Very frustrated!

There is no reliable internet facilities that I have been able to find in India.

The post about Darjeeling is missing most pictures. The post about Mumbai is completely missing. The emails I sent to parents regarding mine and John's well-being and alive-ness did actually get sent and so for a week my mom thought we were dead (granted she also catastrophizes) I am so defeated. Stupid lack of infrastructure!

I will blog Goa and repair the rest of the damage from the comfort of my own home. In A/C. (Mumbai was intolerably hot and Goa is not much better)

Gorkhaland

Getting to Darjeeling was the scariest 3 hour car ride of my life! The mountain roads are not in the greatest condition, are very steep, and as we were driving here on Saturday night, a dense fog/cloud developed. At some points, we could not see 6 inches in front of us. Tricia managed to say two entire rosaries on the way up. I chanted a buddhist mantra the entire time. John thought it was great fun and would gladly do it again. I think his sense of adventure greatly exceeds mine.

The only negative thing other than the ride up has been the persistance of clouds. We should be able to see the entire range of the Himalayas but they are obstructed by uncooperative weather. Also, the elevation has made me feel even more out of shape than normal. John's resting heart rate is now 84. Mine is 70. And we want to die most of the time climbing the steep roads and stairs (of which there are way too many.)

View from hotel room.

We went on a pretty pleasant hike (lack of oxygen aside) in the mountains our first day. Pictured here is Aloobari monastery.

Dinner at Glenary's with Tricia and Jeremy. Tricia and I were especially excited to eat here because it had some significance a book we recently read, The Inheritance of Loss. (Really good read, BTW)

Darjeeling is known for Black Tea. We went on a visit to Happy Valley Tea Garden, which grows organic teas exclusively for Harrod's of England. The views were tremendous and the teas excellent. The most expensive one is called Super Fine Tipy Golden Flowery Orange One, named for all the things that make it expensive. The tea lady us pose in this corny way as we were sampling some of the best teas. Notice how happy it made me.

View of the plantation.

Beardy (aka John) with the "Give me my sweets gang." These children ran up to us yelling, "Give me my sweets!" Beardy took their pictures after giving them some candy. This is very typical behavior for him.

On our last day, the clouds cleared and we decided to go on a one day trek in the Himalayas in Nepal. Wrong choice! Not only were we caught in heavy rains but also we had to endure a hail storm, all sans rain gear. Here Trish and I are pictured finding a little shelter while the guide and Cactus cheeks (aka Beardy, John) went to the nearest rest station to call for a jeep to pick us up.

Porcupine face (aka Cactus cheeks, Beardy, John) and I warming ourselves by the fire at the rest station.

Salvation! I only look like that because I was so incredibly cold.

The last of Delhi

I'm not sure why but blogspot decided to post my last two entries in reverse order. Cipro should come before Dharamsala...

Now in Darjeeling and loving the cool mountain weather! Jeremy has arrived and with him a whole new batch of crazy India stories (He traveled for short time by himself before meeting us here). A small sample of the best:
1. He made such good friends with an autorickshaw driver that he was ALLOWED to drive the thing at break-neck speed, after consumption of EtOH.

2. He went to Agra by himself two days ago and his train car caught on fire. The fire was extinguished and the passengers got back on the SAME car and proceeded to Agra as though nothing had happened.

The last week in Delhi was pretty exhausting with the heat and the program trying to cram in as much possible before we left. My favorite was Venu Eye Institute, which provides free cataract surgery to patients who couldn't otherwise afford it. I was allowed to scrub on a few cases. I think they use the same technology as that which is utilized at home. The only differences are that flip-flops are provided and mandatory in the OR and they have more assembly line-type procedures. Two beds are set up in the OR and as the surgeon is finishing with one patient, another is brought back and prepped. The surgeon merely takes off his gloves, changes them for another set, and walks around to the other table. What crazy business!

We also spent some time with organizations that work with HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.

An HIV/AIDS and IV drug abuse medical center's autoclave.

Their entire pharmacy.

Preschool for children whose parents are in detoxification center for street drugs.

The HIV/AIDS and drug abuse issues can sometimes get overwhelming. The problems are so large and so complex and as you can see, the organizations are so very poorly equipped. Their funding is meager and most can barely accomplish minor goals.

It has been really nice to no longer be immersed in poverty, disease, and suffering. I am enjoying just being a tourist. Will post more about Darjeeling soon!

I love ciprofloxacin

Warning: This post does contain lots of poo detail. If you are too sensitive or are a lady, please ignore this post and I promise to post something more proper next week.

Delhi belly was raging last week. So much so that I had to miss a day of my program. I decided that it probably was no longer a "my digestive system has a low tolerance for spicy" and more of a "definitely infectious E. coli, traveler's" diarrhea. The culprit: some shady lassi from a "restaurant." You'd think the dude pounding large blocks of ice into "ice chips" on the very dirty floor would have tipped me off but nooooooooooooooooooo, I had to have a cold drink. I got what was coming to me I guess. Luckily, my E. coli was not cipro resistant (as are 30% of the bugs here...nurse practitioner at OSU student health is an idiot) and I am back to having normal BMs. TMI I know but I am just so excited I had to share!!

