So I dropped off the face of the earth...

And now I'm back! Can't believe the summer's almost over: almost everyone is leaving at the end of this week, and I'm going to miss the good times we had over Thai food, farmers' market goat cheese and radishes, rants about camp, and all the other amazingnesses of this summer. But that being said, I'm really glad that this is my last summer: I need to get away. And back to Swat! Can't wait... :)

For further information...

Smirkus Camp has a blog! Basically pictures and descriptions of what we do each day, intended for the parents but also cool if you want to get a good sense of what we do. It's at smirkuscitblog.blogspot.com so check it out if you're interested. :)

Feelin' hot hot hot

I haven't sweated this much since Kolkata! Oy vey. It's in the 90's already, and barely 9 in the morning. The kids are going to be really sluggish today, not to mention the staff. But today I'm lucky, because I have "all day" off, which means really that I don't have to be at the tents for morning or afternoon rotations, just everything in between (strengthening, afternoon activity, etc.). It's super nice, especially after a hard but extremely productive night of fabric training yesterday. Yay for sore biceps! I'm definitely workin' on my "sun's out, guns out" impressiveness... ;)
Oh yeah, it's a new session! On Sunday we got a new batch of kiddos, this time ages 8-16. I was fortunate enough to get a group of six of the sweetest 10-12 year old girls you could imagine, so it's a good time. I also got moved to the dorm that's down by the tents (counselors move practically every session), which means more walking but also more party! We're down there with two counselors, 13 awesome preteenage girls, and the coaches, so we pretty much rock out all the time. It's really nice.
So yesterday it was settled among some of my fellow counselors and myself that we are going to start a circus dance/theater/company in Seattle in a few years. Who's with me? :D

No really

Now the summer has started in earnest, and it's not half bad! Smirkling camp was just the hellish "let's get it out of the way" first part of the summer, and now that I have six darling little nine-year olds (including one who can't be taller than 3 feet but has been to India and Nepal and has a bigger vocabulary than I do), things are looking up. The days are starting to fall into their regular pattern. There's the groggy wake-up at 7, and hopefully getting everyone to the dining hall with shoes and pants and brushed teeth and all that by 7:30. Then the amazing counselor meeting at breakfast, which gives us a chance to wake up without being surrounded by children, bitch about and swoon over our kids, swap tips and concerns, then finally breathe, swear, and set out on the morning run, which is basically a quarter mile of encouraging the campers. Then warm-ups, morning rotations for the kids (acro, performance, aerials, and juggling), during which we help out however we can, be it consoling a homesick camper, spotting them on the tightwire, keeping them relatively calm in aerials while waiting for their turn... Then strengthening (love those push-ups!), lunch, rest time! Except not for us: for us it's making sure the campers are resting-time. Then back down to the tents for more rotations: counselors get one or two of these rotation times off per day, a good time for a nap or a movie, checking e-mail, taking a walk or a shower, basically the only "me-time" we get. Then afternoon activity (capture the flag, CATCH time (camper activity total craziness hour :), which is where counselors offer a selection of activities from which the kids choose, etc.), dressing up for dinner according to the theme of the night, anything from pirates (arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) to "infectious diseases" or "it came from under the bed." Those last two are lots of fun... And then evening activity (tag games, dutch auction, etc. etc.), getting ready for bed, and lights out at 9 (or 8:30 for this session, since they're 7-12 year olds). And after lights-out... time for the staff to play! Usually everyone ends up in either the tents or the kitchen, where we make milkshakes out of ice cream bars, pop popcorn, hang out on the counters swapping horror stories about our campers, and generally have a fine old time. And of course in the tents we train, though I'm often too exhausted to do much: but tonight there's a special aerials class, so I'll be down there and up in the air!!! And then midnight curfew, and up again at 7... as you can see, it's a busy life, full of questions and boo-boos and giggles and later in the summer lots of teen angst, without time for much of anything besides the kids. Sometimes I think, "Thank goodness this is my last year for awhile!": the routine can get to you, and after six years of the same thing, it's getting kind of old. But then a camper will run up and give me a hug and flash me a beautiful toothless grin, as much as if to say, "You're the reason I'm so happy," and I remember why I love this job. :)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

I have had campers for five hours. Only five hours. And already I feel like screaming. This is because they are seven years old. Enthusiastic, creative, needy, and really really adorable. And I only have two of them! This doesn't bode well. But on the bright side, this is by far the most draining session of the summer, and we're getting it out of the way while we still have energy. That's exciting at least. I think that I'm not using any exclamation points it's because I'm saving all my enthusiasm for parachute games and tag. Woo hoo! And now I'm going to take a nap. :)

Back in Vermont

So after that crazy whirlwind week of awesomeness, it's back home, because yes, this place, Circus Smirkus Camp at Sterling College, Craftsbury Common VT, 05827 (and yes that might have been a hint to send me stuff :) does feel like home: it's my eighth year coming to camp in some capacity, and will probably be the last for awhile. It's weird to say this as the summer is just beginning, but I think I'm ready to move on after this summer. But I'm also really excited, because we're going to have a great time: the staff is awesome as usual, and I feel really comfortable with all of them and with my job. So yay for Vermont and yay for circus! More updates to come, of course, but for now I'll leave you with a sense of the awesome place I've come to, and that is: the theme of our staff orientation is Alien Abduction. 'Nuff said. :)

On the road again...

