On Friday, we arrived at Loyola Higher Secondary school in the rural village of Kuppayanallur. We were greeted with a warm welcome from the Jesuits and students of the school. After eating lunch and putting our stuff away into our rooms, most of went to play a game of football with the kids. (By football I mean soccer.) Since I wasn't getting much action down on my end of the field, I played with some of the younger girls who had wandered over to watch us. They began asking all sorts of questions like my name, my mother's name, my father's name, my sister's name, my brother's name, my favorite flower etc. Then they began feeding me some very strange food, and by feeding I mean shoving it into my mouth. It was a tamarind fruit from one of the trees on the campus, and it was very very sour. It was really hard to chew and instantaneously sucked up all of the saliva in my mouth so that I couldn't swallow it. Unfortunately, I couldn't spit it out either because the girls kept asking me to open my mouth to see if I finished eating it yet...then one girl sprinted off to get me water, which I very much appreciated. haha. Next came some sort of nuts which I thought would be spicy but really they were quite good.
After football, we ate dinner, reflected, and went to be since we were all exhausted.
Saturday morning, we woke up and started playing games with the boys at 8:30am. They are all very energetic, and we began with a very fun game of volleyball. I don't remember who won, but I think it was my team. It was really sunny yesterday and by 10am it felt like it was 90 degrees outside. After volleyball we played basketball which was really fun except we were running around and it was really really hot outside. Our ice cold bucket showers felt really great after that! Then we ate lunch, and afterward we went back to the boys' hostel (dorms) and talked with them for a bit. They showed us their hostel and started playing an Indian movie called Robo for us. For most of them it was their favorite movie and they could not believe we hadn't seen it before. Next we were required to start dancing in front of all of them; according to one student the "Macarena" (sp?) isn't really dancing... yeah.
After our tea break we visited the girls' hostel, which was my favorite part of the day! When we first entered, the girls had been studying for their exams, but they took a break to sing for us, and two girls danced (real dancing). We sang songs for them as well, but nothing in our culture seems to excite them. I can't really blame them seeing as how everything here is really vibrant. After they warmed up to us, a wild game of dress up began!! All of the girls on our team were pulled in different circles of the students, and our Indian makeovers began. We had bindis placed on our foreheads, our hair combed and tied into braids, flowers placed in our hair after that, jewelry put on us from the girls, nail polish painted on our fingernails, and best of all really intricate henna designs painted on the palms of our left hands!! Then some more food was shoved into our mouths but it tasted good this time. It was a mix between a chick pea and a green pea, but I don't remember the name. Oh yeah, Matt did not escape getting his nails painted either.... Most of it he has chipped off by now hahaha.
Afterward, we went to Mass, which was said in Tamil (the language here). I love hearing the Mass in Tamil because it's so unique yet familiar at the same time. It also helps us to be in solidarity with the students because many of them are Christians.
After dinner, we experienced the highlight of the day - a cultural performance from the boys at their hostel. We now have a whole new interpretation of the word "humping." No wonder they thought our dancing sucked...wow. We were all thoroughly entertained, and the boys were happy to perform for us. Unexpectedly, we were asked to perform as well, and unfortunately, we had not perfected any performance to the degree we would have liked so we improvised. We began by singing the song of our country - the National Anthem - and then followed it up with a dance to the song "Jai Ho" from the movie Slumdog Millionaire that won two oscars for the best score/song (or something). I hope Mark destroys the video he took of this because it got a little outrageous.
The boys danced one last time with the guys from our group, and everyone went to reflection happy. At reflection, we all learned that most of us are feeling homesick in some way, and all of us miss the comforts and familiarities of our lives at home. We all appreciate the simplest things so much more: ice, cold water, our beds, hot showers, snow, and our daily routines. We love it here, but home is on our minds :)
This morning, we had an early rising at 6:30am because we left to attend Mass in one of the villages outside of the school. I saw the biggest spider ever there! We returned to play/watch more games of volleyball and basketball, and soon we will meet to discuss the lessons plans we will teach in the classrooms tomorrow. Wish us luck!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
We Ate BRAINS for Dinner
Today we began our morning with another wonderful breakfast and departed for Loyola. We had three lectures today: one from Fr. Amaladoss about religions in India, one from Fr. Joe Anthony (an editor for the Jesuit's magazine here) about Indian Media, which was extremely interesting and my favorite, and one from Prof. Gutham (sociology) about Hinduism.
