apollo 13

So. here i am, weeks later, sitting at an internet cafe, trying to sum up the past three weeks. holy hell, how has it been that long since i've written? I don't know.

ok. so. we went on our second trip as a group two weeks ago, this time to Santiniketan, to a Kali temple, and to check out that sector of West Bengal. While the trip on a whole could not compare to the afternoon spent on the bay of Bengal at our last trip, the ethereal setting of the temple was amazing. we had gotten a private roof-top concert from some local musicians and danced along (including the famed Cotton-Eyed Joe line dance!) and almost forgot that te power would go out during the night again and we'd be swamped in pitch-darkness, fanless, suffocating-sweating with the muskeeto net being the only thing keeping the critters out. and the bed bugs in--did i mention there were BEDBUGS?! so.

the temple. it was open on the sides, situated by a small pond with ceiling fans and some musicans chanting and drumming and fluting along to the praise of Kali. The trees around us were tall, there were cicadas, and a ligt breeze, and cows. (again, we forgot how one of our drivers hit a baby goat on the trip to the place.... baaaadeath.) it was so beatiful though, i can't even begin to describe it in as little time as i have right now. (impending lunch+need for pepto+leaving for our veranasi-agra-jaipur- -day-jounry this evening) the sages were in bright orange, set against the green treees. mmmm!

anyway. then came dugra puja--i'm just hitting the highlights here. Durga puja: for the past month and a half the city has been under contruction, building "pandals," HUGE temporary temples to Durga, the consort of Shiva (one of the trinity--> desutruction-preservation-creation. Shiva is the former) which are made of bamboo, cloth, gold, banana leaves etc. and i mean HUGE. 100 feet tall, some of them, with chandeliers, life-sized idols of DUrga and her spawn, the lion what carries her, the demon she slays. and then, last night, everyone feed the idol in their neighboorhood, and carries her (on foot, usually, but only Brahmins. or is it Brahmans? the highest caste/priests can carry her) to the Ganges, where she is ceremoniously dumped in there, and everyone beats drums, covers their faces with vermillion powder, and cheers. and drinks a little, the young ones do. Josh Dan and I were lucky enough to see this with a friend from Loreto college, Swagata, and her fmaily, who are so nice and live in the most bitchin' house EVER.

so. anyway. i have to go. photos?

Thank you for teaching me about rain

I made a difficult choice a few days ago, and switched service locations. I know teach English with my friend Rhi (another one of the group from Beloit College) at an NGO for university students who are VERY weak in English. I've now gone there twice, once yesterday with Rhi, and once today alone, since Rhi is really sick. The master plan was us splitting the 9 students into two groups so that one of us could work with the less-advanced/shier ones and the other could work with the upper level/outspoken students, since when they're all in one big group only the latter category does any talking, and the rest get lost in the tumult. This plan worked really well yesterday, and while it's hard work, and not with children like I wanted, I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something, which is more than I can say about much else on this program. It's an eye-opening experience, being here, and I’m learning a lot about myself, but in classes we don't learn much, so it's very frustrating also feeling like we're not doing anything for the people we're trying to help at service either. Today, working with 9 students of various levels, only some of whom I’d met before was really hard though, but good, and I felt really good as I left there. I GOT SOMETHING DONE!

The rains have actually started now too. Yesterday I waded through water that came up to my knees with condoms and dog poo floating in it, over uneven ground, hoping I didn't fall and become submerged in said cesspool. However, the upside is that now I know the phrase "monsoon" is not an exaggeration, and to really get to put my nice Chaco sandals to use. So that's good.

As for the rest, a lot is going on in my head, but I am far too lazy to write it all out, because most of it is long explanations of feelings that can't really need to be explained. Ug.

I had my palm read today at the beauty parlor where I went with Rekha (who has to get herself extra prettified for her mother, who she's going to visit tomorrow. Rekha says her mom is going to kill her because she's gotten so tan here in Kolkata....) The middle-aged Chinese woman who owns the place was examining my ring (a big ole moonstone I splurged on, prying it from the grips of a miserly jeweler surrounded by the knee-deep lake of Sudder Street, and then started examining my palm. she said my life and destiny lines are both long, and they intersect, which is really good. and I’ll have tow boyfriends. I asked if I get two total, or two more, but she wouldn’t say. So I might be maxed out on the boyfriend quotient..... And then she taught me some Mandarin, and gave me some nice face wash, and made me promise to come back to get more stuff done. Since leg waxing is Rs. 120 ($2.25) and eyebrow threading is Rs. 50 ($1) I felt it was a promise I could make, and can keep. Beauty for pain and a little money? Hell. I think she reallly just liked that I made an attempt to speak Bengali. ("Attempt" being the vital word there.

Ho hum.