And lovin' it! I'm back at Swat, seeing old friends, choreographing dances, going out to eat and see movies, staying up late and pretending to drink alcoholic beverages, and all that other good stuff that comes with the college life. It's a lot of fun, but frankly I know that I don't belong here right now (now being graduation time: it's too early!!!!), so it's kind of uncomfortable. Plus, I really can't wait for tomorrow... :)
The only truly epic and noteworthy event of yesterday (besides me going to Green Bottle briefly, which is basically a "one last chance at hooking up in college" event for the seniors, and frankly was kind of lame) was that I very nearly lost my suitcase on the way to Swat, this being achieved by leaving it on an R1 when I stepped out to board the R3... thanks to the nice lost and found people at Suburban station the crisis was averted, but needless to say I'm not going to be using the overhead rack on the train again anytime soon!!!
Anywho, I'm wicked excited (sorry Emma :) to see my guy, which is TOMORROW, did I mention? Yeah. Woo hoo! :D

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Well, I'm back in the States! Have been for a week actually, but the stupid computer at my mom's house won't support this site, grumble grumble... anyway, it's really really good to be home, what with the bagels and the sushi and being able to wear whatever I want, and not being harassed by men, and understanding what people are saying all the time, and not being covered in dirt every time I go outside, and of course being closer to my amazing family and friends and boyfriend... Sorry Schmemma! But there's the down-sides too: no fresh mangoes on every corner, no dadas to make sure I'm not getting too skinny, no Chordi to make sure I keep in shape, no Pishi to... well, just be herself. :) And I guess now that the monotony of home has set in there will be less interest to this blog: but never fear, folks, just wait a month and there will be news from the circus! And before that Swat, and North Carolina (:D), and Swat again... in any case, life should never be dull enough that I can't pull a half-decent blog entry from it. ;)

I'm a mime!

Yes, that's right folks, I performed in white-face last night with a bunch of Indian mimes including the great Jogesh Dutta. Of course, you're all saying, "Wow, that is so cool and exotic, she has such a glamourous life!" And to that, I say, it actually went something like this: get to mime school at 2 PM, wait around while the other mimes load stuff into a car, pile into into the car (with too many other people, so it's a bit of a squeeze), drive for an hour to a festival outside of Kolkata (very small, think 2nd rate carnival in the US), wait around while they set up lights and stuff, get bitten by gazillions of mosquitos, think "Well, if I get dengue fever and die at least I will have performed with Jogesh Dutta!", wriggle into a ridonkulously tight leotard (they showed it to me and said, "This is a strange piece of clothing, your legs go here..." ha ha if you know me at all you'll know that leotards and I are best buddies), sit around and watch the mimes do their make-up (which is really cool, by the way: there's something about the make-up that transforms a person's features, so my friends suddenly looked nothing like themselves), sit around and get my make-up done, pose for pictures (which will appear as soon as I get to the states: they decided to have some fun with the camera, ha ha), warm up, pace around back-stage waiting for our turn to perform, do the show (I did practically nothing, just holding signs and a bit of flying, hee hee, but it was amazing to see what everyone else can do: they're quite incredible), bow etc., take off the make-up (interesting fact: they use coconut oil for this), pile back in the car, drive home while eating Indian sweets (dinner! mmmmm....), get home at midnight, collapse. So yeah, as you can see it was mostly waiting around. But I love hanging out with those guys, they're really funny and nice, and totally dorky in a really awesome mime-ish sort of way. We joke around in gestures, which makes the language barrier unimportant: it's so refreshing, to share humor with Bengalis! Most of the time the jokes just go totally over my head.... But yeah, they're really nice, and they're throwing me a dinner party tomorrow, which will probably consist of them making me say stuff in Bengali and being highly amused that I can say, "I have a little sister" and stuff like that.
In any case, hanging out with them makes me miss my circus folk... but hey, I'll be seeing you all soon! Come to Swat graduation weekend, anyone who's in the area, because there's gonna be a party in the big studio, and Gloria will be the guest of honor! ;)

Optional supplementary reading

My friend Emma, errr I mean Schmemma, has some really nice descriptions of our life on her newly-created blog, which is at http://schmemma.blogspot.com/ , and I've obtained her permission to let you all read it if you want. I'd especially recommend her "welcome to kolkata" post: it's really really accurate, and pretty much sums up my feelings about this city and this experience. So happy reading! :)

Happy birthday to me...

