive.

I'm working on uploading pictures of the Taj Mahal, which of course don't do it justice. One of the coolest parts you can't take pictures off - inside. The inner chamber around the tombs is made of a single piece of marble that has been carved and inlaid with semiprecious stones. The detail is unbelievable. I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves. By the time anyone wakes up and reads this- they should be loaded.

http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/TajMahalTrip

Unreliabilities and their solutions

Sorry for the long delay in writing. My computer has recently decided to freeze whenever I log into blogger. I'm very excited that it worked this time. Michael ordered a cheap new (to us) computer off of ebay that he is going to send me. The shipping will probably be more than the computer is worth, but we figured out that if we can use it to talk it will save money over phone calls. He will be sending that to me soon. It will be nice to have a computer that's a little more reliable.

So that was unreliability number 1. The other unreliable was my phone. I mentioned in a previous blog that my phone didn't actually ring when receiving incoming calls. Well they came to look at the phone and the guy called the front desk and had them call in. Of course, the phone rang normally. So the guy looks at me like I'm crazy and explains that I have to hang up the phone to receive incoming calls. So I thanked him and he left. I hoped that the phone miraculously had fixed itself. It hadn't. So before my friend Melissa left, I switched phones with her. Now I have a phone that actually rings. Yea!

Pictures!

The long awaited pictures from my Delhi tour are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/DelhiTrip

I also have some other pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/AroundBITS

I went to see a tailor today about having some clothes made with the fabric I bought over the weekend. It was very amusing watching the men try to take my measurements without actually touching me. The men generally seem a bit nervous around women. The guys that clean our rooms don't like it if we stay in the room while they are cleaning- even though the door is wide open. So they have started sending three guys to clean my room (they do the same with Melissa) so that they aren't alone with us.

I'm still having massive jet lag. I generally only sleep at night for as long as the benadryl lasts so I'm only getting about 4-5 hours at night. Then, in the afternoon I succumb to the heat and exhaustion and collapse. I'm trying to break out of this cycle so I'm on my fourth cup of coffee today and I'm thinking of going to the kitchen to beg for more.

If anyone is using yahoo instant messenger- I'm generally on in the morning your time (mnvwilliams).

Later- Vicki

Pilani

Mike, Melissa and I went into town today. The town of Pilani is considered very rural here, but they have 35000 people. So, not so rural by our standards. Pilani is a relatively nice town. There was a big pretty park that we drove by. They use camels here as pack animals. It is fun to see a cart being hauled around by something as exotic as a camel.

We took a rickshaw because the heat index today is supposed to be 132. We drove around in circles quite a lot because the driver didn't seem to know the shop we were trying to find. At one point he had to get out and dig out part of the road so we could go through. They were digging some hole on one side for some reason and had put the dirt beside the hole rather than in front or behind the hole - so the whole road was blocked. They are also very fanatical about avoiding speed bumps here. There are speed bumps in all the roads, but they never go over them. They swerve off the road to go around them. But since everyone does this- there are huge ruts beside the road where the speed bumps are and there is more of a bump getting off and on the road than there would be to go over the speed bump.

We finally found the shop- it was a dress shop called Maheswari and I got tons of stuff for about $50: sari, dress fabric, bed sheets, blanket, wall hanging, several purses and a little girls outfit. Don't ask me why I got the kid's outfit. Melissa had them out to get something for her daughter. It was just soooo cute and I figure I'll have a daughter or niece someday.

I hope you are all well. I'm hoping to be able to load pictures soon.

- Vicki

Settling in

I'm pretty much settled in now. I've decided to stay at the visitor's hostel - which is more western so it feels more "normal." I also FINALLY got an internet connection in my room. I feel less isolated now that I have an easier time talking to my family. Michael called this morning and I discovered that my phone doesn't actually ring. We were chatting on yahoo at the time so he was able to tell me to pick up - but I'm going to have to do something about that.

There are two other American students (Melissa and Mike) staying at the visitors hostel. They will leave long before me - but having them here is helping with the adjustment. The food in the hostel is all vegetarian - so we have been feeling the protein deficit. Last night we went out to a restaurant that serves chicken which was very exciting. Then, this morning they served eggs for breakfast - which only happens about once a week. So we are happy and full now. Last night we watched a movie (Grosse Point Blank) on Melissa's computer. So between the internet, meat, and movie - it felt almost like home.

Well, I better go. The professor I'm working with gave me a big thick book to read on rainwater harvesting prospects in India. Should be helpful.

- Vicki

Contact Info

For those who want to know...

My current address is VFAST Hostel, Rm 309
BITS, Pilani (Rajasthan)
333031-01596
India

Phone: 01596242183

Where I am and why I'm here

I'm staying at BITS university, one of the best private universities in India. I probably won't upload a lot of pictures of the university because they have a nice photo gallery on their website (and because I brought an old slow computer): http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in
So I know some of you haven't heard the story on why I'm here, so I thought I would give a brief overview.
Western Rajasthan is an arid region with very little surface water and a quickly dwindling supply of groundwater. One possible source of water is their yearly monsoon season. I'm here to analyze the feasibility of implementing a widespread rainwater harvesting system. I'll be working with BITS university and an organization called Aakash Ganga. For more information about Aakash Ganga - you can visit their website at: http://www.raincentre.org/

Finally here!

I've finally made my way to BITS and I'm working on getting settled. I'm staying settled in a visitor's hostel now until I can get the dorm arrangements worked out. The hostel has air conditioning which I am trying to not get too accustomed too.

Once I get settled I should be able to get online more regularly and keep everyone up to date.

I get into Delhi Sunday night. Monday Nathan Swami has a man drive us around the city and I saw things that I don't remember the names of. I took pictures of the information plaques so when I get the pictures off my camera I'll load them up and tell you all about it.

After touring the city - we caught a ride to BITS with a professor who happened to be in Delhi for a conference and was returning that evening. So we got in abou 11:30 last night. Today I've been meeting with the professor I'll be working with and people in the dorms to figure out what I need to do to get my room set up.

Please write me. It is so good to hear from people back home.

- Vicki

Counting Down

I had my thesis proposal this morning and all went well. So, now it is just down to packing.

I was about to say that this time tomorrow I'll be in the air- but actually I'll be in the Newark airport. Woo-Hoo!

So much to do- so little time...