One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that Prof. Gladstone told us that Dalits (who are the Untouchable people in Hinduism) do not have last names because last names are indicative of cast. Instead, the father's first name becomes the first initial before the first name, with a middle name seeming to be the surname, but the surname does nto actually exists, even on passports.
Anyway, Prof. Guthram had an interesting concept that birth is the greatest accident to ever happen to us: we do not choose where we are born or to whom we are born, we are born where we are and that is not something we can control. There's a second half to this that I completely blanked on right now.... oh yes, so discrimination based on race or color or gender or caste is stupid because really we're all genetically/scientifically the same because we're all people (thank you Pat and Matt.)
Next we visited a history museum in the city and saw all sorts of creepy skeletons, stuffed animals, enormous elephant tusks, large fruit bats (what we saw on day 1!!). The creepy aspect came from the fact that the lights were off the entire time. Think Night at the Museum except not cool lol. Also, we saw bronze coins from the time of the British Rule in India, bronze statues of Ganesh and other Hindu gods, tons of Indian children, all of whom shook our hands and made new BFFs with Pat, and modern artwork. It was great.
Then we visited the Egmore Buddhist Monastery! We saw Bhante again like we did last year, and shared a New Year's Blessing and tea again. I just wanted to cry when I saw him - seeing a familiar face in this country is an amazing experience, and I feel so at home when I see them that I'm just overwhelmed with emotion. He is still caring for Sri Lankan refugees at his monastery, and construction for his new hostel will terminate on May 17th - the same day that celebrates 2,600 years since Buddha's Enlightenment. Yay!
We also visited a Jain temple and a Sikh temple where we had to cover our heads with bright orange bandanas and eat some sugary inundentifiable "mush to show just how respectful of other religions we are :) Next we attempted to visit a Mosque, but couldn't because of very special event going on there. Then we tried to find a Fire Temple (Parsi religion) but that was an epic fail so we just ended up at dinner.
And that's when the brains were ordered!!! Yes, seriously. Patrick ordered brains (human, sheep, pig, no one knows...) and Matt, Katherine, Stephen, all ate it! According to Matt, they were tasty and tasted like brains, kinda like jello, and melted in your mouth. I absolutely refrained from this (sorry Dad!) my goal is not to get sick!
Hannah and I shared garlic curry so we have no fear of large fruit bats tonight :)
After dinner was reflection, and tomorrow we leave to go to Loyola Secondary School in Kuppayanallur. The bus ride to the rural area is approx. 2.5 hours, so we will stay at the school in the Jesuits' residence for the next week. I'm so excited! The kids are really enthusiastic to meet us, and the most learning during the trip occurs here. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's reaction to the interaction!
I'm off to pack and head to bed - jet lag is still with us! But at least we're all still healthy :)
Love and miss you! Alicia
One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that Prof. Gladstone told us that Dalits (who are the Untouchable people in Hinduism) do not have last names because last names are indicative of cast. Instead, the father's first name becomes the first initial before the first name, with a middle name seeming to be the surname, but the surname does nto actually exists, even on passports.
Anyway, Prof. Guthram had an interesting concept that birth is the greatest accident to ever happen to us: we do not choose where we are born or to whom we are born, we are born where we are and that is not something we can control. There's a second half to this that I completely blanked on right now.... oh yes, so discrimination based on race or color or gender or caste is stupid because really we're all genetically/scientifically the same because we're all people (thank you Pat and Matt.)
Next we visited a history museum in the city and saw all sorts of creepy skeletons, stuffed animals, enormous elephant tusks, large fruit bats (what we saw on day 1!!). The creepy aspect came from the fact that the lights were off the entire time. Think Night at the Museum except not cool lol. Also, we saw bronze coins from the time of the British Rule in India, bronze statues of Ganesh and other Hindu gods, tons of Indian children, all of whom shook our hands and made new BFFs with Pat, and modern artwork. It was great.