I'm 21, yay!!!! I gotta say, it feels an awful lot like 20, only divisible by 7.
So now I enter the phase of my stay which is sort of equivalent to finals, my finals being performances. I actually had one last night, Kathak, at a nice respectible venue with other nice respectible dance groups. I performed in a group piece with other students my my guru, and thankfully it went really well, despite me being sick and dressed in a costume that felt like a corset (pictures forthcoming, don't worry). There was also a video taken, so whoever wants to be subjected to it, let me know when I get back. So that was one performance down, two to go: I got asked to perform with Jogesh Dutta's mime troupe, so on Thursday I'll be whisked away to somewhere outside of Kolkata to spin around slowly while holding a sign... fun fun fun! And then the night before I leave Emma and I will perform an abhinaya (expression) piece at an event to honor our guru. Given how much of a performing addict I am, this schedule suits me very nicely!
As much as I've been wishing to come home, now that the end is nearing I find myself wanting to come back. The people I've met here have been so wonderful, and the arts scene so rich, that I could definitely see myself coming back, at least for a visit. Right now I'm holding in my lap a bunch of tuber-roses that Jogesh Dutta gave to me (after finding out that it was my birthday): he told me that I was like his daughter, and that whenever I come back I can stay at his house. And then he made me eat five roshogolla... ;P(sugar overload!)... but that's the kind of love I find here, it's really quite amazing. I am so grateful to be coming from this amazingness to all of you back home and all of your love: I don't think any 21-year-old could be more lucky. :)

Stupid IWay grumble grumble

So yeah, the internet cafe I go to normally won't let me update, so I finally found one that will: woohoo! And now that I can say things I honestly don't know where to start...
Oh, because the post got lost, you should see The Namesake because it features Calcutta, albeit a nice cleaned-up version, but you can get a bit of a sense of life here, just imagine it with more dirt and smog. Plus, it's a good movie.
And exciting news: I have a performance in two weeks (gulp), on April 27th, with other students of my guru-ma (teacher). It's going to be absolutely crazy, and don't worry, I'll show it to everyone when I get home (no video, probably, but I can just dance for you instead!).
A freak series of rainstorms has brought unseasonably cool weather here, so instead of the usual 90's it's more like 85, pretty darn nice!
I'm starting to realize how little time I have left here (one month exactly, to be precise), and frankly, I'm glad: as awesome as this place is, I do miss home (or rather, I miss bagels, cheese, peanut M'n'M's, not being stared at, and of course you all). A guy in my dance class was telling me, "Why go home? You should marry and Indian man and stay here!" Hah, that was funny, trying to explain why I wouldn't ever do that...
Anyway, I've been sick (again... sigh) and am still not totally back to normal, so I'm going to go "take rest" now. Be well everyone, and keep in touch! :)

You should see The Namesake

By which I mean to say...

Yeah, the computer died as it was attempting to post that last entry: I guess it was just too heavy and poetical for the poor beast! Don't worry, y'all, you just missed a rant about being a white woman in India, plus an exploration of the different manifestations of unity. I don't really have the heart to repeat it now, ask me if you're interested.
But after the computer died, and Emma and I were going to leave, the guy who ran the place said, "Oh no, don't leave now, a boy was just killed by hooligans and it's not safe downstairs." Oh boy. So we sat for awhile and drank tea that they were nice enough to serve us, and after about half an hour we got the all-okay and left. So yeah, that was interesting. And don't worry, once again this doesn't mean that Calcutta is unsafe or anything. It's just not quite as safe as Swat, perhaps. And last night I went to a dinner party with lots of awesome people, hosted by this wonderful crazy Dutch lady writer who's in my Bengali class and her husband, who's Bengali: she's the type who's probably in her mid 60's, but acts like she's 20 and has only laugh lines. They're a really cool couple: as we were looking at their wedding pictures from a few months ago, his comment was, "After 10 years we decided to make each other honest!" Sooo cute! The food was AMAZING Bengali cuisine, and since the entire company consisted of artists or students, we had some very interesting discussions about teaching and gurus, and some extremely offensive (and therefore hilarious, of course) joke-telling, as well as the Americans among us indulging in some sarcastic humor, which simply does not exist here: people don't understand it! Of course, it went late, as these things do, and I definitely didn't get enough sleep before mime class, the highlight of which was a test consisting of "show us cricket:" gulp! Thankfully, as I know next to nothing about cricket I got permission to do baseball instead. I'm sure that due to my ever-so-poor interpretation the class was just as confused about our sport as I am about theirs, but that's okay. Who actually understand sports, anyway? :P
By the way, I've been here for two and a half months!!! Craziness, eh?

It's getting hot in here!!!!!!!!

Confession

So I've become a serial killer. Yes, that's right, that's what happens when you send a mild-mannered girl like me to Kolkata. Every day I walk the streets, searching for my next victims: I seize them two or three at a time, stuff them in plastic bags, bring them home, tear off their skins and devour their flesh. Mmmm.... so good!
In case you're actually worried (hopefully no one is), the names of my victims are chikku, orange, mango, banana, guava, etc. There really is nothing like an Indian mango: I had my first yesterday, and it was akin to a religious experience!!! My favorite new fruit is chikku, which looks like a globular hairless kiwi on the outside, and like it's rotted on the inside. But it tastes sooo sweet, and even obligingly separates itself into sections at the slightest touch.
Oh, and the other day I was walking down the street when I saw a fluffy white dog sporting a black bindi in the middle of its forehead... so amazing.
Okay, I'm off to commit more murders. Muahahahaha....

