Hiatus

As much as I love writing on this blog, I have three ten page papers to complete by the 20th so this page will be pretty empty until then. The next post will be an explosion of epic adventures, pictures, and possibly a veena performance!

Until then, here are some pictures so you can pretend you're right here with me!

Peace. I'll be back.

 -Laura

One Whole Month!

We have been here for an entire month! Where did that month go?

Saturday we visited a waste management plant, which was vastly different than the one that I visited in Encinitas, CA. There were trash heaps everywhere and flies galore. At this plant the workers spray microorganisms into the organic materials to make it into compost. The septic tanks were filled with similar organisms that removes the need for electricity in the process.
Next we visited the National Institute of Engineering- Centre For Renewable Energy & Sustainable Technologies (NIE- CREST). There were numerous contraptions like solar cookers, bikes used for pumping well water, and my favorite: Tippy Tap (Click for the website) Honestly, it's a brilliant technology, so check it out!

Today we went to one of our professors house and had the best meal since we've been here including SALAD and GOOD ICE CREAM with STEAMED PUDDING. There would be pictures but we were too busy stuffing our faces to remember to take any.

Instead here's a different food picture...

Chocolate bar with tape?

It was a pleasant Sunday and I'm looking forward to the week. How's your week going?

Rock n' Roll Mountain Troll

Guten Tag!

It is Tuesday night and the day has treated me well. Actually, it's been an over all good week. 

Going on weekend trips seems to be a continuing thing so I will try to make these trip updates and reoccurring thing.

Here's a bit of what you missed:

This last week we went to Shravanabelagola which according to everyone we asked told us that it houses the tallest monolithic statue ever.

(It's censored for your viewing pleasure by a very convenient part of the wall)

More pictures from Shravanabelaoga:

Monkey!

Dad requested/demanded photos of me doing stuff. Here's proof that I'm actually in India.

Mancala (the ancient Indian civilizations knew what was up)

From left to right: Our guide, Somu, Joseph, Jake, and Brie

Jake walking into the great abyss

There was an amazing view at this temple. 

Some people in our group had to sneak away from our guides to find it, but it was worth it. 

There were views of a small pocket of the world but seemed vast with the morning fog creeping in. The photo to the left shows the rock platform that some of us laid on.

 It was a truly special place that I hope to visit again, possibly for a picnic.

Maybe not with  all of these stairs we had to climb to get there...

Later that day we visited a restaurant featuring a buffet that all of the students indulged in gladly. 

We haven't been able to serve ourselves since we've been here (seriously though, sometimes the lunch servers at the hostel won't even let us put our own toast in the toaster).

The day followed with visiting a couple more temples which have similar patters: star shape, Hindu gods and goddesses, elephant sculptures that represent strength so they are placed at the bottoms of the temples to "hold up" the structure etc. Also each temple boasts of having India's largest/oldest structure. Even if the 8th largest in all of South India they are still proud. 

Thumbs up guys (I'm practicing sarcasm here, but not good at expressing it).

After a long day it was nice to go back to the hostel. On the way home we had to wait for a train to pass. The wait for the train to arrive was around 10 minutes. The train systems seem to be really careful about the safety of travelers. By that time people might forget that a train was even coming in first place. 

We knew that we are were almost back at the hostel by the amount of potholes the bus trampled over. 

Then again, South India is never short on potholes. In fact, I've created this game called "Pothole or Destination?" and it goes like this: 

The drivers in India drive fairly quickly except when there is:

1. an actual speed bump

2. a cow

3. a pot hole

4. your destination

After a long day of travel all we want to do is get home, and when we slow down I think it's because we're back, but on the occasion that the driver slows down it fools me almost every time when its 1-3 listed above. 

Hopefully that made some sense.

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Today was very productive: yoga, veena practice, went for a run, bought some pink head phones, bread, kinder joy chocolate eggs, and while shopping it was apparent that the Ganesha festival is not a one-day type of event. Lights strung up across the streets and around Ganesha shrines. It seems that at night the shrines become a boom box of sorts. The one featured below was blasting some Eminem. As youthful Americans, Kate (student in the program) and I couldn't help but dance and rap along.

        Kate underneath the festival lights.

Video proof our our rap excursion:

Ganehsa!

Yesterday was the India-wide celebrated Ganesha Festival. We went to three different houses and were served much food, consisting of chickpeas and man fruits. We also sang traditional Indian songs celebrating the well known elephant god (and some American ones too). Not much else to report, except the veena lessons are being kicked into high gear now- we're learning a new song three times a week.

Below are some more pictures of the events of the festival
(remember you can click on the pictures to make them bigger):

Before there was a Ganesha

 After Ganesha was added:                                            At our professors house:

If the pictures and words aren't enough, one of the students on our trip- Victoria Harding- is a film major and has been making video documentations of our trip:

Om Nashi Me

Enjoy!!!

Schools, Hospitals, and Organic Farms

Despite the monsoon season, our weekend adventure to schools, hospitals, and organic farms was pretty warm and rainless. I thought that Humboldt would have to compete with the precipitation, but we haven't have to brave through a downpour yet. It has rained, but there has been the comfort of a conveniently placed hostel over our heads. 

Schools Visiting  Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement schools was one of the first legs of our weekend journey. We got tours of the classrooms and got to play with the students. They teach the young-ins not only academic skills, but more practical ones such as food etiquette and religious rituals useful at home.  It was nice to hang out with youthful students, as a break from the hostel was very much needed. They were so lively- carefree is the way to be!