Then we visited the Egmore Buddhist Monastery! We saw Bhante again like we did last year, and shared a New Year's Blessing and tea again. I just wanted to cry when I saw him - seeing a familiar face in this country is an amazing experience, and I feel so at home when I see them that I'm just overwhelmed with emotion. He is still caring for Sri Lankan refugees at his monastery, and construction for his new hostel will terminate on May 17th - the same day that celebrates 2,600 years since Buddha's Enlightenment. Yay!
We also visited a Jain temple and a Sikh temple where we had to cover our heads with bright orange bandanas and eat some sugary inundentifiable "mush to show just how respectful of other religions we are :) Next we attempted to visit a Mosque, but couldn't because of very special event going on there. Then we tried to find a Fire Temple (Parsi religion) but that was an epic fail so we just ended up at dinner.
And that's when the brains were ordered!!! Yes, seriously. Patrick ordered brains (human, sheep, pig, no one knows...) and Matt, Katherine, Stephen, all ate it! According to Matt, they were tasty and tasted like brains, kinda like jello, and melted in your mouth. I absolutely refrained from this (sorry Dad!) my goal is not to get sick!
Hannah and I shared garlic curry so we have no fear of large fruit bats tonight :)
After dinner was reflection, and tomorrow we leave to go to Loyola Secondary School in Kuppayanallur. The bus ride to the rural area is approx. 2.5 hours, so we will stay at the school in the Jesuits' residence for the next week. I'm so excited! The kids are really enthusiastic to meet us, and the most learning during the trip occurs here. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's reaction to the interaction!
I'm off to pack and head to bed - jet lag is still with us! But at least we're all still healthy :)
Love and miss you! Alicia
Con't
Okay so we had an internet issue and I couldn't access the internet for 24 hours, so I have alot of catching up to do for you! So, as I was saying, Fr. Arun is a Dalit Hindu turned Catholic, and because of this decison his family rejected him. It's quite a sad story, but luckily he has a beautiful family with everyone at Loyola College and many other people in the city. He is so wonderful and very personable, and he wants to visit us at Canisius in May! (possibly.)
After Fr. Arun spoke with us, we had a lecture from a sociology professor named Gladstone Xavier. He was very interesting and engaging, and we learned many things from him. Basically, he told us about his work with refugees in India, including some from Sri Lanka, Burma, and other neighboring countries. He told us that 36,000 refugees come to India from all over and receive benefits and help to live a better life. At first I started thinking that this was ridiculous because he had just told us that 60% of Chennai is made up of slums, and there are millions and millions of poor people suffering in India: why would social programs try to benefit refugees when so many Indians are impoverished? Then I started thinking...people say the same thing in the US: why should allow immigrants to come to our country when we have so many issues to work out with our own citizens; however, I'm sympathetic to immigrants who have families and children, and I believe that no matter where they are coming from they deserve to have a better life in America free from whatever burdens and injustices they suffer from in their native countries. So why should that be any different in India? It seems to me that everyone, as human beings, no matter what country they are from, deserve to have the same rights and access to basic human needs as anyone else. The task then, is to figure out the best way to allow for this to happen :)
After lectures, we visited some religious sites in the city including a Hindu temple. While they are very interesting and unique, I personally hate going to these temples because there are always beggars sitting outside of them. And they don't only reach out their hands for money from us, they reach out to touch us because we're American and white and they believe we can bring them good fortune just by our presence. Of course we shake their hands and treat them with kindness, but it's extremely difficult to literally meet poverty and realize that people have nothing while we have everything. Guilt is heavy to carry around.
On a lighter note, we went to the hill of St. Thomas where he hid in a cave from persecution, and some adventurous group members (Hannah, Pat, Matt, Katherine, Stephen) drank the holy water at the top of the hill, which is holy because it's covered and no rain water washes into the hole, and it's at the top of the hill so no rain water washes into the hole, so where does it come from but within the hill? Something like that. It was very interesting and the church was very beautiful.
We returned to the hotel and some people rested. Hannah and Matt went for a walk outside the hotel and returned married. Not really. But they did visit a temple where they received some forehead paint in the shape of a dot (formally called bindis). Since Hannah looks Indian and Matt's moustache makes him blend right in here, they've offically surpassed the rest of us in blending in haha.
We ate dinner at a buffet last night, reflected, played some card games, and went to bed. Overall it was an exhausted but enlightening day.