Strike up the Bandh!

Ha ha ha... wow, I crack myself up. Just so you know why that's funny, here in West Bengal there's this phenomenon called a bandh, which is basically a general strike called whenever something happens that someone wants to protest. In this case, a controversial show of police force in a village called Nandigram (there have been land disputes for awhile, what with the government wanting to seize farmers' land to build a small-car factory and the farmers, understandably, not wanting their land to be seized) resulted in the deaths of at least 15 people when police advanced on protestors and fired, not tear gas or pressurized water (both of which were options), but bullets at point blank range. Needness to say, many people don't like this. So yesterday everything (and I mean everything!) was shut down, and I didn't even leave the Mission all day, since everyone there said it wouldn't be safe to go out (just during the bandh, of course). And indeed, from my window I saw many people marching with flags and yelling anti-government slogans, and apparently something like 100 buses were destroyed and there might have been a bomb at one of the railway stations. Oy vey. But don't worry everyone, this doesn't mean I'm in any danger. Bandhs are very self-contained, and anyway they're mostly an excuse to have a longer weekend. :p
In other news, I will soon have my very own Kathak music recording to perform to, which makes me think that my teacher is preparing me to perform before I leave... gulp! The more I learn of Kathak, the more it becomes apparent to me how much more practice I need. I hope everyone is well, enjoy your cool weather if you have it because I'm pretty much dreaming of low temperatures all the time now. :)

It's all about Tagore

So much craziness in so little time, I think this merits bullet-point format:
Things I have done in the past week:
-Ridden on the back of a motorcycle for the first time: sooooo scary and fun!
-Successfully completed 45 Kathak turns: oh yeah!
-Found out that, yes, I will be teaching an aerials class to students who already know lots and whose language I don't speak. *gulp*
-Experienced the Indian railway system twice, once in luxury and once in: well, not-so-luxury.
-Stayed in a room about half as big as a Willets double with two other people and a 5-inch long lizard.
-Been COVERED with colored powder by total strangers: don't worry, there are pictures.
-Seen monkeys as big as humans just running around randomly!
-After being introduced to the Bengali specialty the "roll" (greasy bread wrapped around something, like chicken, mutton, egg, paneer...), eating one at almost every meal for three days.
-Visited all six (one for each season) of Rabindranath Tagore's houses.

I'm sure there's other stuff, but yeah, wow, that was a good trip. We went to Santiniketan, by the way, which is where the Poet (yeah, that's what they call him here) lived, for Holi. So much craziness, and I'm really glad to be home!

Photos for real!

http://swarthmore.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008393&l=55df6&id=4101276

Let me know if that doesn't work, folks sans facebook. Yay!

Pictures (well, sort of)

They exist in cyber-space! But not on this website, unfortunately. I'll put them on facebook, so those of you without accounts has better join up quick. ;)
Anywho, lots of exciting stuff has been going on, including that I GOT TO DO AERIALS ON FRIDAY!!!!! Yes folks, this lady went upside down lots and has very sore arms today. I'm soooo thrilled. Especially since I MIGHT GET TO TEACH THE CLASS!!!! Because the teacher is leaving for Canada in a week, and who knows, it might work out. Maybe I'll even get paid. But wow, just getting the chance to do fabric, rope, and cloudswing is rocking my socks, even if the ceiling is only 18 feet or so. And after that class I got taken to another one, where a crazy modern (yes, western modern) teacher (this is the Indian Jon Sherman, for those of you in the know) offered to teach me technique twice a week. So of course I accepted... craziness!!! Oh, and I can touch my feet to my head now, proof on facebook. :) So basically, life is awesome. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wheels on the bus