Right next to the school, basically on campus, was the organic farm. We were able to witness multi-cropping practices and how they were grown. It was awesome- the farmers sell the plants in local markets with a lower price so people can afford it so as not to rely on the mono-crops or genetically modified foods that are becoming more widespread in India. We were able to taste some passion fruit and play with fruits that have seeds that bleed bright orange paints. Face paint galore!

Tribal School Next we visited a tribal school near one of the rivers in Karnataka. I didn't have a chance to take pictures because there was so much going on, but some of the other Iowa students have got some. Just imagine the standard picture of small adorable tribal children surrounding the college student. It was hard to help it though, they are basically the cutest things ever and we were contemplating taking them home with us.
When we got into one of the main halls the silliness commenced and whenever we performed a dance move they would follow. The Maracarena, Irish dance, and stomping wildly were among the favorites of the tribal students. Meeting some of the India's younger generation was refreshing and they took to the game "red hands" very nicely ;).

All in all, it was such a great experience to learn about a different way of schooling.
The tribal students are not used to being indoors so there are small building with large opening to let light and birds in (think gazebo). From what we have heard, it is important that the school structure doesn't change the tribal cultures, so they base a curriculum around the students' needs. 

Boating and the Ayurveda Hospital After a long day we stopped at the banks of the Kabini River to look at local flora and fauna as the sun was going down. The most exciting event was the coracle ride- the coracles were made out of some sort of hides (maybe?) and had a rounded saucer shape. They comfortably fit five people in them and the man who owned them spun us around with out warning like the tea cup ride at Disneyland :) The man who gave us a ride usually uses the coracles for fishing, so we were thankful for treating us. After all of us had a turn we made our merry way to Kenchanahalli which housed a tribal Ayurveda hospital. We learned about different ayurvedic practices and medicines. The practices involve a more hands on approach then Western medicine and a ton of oils.

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Organic Animal Farm  
Sunday we visited an organic animal farm. 
One of my favorite visits of India thus far.

                                                   (Flora should especially like this)

This farm had turkeys that followed us, a monkey, dogs that were actually friendly, cows, and ADORABLE goats.

Because I'm bored, here's a mini-documentation of the stalking turkeys...

As seen from the photos above even the other animals were perplexed by the turkeys

 












There is a holiday/break from school because of the end of Ramadan. Tomorrow is the Ganesha festival, so the two day holiday fest starts now!

Enjoy the day.

Spicy Food, Mosquitoes, and Veenas

     And now for something completely different... 

I wasn't lying about the goats-outside-the-window thing.

Foods to eat once I get home:

avocado

black beans

cheese

BAGELS

spaghetti
sandwiches
oranges

kale/spinach
raisins and oatmeal

          As the weeks follow, the list will grow. Fortunately the sweets here are sufficient. For example, the sodas have real sugar instead of corn syrup :)

        Another interesting aspect besides the food differences is the terminology. Instead of asking for questions, professors say "do you have any doubts?". It's also hard to communicate sometimes and it takes a few students to get someone's point across and sometimes the question doesn't even get answered, but this is something we have learned to accept.

Veena 

The instrument that I've been learning to play for a few days: Veena

It is suprising like a guitar but is a lot bigger and you play sitting down with legs crossed. To get to our lessons we take an auto rickshaw to our guru's house in the city. Being the first Indian household I've ever been in, I wasn't sure how to act in the new setting, but our veena guru and her spouse warmly welcomed us into their household. The veena guru is a lovely woman who is simultaneously challenging and very encouraging. She expects us to sing in some Indian language along with the harmony and rhythm pieces of the four part song we're learning.

I feel like the karate kid but with strings instead of fists!

Weekend Endeavors

It's MONDAY- welcome back to school Humboldt and other various university students! 

We're starting our second week here in Mysore and it has been pretty mellow here after a busy weekend.

On Saturday we visited the Bandipur Wild Life Sanctuary which is known for it's tigers, no tigers were seen, but various primates were spotted (humans included)!

Mama and baby

Joseph kicking it with some Tamil school children.

Common Langur

          On Sunday we took an adventure in an auto rickshaw. These are the three wheeled taxis of India with virtually no doors which allows the rider to became very well acquainted with the surrounding traffic. The main three automobiles of choice in India are auto rickshaws, motorbikes, and buses which at some point drive straight towards you just to swerve at the last second. We have a theory that it's illegal not to tailgate You'd think with all of the crazy driving that I would vow to never ride a motorcycle, but there have been so many women holding babies side saddle that it has given me more confidence to at least try it.


Traveling into Mysore takes about 20 minutes and we were dropped off in the KR Circle, which I imagined to be like the convenience store but turned out to be a ginormous round about. We heard about a few festivals going on, but didn't end up making it. We followed a man for about half an hour who told us he knew where the "festival" was, but instead lead us to perfume shop. Hey, at least we smelled good with some free samples.


 The event of the day was the Mega More Store.  It was a bit hard to find our way because the man we asked assumed we said Mysore instead of More Store- understandable, but still unhelpful. Once we found someone who understood our American accents he pointed us in the right direction. The More Store in Hebbal (the local town) takes up a space that size of a large living room. The Mega More Store in Mysore was a mega More Store. It has about 4 floors with everything you could possibly need [except bagels :( there's even cream cheese, which is such a tease].


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Music classes start this week! At least they aren't at 6am.


Enjoy the rest of August no matter what is thrown your way,
Vandanegalu!