After Fr. Arun spoke with us, we had a lecture from a sociology professor named Gladstone Xavier. He was very interesting and engaging, and we learned many things from him. Basically, he told us about his work with refugees in India, including some from Sri Lanka, Burma, and other neighboring countries. He told us that 36,000 refugees come to India from all over and receive benefits and help to live a better life. At first I started thinking that this was ridiculous because he had just told us that 60% of Chennai is made up of slums, and there are millions and millions of poor people suffering in India: why would social programs try to benefit refugees when so many Indians are impoverished? Then I started thinking...people say the same thing in the US: why should allow immigrants to come to our country when we have so many issues to work out with our own citizens; however, I'm sympathetic to immigrants who have families and children, and I believe that no matter where they are coming from they deserve to have a better life in America free from whatever burdens and injustices they suffer from in their native countries. So why should that be any different in India? It seems to me that everyone, as human beings, no matter what country they are from, deserve to have the same rights and access to basic human needs as anyone else. The task then, is to figure out the best way to allow for this to happen :)
After lectures, we visited some religious sites in the city including a Hindu temple. While they are very interesting and unique, I personally hate going to these temples because there are always beggars sitting outside of them. And they don't only reach out their hands for money from us, they reach out to touch us because we're American and white and they believe we can bring them good fortune just by our presence. Of course we shake their hands and treat them with kindness, but it's extremely difficult to literally meet poverty and realize that people have nothing while we have everything. Guilt is heavy to carry around.
On a lighter note, we went to the hill of St. Thomas where he hid in a cave from persecution, and some adventurous group members (Hannah, Pat, Matt, Katherine, Stephen) drank the holy water at the top of the hill, which is holy because it's covered and no rain water washes into the hole, and it's at the top of the hill so no rain water washes into the hole, so where does it come from but within the hill? Something like that. It was very interesting and the church was very beautiful.
We returned to the hotel and some people rested. Hannah and Matt went for a walk outside the hotel and returned married. Not really. But they did visit a temple where they received some forehead paint in the shape of a dot (formally called bindis). Since Hannah looks Indian and Matt's moustache makes him blend right in here, they've offically surpassed the rest of us in blending in haha.
We ate dinner at a buffet last night, reflected, played some card games, and went to bed. Overall it was an exhausted but enlightening day.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Loyola College
Today we awoke bright and early to fit in our group reflection which we postponed from last night due to extreme exhaustion from the entire team. At 8am we had a wonderful and meaningful hour long reflection with the team. It was much more productive than it would have been last night. Afterward those of us who did not eat breakfast ate a delicious meal (I tried the mango juice it was great!), and those of us who did eat breakfast enjoyed a second delicious meal :)
We arrived at Loyola College in Chennai at 10am and took a tour of the tropical campus! It's very big and very beautiful with many building for different academic subjects. It's an 11,000 student school: undergraduates are male only, and graduate students are both male and female. There is a gorgeous new engineering building that was recently constructed - it reminded us of Old Main back and Canisius, except it was more fitting for a tropical climate. (There's no heat needed here).
We ate a delicious lunch ate the college and took a short break afterward. Then at 2pm we began our lecture sessions. Fr. Joe Arun who is the John Hurley to Loyola spoke with us about the IDCR which is the Institute for Dialogue of Culture and Religion - this program teaches students like ourselves about the various religions and cultures of India. Fr. Arun is amazing - he is so humorous and so joyful, and he did all he could to make us feel super welcome to India. He is a Dalit man who was born a Hindu but chose to convert to Roman Catholicism because he believed that the Caste System is wrong due to the discriminatory aspects.
Time for dinner!! more to come :)
Alicia
We arrived at Loyola College in Chennai at 10am and took a tour of the tropical campus! It's very big and very beautiful with many building for different academic subjects. It's an 11,000 student school: undergraduates are male only, and graduate students are both male and female. There is a gorgeous new engineering building that was recently constructed - it reminded us of Old Main back and Canisius, except it was more fitting for a tropical climate. (There's no heat needed here).