I really love riding the bus here, for some reason. I shouldn't, because overall it's not the most pleasant experience in the world, but there's just something about it that makes me really happy. There seem to be several breeds of buses here, four of which I take to dance class every day (the Dhakuria minibus, 37A, 5, or E-1: there are dozens of routes, though, and though buses come constantly it can sometimes take as long as 20 minutes before the right one comes). There are mini-buses, which are brown and tiny, regular buses, which are blue and yellow and bigger, and then the ugly buses, which are, well, ugly. I can say that these buses are decorated with paint, have the names of the destinations written on them, are old, bare-bones, rickety, etc., but it doesn't really do them justice. I'll just have to wait until my camera gets here (if...). Other fun details of transportation: it costs around 5 rupees for a 20-ish minute ride on the bus (that's around 10 cents, by the way): there are two types of men who work on the buses, one kind who hang out at the entrances and shout a list of the names of the places on the routes ("dhakuriagolparkbhavanipurrashbiharihowrahparkstreet" etc.) so that the people waiting for the bus know where it goes, and another who take the money: they carry leather pouches with change and have dozens of ten-rupees notes folded between their fingers, and you tell them your destination and where you're coming from (for me it's usually "Bhavanipur, Gol Park theke"), and they give you change and a little paper slip with the fare written on it. You have to get their attention before your stop comes up, which is sometimes hard when you're in a rib-crushingly crowded bus. Usually it's okay, though, and women get first priority for the seats in the front, which is wonderful. There are bars everywhere to hang onto, which is necessary when standing up. Today I took a double-decker bus, which was kind of scary (it looked like it would fall apart any second, but then they all do...), and it took turns really fast, such that a woman actually fell out of her seat into the aisle... she was okay, though, thank goodness.
Buses aren't the only mode of transportation, either: there are auto-rickshaws, which are basically covered motorcycles with seats in the back, people-rickshaws, which I never take, and taxis, which have padded ceilings and little technicolor plastic statues of gods with flashing lights on the dashboards: you also have to pay double what's on the meter, for some unknown reason. And then there's good old walking, always a good option...

I have to admit, it's getting better...

It being me, in this case. For those keeping count, that's illness number 2. Yay for sketchy food and ice being a bad idea!
So in the tradition of talking about silly little things, I thought I'd try my hand at clothing. Mostly, men wear the same thing here as at home, with one exception: really tight pants. I'm still getting used to it. Some of the older guys (this is a Bengali thing, apparently) wear dhotis, which are the pants Ghandi wore. As for the women, it seems that for the most part (there are plenty of exceptions) married women wear saris and unmarried women wear salvar kameez. You can google that (spelling might vary...) if you want to see what it looks like, I figure that's easier than me wasting words. And fun fact: despite the name, there are actually three pieces to this outfit, the third being the dupatta, or scarf worn over the shoulders, which is not optional, as I was (fortunately!) informed very early in my stay. Not wearing a dupatta in public is kind of like wearing a sports bra (and no shirt) in public, I think: sort of okay, but not modest. And since it's still (sort of) winter here (heh heh, the coldest it ever got was probably like 55 or 60 degrees!), everyone wears scarves and shawls. I got a really beautiful peach-colored one with dark yellow embroidery... so pretty! My new favorite color here is orange: it makes up like half my wardrobe. I've also (re?) discovered the joy of scrunchies and hair clips, and have found some really cool/ridiculous earrings. Thankfully, I have a constant shopping buddy in Emma, and since we have tastes on opposite ends of the spectrum, we never fight about anything. This afternoon, we're going to go to Dakshinapan (the coolest mall in the world! it's outdoors... I'll have to take pictures sometime) with some new friends, Josh and Jessica, a young American couple. They are definitely kindred spirits, and it's great having them to hang around with.
Okay, I'm off to find some lunch for my poor wounded stomach, which will be quite difficult, as I've been finding. "Bland," anyone? Yes? No! Apparently that's not part of the food vocabulary...

Raise your hand if you're heard of Shilpa Shetty

Okay, just curious... what are/were the big stories in the media right now wherever you are (assuming you're somewhere with media...)?
And a quick poll...
1. Have you heard of Shilpa Shetty?
2. Did you know that Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan are getting married? Omguh...
3. Apparently India is set to take over the world, via the Tata corporation and the general cultural and economic superiority of this great nation. Obviously, right?

Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!

One of the most amazing things about Kolkata is its food. So I thought I'd do a summary of the various things I consume in a typical day, and start taking bets about how much weight I'm going to gain. :)
Breakfast (at the Mission): cornflakes with hot milk, strong tea with lots of milk and sugar, a banana, toast, two eggs prepared to order (I like fried, where they use so much oil that the eggs attain a consistency that I've never seen from eggs before), marmalade and butter (for the toast).
At Kathak class: tea (really sweet and milky: you have to taste this stuff to believe it! It comes in tiny little glass cups, so we have lots of them), sometimes biscuits, mishti doi (sweet yogurt flavored with jaghuri, or palm sugar), lassis, green coconut milk, samosas, sandesh (the most amazing sweets in the world: once again, you have to taste them to believe them! Little jaghuri-flavored grainy patties of heaven...) or whatever else the teachers feel like getting for us. They're so nice with the food!
Lunch: Usually a sandwich from Barista (the Starbucks of India), or whatever else I can scrounge up. I made some trail mix from peanuts, raisins, and chocolate: amazing!
Dinner: Either out at a restaurant if the performance we've gone to (there's one just about every night) runs late (dinner at the Mission is 8-9:30), or at the Mission, in which case it's vegetables, soup, and a choice of veg, chicken, or fish with cooked vegetables, and some sort of dessert (paish, which is runny, amazing rice pudding, or fruit salad with dates, apples, etc., or mishti doi, or cake with custard...)

Mmmmmm, so good......

Languages I'm learning

Ami Bangla bali na!
-Bengali for "I don't speak Bengali"

Ta tunga taka tunga
Diga a ta
Ta tunga taka
Diga diga diga diga diga diga thei
Dat dat thei dat dat thei dat dat thei
-Kathak for "so pretty!"

* *
-Mime for... well, use your imagination. :)

Come take a walk with me!

Okay, so I thought that in the interest of giving some sense of what life is actually like here, I'll do descriptions of little things. I'll start with a walk down Rashbehari Avenue, or at least a small part of it. This is the way I walk to dance and mime class, if I don't take the bus. Okay, so here we are. On the right is a row of shops, selling some sort of clothing: colorful sarees, salvar kameezes, etc., or electronics, or sweets (they're laid out in pyramids in a glass case), or food (idlys, rolls, momos (dumplings), reads a sign out front). The ground is made of red bricks, and you have to watch your footing on the uneven, dusty ground. On the left, near the street, are a variety of things: a cha (tea) stand, with hot tea steaming in a metal pot, a man shining shoes, a barber shaving someone, a stand with bangles, earrings, hair clips, and other pretty things laid out, a man or woman sitting on the ground with piles of oranges, bunches of bananas, shiny white pear-like things, what look like bruised cherry tomatoes, and other familiar and un-familiar fruits and vegetables, a stand where two men are stirring massive (ie 3 feet across) metal bins of lentils or cauliflower, to be eaten with the hands from a plate made of leaves, and of course there will be a stray dog or two sleeping in the sun, a homeless person completely covered with a blanket, and several half-naked, dirty children running around, and on the corner someone with a pile of green coconuts who will, when asked, hack off the top and give one to you with a straw, to drink the milk. The smells are a mixture of the food, the tea, human excrement, and dirt, Bengali and traffic sounds (lots of horns!) fill the air, and everywhere is a litter composed of the small clay cups in which the tea is served, leaves, newspaper, food wrappers, and just plain dirt. The sky is a dusty grey, polluted as it is, and winter sun shines wanly through the trees that line the street.
And that's just a 20-foot stretch of one street. Life here is crazy!

And random thought, for most of you I am writing from the future... creepy!

PS, as always

I found an internet cafe where AIM works, and I'll try to get there at a reasonable time for you guys sometime, maybe tomorrow? Reasonable being like 12 or 1 in the morning, of course. Yay!
Also randomly, I heard this bird today that sounded exactly like a dog's sqeak toy. Bizarre, eh?

Dirty

I am absolutely filthy. And filthy-minded as well, yes, you naughty people, but in more physical terms I actually have dirt all over me. I had the first mime class today, which turned out to be a group of males ranging in age from (approximately) 5 to 55 and me on a rough wooden stage in a theater. We learned four different ways to walk without moving and did various exercises, yoga-type stuff, some gymnastic-type things, etc. Then straight from there I went to kathak, where I finally met the senior teacher, who is a sweet older woman who is mesmerizing to watch even though she didn't stand up the entire time I was there (my teacher until now has been her disciple, a hearty young woman who dances with lots of flair). And of course I got very lost finding both and was quite late, but at least I got there eventually. So back to dirt. I've also been feeling dirty realizing what men here actually think of white women. During a fiasco trying to get to a club to hear jazz music (we were taken to the other end of the city because the name of the club is the same as the name of another part of town, and the driver wouldn't believe us when we said we knew where it was), Ramona, a Romanian film studies student who lives down the hall from me, told about how when she catches guys mentally undressing her she'll just yell at them in Bengali, "What are you looking at?" And men do do that a lot, I've found. From the movies, probably, they think that white women are prostitutes. Even in my mime class, the teachers and other students were looking at me funny, the little boys differently from the men. It doesn't bother me much yet, and I"m hoping it won't get worse. Wearing salwar kameeze (traditional Indian clothes) seems to help.
I wonder what those men would think if they saw Gobi Awakened, hee hee...

I keep forgetting things...

Okay, so AIM seems to be finicky here, so is anyone else game to try g-mail chatting? I don't actually know how it works yet, but let me know if you want to.