We ate a delicious lunch ate the college and took a short break afterward. Then at 2pm we began our lecture sessions. Fr. Joe Arun who is the John Hurley to Loyola spoke with us about the IDCR which is the Institute for Dialogue of Culture and Religion - this program teaches students like ourselves about the various religions and cultures of India. Fr. Arun is amazing - he is so humorous and so joyful, and he did all he could to make us feel super welcome to India. He is a Dalit man who was born a Hindu but chose to convert to Roman Catholicism because he believed that the Caste System is wrong due to the discriminatory aspects.
Time for dinner!! more to come :)
Alicia
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Our First Full Day!
Today we had our first full day in the city of Chennai!
Last night our flight landed around 12:40am, and by the time we went through customs/immigration, found our luggage and found our tour guide Baskar, it was almost 2am. Travelling was great with only one delay in Germany- our flight from Frankfurt sat on the runway for an hour before we took off. Since I was passed out as soon as I found my seat, I didn't realize this until we arrived an hour late in India haha. It was no big deal, and I absolutely loved flying on the Lufthansa airline - it was great! After we found our luggage, I led our group outside to find Baskar! At first I was a little intimidated because approximately 1,000 people are waiting outside the airport to find people, but I had no trouble finding Baskar :)
It's an amazing feeling to see a familiar face amongst so many strangers in a foreign country. As we were not sure if Baskar would be back this year, I was very very happy to see him!
The ride from the airport to the hotel is about 20 min. so bed time last night was around 3am. I couldn't fall asleep to save my life since i had slept about 8 or 9 hours on the plane, so I probably only slept for 3 hours :( Today I, along with everyone else on the team, was very very tired. But we had a wonderful day.
We started out eating breakfast at the hotel complete with all our favorites from last year including eggs, spicy donuts, pancake looking things, various sauces, and chai tea :) Everyone was feeling well and excited for the day. Our first stop was a beautiful park right in the city. It was almost like an outdoor botanical garden because of all the different vegetation within it. Though we thought it would rain today, it was extremely warm (90ish) humid (probably 100%?) and a bit cloudy/hazy. There was a nice breeze which made it comfortable.
Afterward, we visited the Tomb of St. Thomas who was martyred in India way back in 52 AD (BCE? what are we using these days?). It's a beautiful shrine and I'm happy I was able to be there again. Last year there was a wedding; this year, no such luck. Next we ate an amazing lunch at a buffet - everyone loves Indian food! It's not making anyone sick either! (Yet.)
After lunch we visited an amazing site called the Theosophical Society - this is an International "Universal Brotherhood" between countries all over the world who have made a commitment to reconciling religions - basically it is a network free from discrimination of any kind that seeks to respect and understand religious differences throughout the world. Over 50 countries are part of this society, and at the site the flags of these countries are hung around the inside of the building to represent their solidarity. It was really a beautiful place. After this, we took a nice hike through the nature trails to see a Banyan tree - google this because they're really cool. There were again many beautiful flowers and vegetation in this park, but what fascinated me the most were the bats we saw hanging in the trees. There were at least 100, and unlike bats in America, these bats rival the wicked monkeys found in The Wizard of Oz - I kid you not these things were ENORMOUS! I'm convinced their wingspan was 5ft. Their poop on the ground we almost stepped in did not look like bat pellets but more like a large dog's poop. It was incredibly freaky but at the same time I couldn't stop staring. Between those and these creepy red bugs who are currently in mating season, our team will probably experience some malarone induced nightmares tonight. Or we'll be too tired for even that.
After this we visited the beach, another Church devoted to Mary, and then 2 Hindu temples. Everyone in India is amazingly friendly and hospitable, but witnessing the poverty here for a second time makes me miss home so much. I'm so lucky to have what I have, and we often take for granted how blessed and fortunate we are. To face beggars, homeless people on the streets, and rundown buildings again weighs pretty heavily on my heart. Strangely enough, there is something reassuring in the familiarity of everything we've encountered again. I feel like I can see more now that everything is not brand new to me.
We ended our day with dinner at Harrison's, an IndoChinese restaurant. Since I've convinced my self that the prawn shrimp I ate last year nearly killed me, I avoided all seafood and meat tonight. Hopefully the vegetables and white rice will sit well with my tummy :)
I'm exhausted and we have a long day at Loyola College tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. For many of you back home your day has just begun - have a great one!