Time warp

Time works differently here. It's so weird. For instance, today's schedule: breakfast somewhere between 7:30 and 9, Kathak class (was going to be at 8:30, then changed to 10:00, then changed to 11:30 because of some reason that I will never and don't need to know), then yoga from 2-3, paying the first installment of my rent, coming to this internet cafe to update etc., Bengali class from 6:30-8, dinner somewhere before 9:30. And in there I have to practice yoga and Kathak. Now to a Western eye that will look like a lot of free time, right? No!!! Somewhere between public transportation and walking, taking a nap (very necessary), waiting for things (constant!!!), chatting, exchanging phone numbers, etc., all this free time slips down the drain. But I like it, it gives the feeling that I'm always doing something worthwhile and important, so there's no time to feel sad or anything.
Oh, have you noticed that my English is changing? It's weird, but the little voice in my head (you know, the one that reads along as you type) has a slight Bengali accent all of a sudden. I suppose it's natural, and you can get used to it here before you have to hear me when I come back, stricken with bad grammar and foreign inflections, heh heh. Oh well.
Let's see, strange/interesting/new things for today:
-At last night's Kathak concert I discovered that some things are truly universal: one of these is that when a dance school caters to rich families, the result will be a lavishly costumed performance featuring adorable tykes waving at their parents (and not doing much else) and questionably trained older students. Well, I suppose that's too harsh, there was some nice dancing, but I got the sense that this school trained mostly for these shows and less for any actual technique. (For those in the know (ie Becky), think Donna's class vs. Bette's class).
-When you buy clothing here (women's, at least), it comes unfinished, so you take it to a tailor, where they measure you and you can watch them as they put sleeves on the kameeze (tunic) and alter it to fit you. I got this done for a couple of things which now don't fit (my massive biceps seem to be too much for them, ha ha), so I have to go to another one to get them re-done. Which will probably take all day tomorrow or whenever I get around to it. Oy...
-To get more toilet paper, I had to steal some from the dadas (dada is the respectful term for men in Bengali, didi for women) who clean the Mission. Apparently they forget...
Okay, that's enough for today. Leave me comments, I love hearing from you all!
Missing you lots,
Joanna :)

Once again, sick as a...

So everyone gets sick when they come to India. Apparently if this sub-continent doesn't get you in one way, it'll get you in another. It got me in just about every way it could, but as Emma (my fell0w-Swattie/guardian angel) pointed out, at least I could still breathe. Let's just say that the last three days have not been the most pleasant ones of my life. But I"m feeling much better now, up and about etc. I've started classes here, and they're so different from back home! Kathak is amazing, the teacher is really nice, and somehow just throws things at me and I get them, plus Emma is there to help. And Bengali is the same: the teacher gave me his number and told me to call him whenever I needed any help. And yoga is also the same: I don't really know what I"m learning, but it seems to be good. Everyone is so helpful: for instance, when I mentioned that I had an upset stomach, the Kathak teacher ran out and bought me a packet of electrolytes, poured the whole thing into my water bottle, and made me drink it all! Thanks to the girls on my floor at the Mission (Emma and her friends, who checked up on me, brought me food, and made me eat dinner when that was the last thing I wanted to do), I felt very well taken care of. And now I have to run to a Kathak concert (it seems like one is always running to things here!), so talk to you all later!

Oh and I forgot

My address: Joanna Wright, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, Kolkata 700029, India
:)

Live from Kolkata...

It's Saturday night! Well, for you at least. For me, it's Sunday afternoon.
My trip so far...
Got into the Kolkata airport at 1 in the morning Friday the 12th, met by my "patron," I guess you could call him, Anindya, and went to the Ramakrishna Mission, where I'm staying. Words cannot describe the beauty of this place, so I'll wait until I have a camera and (hopefully) a way to post pictures. Let me just say that it's clean, simple, and full of flowers. It just so happened that the day I got there was a big day for the Mission, since it was the birthday of one of the major figures, so I was greeted with all-day music and dance concerts right in the Mission. Sadly I slept through most of it (while watching... heh heh), but I did get to hear some really beautiful singing and see some Odissi dance. Oh, and due to me not correctly changing my watch, I had the surreal experience of my body thinking it was 1 in the morning, my mind thinking it was 2 in the afternoon, and it actually being 11 in the morning. So that was my day on Friday, dozing to wonderful music with Emma (who lives two rooms away from me) and her friends.
Saturday I actually got out into Kolkata, which, after the first half hour or so, was not as scary as I thought it would be. I got registered for Bengali classes, somehow managed to find my own lunch (lo mein type stuff the guy made in front of me and put into a cardboard box and probably overcharged me for and was probably full of all sorts of bacteria, but gosh darn it, that was the best tasting expensive bacteria that I've ever encountered) and Anindya took me out to get my money exchanged, get a cell phone (whose number I will post at some point when I'm not dumb and forget to bring it with me because I haven't memorized it yet, but you probably shouldn't call anyway because it'll be really expensive), get new clothes, and also brought me to his house, where I was offered lots of sweets (the first word I learned in Bengali was mishti, which means sweet: apparently Kolkata is famous for its sweets, which puts me pretty much in heaven). Then since it was Emma's birthday she and I and some of her (and becoming my) friends went out to a restaurant for dinner.
Today I've looked into classes (mime and yoga), gotten lost, wandered around a lot, and come here. Good stuff...
So I suppose I should try to describe this place.... I don't even know where to start. I didn't actually have too much trouble with culture shock, probably because it's just so radically different that my mind is starting fresh. It's warm, the perfect temperature actually, and everything is faded, dusty, crowded, and somehow more real than back home. Everyone stares at me on the street, but I don't ever feel oppressed or threatened. It's more curiosity than anything else. Plus, I like being looked at. :p
And to wrap up, a few random things that are different:
my shower is completely vertical
at dinner the mission serves this amazing "mishti doi" (sweet yogurt): it tastes like caramel and is soooooo good!
I sleep under a mosquito net
there are random dogs everywhere, and I've seen cows and goats as well
there are no lanes on the roads, and people seem to view the use of their horns not as a priviledge or even a right, but as an obligation. the horns seem to mean "I'm coming" instead of "get out of my way"
people do just about everything in the street

Well, I suppose that's it: I'll write more at some point. I miss you all, send me e-mails! (And if you want to talk, give me a time and a number: international pay phones are pretty cheap here).
Love, Joanna :)

I'm off!!!

Leaving in an hour, finally all packed and ready to go! At this point I just want to get on the darn plane and get over there!
I'll post as soon as I get there, and also as soon as I get a cell phone: calls are good, just remember to add 11 hours. Hugs and love to everyone, and talk to you soon! :)

Worth it

OMGUH this weekend. Wow. Surreal. Amazing times with amazing people. Here's how it went down...
Saturday: 8:30 AM Roger calls me to say his flight will be late.
9:00 AM Nicole calls me to say she's in my driveway (I'm still in bed).
10:00 AM Nicole and I hop on the T to meet Roger at the airport: fun with public transportation!
11:30 AM Roger lands: yay!
12:30 PM We meet Genny and Ross in Harvard Square and have a perfectly delightful lunch at Fire and Ice.
2:30 PM We get ice cream from Herrel's (it's 70 degrees Farenheit, by the way) and walk to Genny's.
3:00 PM Nicole and Ross leave, so Genny and Roger and I go bowling in Davis Square
5:00 PM Roger and I hop on the T again (more fun with public transportation!) and go to the Frog Pond on Boston Common and ice skate: it feels very much like a romantic comedy.
6:30 PM Roger and I hop on the T yet again and go to a nice little Japanese restaurant in Brookline Village, where I get the Sushi and he gets the Sushi Deluxe (waitress: "Oh, you're trying to be he-man!") so that we can see what the difference is. Difference=two pieces of sushi filled with fish eggs, one crunchy and one exploding. Apparently the exploding one is better.
9:30 PM Roger and I finally leave the restaurant and debate riding around on the T for awhile just for fun, but that option is voted down and we go to my house.
10:30 PM I take Roger and Becky out to learn to drive stick-shift at The Cove (a park on the Charles River), and they both excel. We then sit on some swings by the Charles being delinquents.
12:00 AM We decide that what we need is IHOP, so thither we wander.
1:00 AM On the way home, stuffed with various beverages and some marvelous chocolate chip pancakes, we go around the "Circle of Death" (awful traffic circle in Newton Corner) twice just for fun, then drive around West Newton Hill to look at the mansions in the dark.
1:30 AM We get home. Becky goes to bed.
(You don't need to know what goes on here.)
5:15 AM Roger and I finally hit the hay.
Sunday 8:30 AM Roger, Becky, and I make the best pancakes in the world. Gosh, it was a pancake filled couple of days!
10:00 AM Roger and I take a walk.
1:00 PM My dad takes us out to lunch, which is only awkward because those two are so gosh-darn alike!
4:00 PM Roger and I set out for the T, and he departs, only 28 hours after arriving.

'Twas amazing. Need I say more?

I'm so badass

Pardon to any offended ears (or eyes?...). But it's the truth. Yesterday after a particularly harrowing six hours at work with a boss whose idea of a pep talk is, "Okay folks, I don't want to be here, and I know you don't, so let's just cut the funny business [by which he meant socializing and any other fun ways of passing the dead time] and get this over with," I totally told off said boss and quite passively wrenched an apology from him. It's better if you get to know him a little, so anecdotes commencing...
-When cleaning up after work: "Girls, you vaccuum and set the tables. You two [gesturing to the two male members of the waitstaff] come help me lift these tables, and let the girls do the women's work." [Well, I didn't actually hear him say that, but that was the message and intent. And it's not the only time he's said things like that.]
-He went to get spray-tanned before going to Hawaii with his girlfriend, but alleged girlfriend dumped him immediately before said trip, and said boss returned a week early from said trip with dyed hair and a lei of wretchedness and even worse attitude than before.
-My mother, upon seeing him: "... written right on his face: "Pole Up My Ass."" And as a side note, my mother is amazing.

So to the real story: this boss figure, having said to the (by the way, shorter than me and sturdy but not exactly a body-builder) guy next to me, "Come on Javier, I need your muscles to move these tables," I ever so politely said, "Ummm, Tom, would you mind not implying that women are weak? Because I'm a circus performer and I take that as an insult. Thanks." And he promptly exploded, saying that of course he wasn't implying that, and call him old school, but he wasn't going to ask a 4 foot 9, 90 pound woman to lift tables, it's just a matter of physics and what's physically possible(I'm 5 foot 6 and 130 pounds (of solid muscle, heh heh) by the way). And I, being the non-inflammatory type of lass that I am, simply lowered my head and took the verbal lashing. And then... after stewing in his own miserable juices for a few minutes, he came up to me and said, "Listen, I'm not going to change the way I think, but I apologize if you felt offended."
Score one for the easily-satisfied, passive, least violent girl you'll ever meet! Woohoo!