Love, Alicia xoxo
Last night our flight landed around 12:40am, and by the time we went through customs/immigration, found our luggage and found our tour guide Baskar, it was almost 2am. Travelling was great with only one delay in Germany- our flight from Frankfurt sat on the runway for an hour before we took off. Since I was passed out as soon as I found my seat, I didn't realize this until we arrived an hour late in India haha. It was no big deal, and I absolutely loved flying on the Lufthansa airline - it was great! After we found our luggage, I led our group outside to find Baskar! At first I was a little intimidated because approximately 1,000 people are waiting outside the airport to find people, but I had no trouble finding Baskar :)
It's an amazing feeling to see a familiar face amongst so many strangers in a foreign country. As we were not sure if Baskar would be back this year, I was very very happy to see him!
The ride from the airport to the hotel is about 20 min. so bed time last night was around 3am. I couldn't fall asleep to save my life since i had slept about 8 or 9 hours on the plane, so I probably only slept for 3 hours :( Today I, along with everyone else on the team, was very very tired. But we had a wonderful day.
We started out eating breakfast at the hotel complete with all our favorites from last year including eggs, spicy donuts, pancake looking things, various sauces, and chai tea :) Everyone was feeling well and excited for the day. Our first stop was a beautiful park right in the city. It was almost like an outdoor botanical garden because of all the different vegetation within it. Though we thought it would rain today, it was extremely warm (90ish) humid (probably 100%?) and a bit cloudy/hazy. There was a nice breeze which made it comfortable.
Afterward, we visited the Tomb of St. Thomas who was martyred in India way back in 52 AD (BCE? what are we using these days?). It's a beautiful shrine and I'm happy I was able to be there again. Last year there was a wedding; this year, no such luck. Next we ate an amazing lunch at a buffet - everyone loves Indian food! It's not making anyone sick either! (Yet.)
After lunch we visited an amazing site called the Theosophical Society - this is an International "Universal Brotherhood" between countries all over the world who have made a commitment to reconciling religions - basically it is a network free from discrimination of any kind that seeks to respect and understand religious differences throughout the world. Over 50 countries are part of this society, and at the site the flags of these countries are hung around the inside of the building to represent their solidarity. It was really a beautiful place. After this, we took a nice hike through the nature trails to see a Banyan tree - google this because they're really cool. There were again many beautiful flowers and vegetation in this park, but what fascinated me the most were the bats we saw hanging in the trees. There were at least 100, and unlike bats in America, these bats rival the wicked monkeys found in The Wizard of Oz - I kid you not these things were ENORMOUS! I'm convinced their wingspan was 5ft. Their poop on the ground we almost stepped in did not look like bat pellets but more like a large dog's poop. It was incredibly freaky but at the same time I couldn't stop staring. Between those and these creepy red bugs who are currently in mating season, our team will probably experience some malarone induced nightmares tonight. Or we'll be too tired for even that.
After this we visited the beach, another Church devoted to Mary, and then 2 Hindu temples. Everyone in India is amazingly friendly and hospitable, but witnessing the poverty here for a second time makes me miss home so much. I'm so lucky to have what I have, and we often take for granted how blessed and fortunate we are. To face beggars, homeless people on the streets, and rundown buildings again weighs pretty heavily on my heart. Strangely enough, there is something reassuring in the familiarity of everything we've encountered again. I feel like I can see more now that everything is not brand new to me.
We ended our day with dinner at Harrison's, an IndoChinese restaurant. Since I've convinced my self that the prawn shrimp I ate last year nearly killed me, I avoided all seafood and meat tonight. Hopefully the vegetables and white rice will sit well with my tummy :)
I'm exhausted and we have a long day at Loyola College tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. For many of you back home your day has just begun - have a great one!
Love, Alicia xoxo
Saturday, January 1, 2011
India 2011!
I decided to write another blog while I'm in India to share some of my experiences with everyone back home. Although I can write only minimally, I hope that this blog is enjoyable to read and can provide some insight about what my team and I will be up to for the next two weeks. Today we're meeting at the airport at 12pm to take a flight to Philadelphia. Then we will travel Frankfurt, Germany and onto Chennai, India. When we arrive in Chennai, it will be Monday morning at 11:50pm, (ish) so basically Tuesday! Traveling isn't that fun so I hope we can catch all of our flights, depart ontime, and arrive safely! :)
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