For the sake my readers, I've decided not to post any pictures this week. You can thank me later!

The programs this week have been sadly disappointing. We have been mainly working with a group called Sahara that targets IV drug users and street children. Unlike the previous two groups, this one is not as well-organized, well-funded, or in my opinion, successful. It has been nice however to have a comparison, however. I think the problem is that the two previous NGOs had creative, talented people at the very top. The people within Sahara are terribly well meaning and generous they lack the kind of leadership that generates success. IV drug abuse and street children (of which there are devastatingly too many-est. 1 million in India) are incredibly complex problems that require creative solutions. I feel somewhat disheartened this week.

Over the weekend, we will travel to Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. Very excited for the opportunity to get out of Delhi.

Dalai Lama, Dharamsala

Took a 12 hr overnight bus from Delhi to Dharamsala. Obtaining the ticket was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I won't elaborate but suffice to say that I had to get ice cream at McDonald's after.

A surprise find at McDonald's. Only my sister and parents (if they ever read this thing) can appreciate this. The happy meal toy is of my favorite cartoon character growing up, 小叮噹 ! It's a Japanese cartoon, which makes me wonder if a lot of the jokes are missed by the Indian population. My guess: definitely.



Dharamsala, more specifically a section of it called McLeod Ganj, was awesome and definitely worth the terrible travel conditions. Not only is it the exile home of the Dalai Lama but it is also the world's greatest hippie tourist destination. I've never seen so much nappy hair in one place. I really wanted to hand out free shampoo and conditioner. Still, it was pretty nice being one of the many foreigners at Dharamsala. No stares or rude comments all weekend! And only two celebrity photos with Indian families. =)

View of the Himalays from our hotel room.

The people were amazingly nice and friendly. It was also strangely comforting to see so many other Asians. Many Tibetan refugees end up in Dharamsala. When we tried Tibetan food, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of it is exactly like the food Dad makes at home. Maybe we are descendants of Tibetans! Disappointingly, however, the food I was most excited to try, something called the momo is just dumplings. I was hoping for something much cooler.Trish and I pictured here at our favorite rooftop Tibetan restaurant. We managed to eat there twice in the 36 hours we were there.

While walking around, it started to drizzle a bit but then we saw 3 rainbows!
(I can count. Only two were photographed due to some electrical cables.)

While hiking in the foothills of the Himalayas, (that's right, so badass) John made a new friend. We named her Smokey the Dog and she followed us around on our hike until a pair of hippies stole her from us. This was supposed to be a simultaneous "sniff" picture but I was too slow.

View of one of the main street in McLeod Ganj.

While there, we also visited the Tibetan Museum, which documents their recent history of oppression and suffering under the Red Chinese Government. Their plight really struck a cord with me. Cheesy as this is, I know what it is like to be kept from my ancestral home by a hostile government. Although my people never suffered as much as the Tibetans, I can certainly sympathize. It takes a special kind of cruelty to torture and kills monks.

Tibetan prayer flags.

Making the trip to see the Dalai Lama's temporary home makes me wish I were more religious. I loved seeing so many Tibetans devoting themselves to the rituals of their religion and finding so much hope and comfort in them. I was also surprised at how little hatred the Tibetans I met held for the Chinese. Many of them even conversed with me in Mandarin (education is delivered only in Mandarin, the Tibetan spoken and written language is not taught in schools).

Our new friend, Jamphel. He escaped from Tibet in 2006 and walked on foot with 26 others for a total of 24 days to reach Dharamsala.

We happened to be there on the Panchen Lama's birthday. He has been a political prisoner of China since the age of 6 (He is now 25). The Panchen Lama is the second most important political/spiritual leader in Tibet. He has not been seen since the Dalai Lama announced him as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, 19 years ago. The Temple held a rally and hunger strike to raise awareness.

It was a great trip and I am sad to be back in Delhi. When we entered the city, we were greeted by an overwhelming smell of sewage, lots of people defecating by the road, and smog so thick that industrial revolution England would have looked like a poster for Earth Day. Only a few more days left and I'm off to Darjeeling!!!

Being Tourists

Over the weekend, we all went to Amber Fort, Jaipur (the Pink City), and the Taj Mahal. It was so exhausting (mostly because of the heat) and was really fun =) The trip is called the "Golden Triangle" and is often taken by tourists to hit the major points in this region.


This is a picture of Amber Fort, built in the late 1500s. It was a really interesting fort and the palace within it was amazing!











The mirrored hall. One of the favorites parts of the palace. If I had John's sweet photo skills I would have been able to capture the ladies with the red sarees better.












Our next stop was in the city of Jaipur. It is known as the pink city because of the colors of the buildings. Originally, the color was used to disguise the poor quality of the building material. The city has a very old Indian feel. I liked it so much more than Smelly Delhi.









We had lunch at a posh hotel. Pictured here is the pool. Next time I go to Jaipur, I'm definitely staying there! I think at one time it was the family home of some kind of noble.











The city of Jaipur is also famous for City Palace, home to the local Maharaja (who still has the title and all the money that comes with it). Part of the complex has been converted into a museum/tourist attraction. Many Bollywood films are filmed on this location.








That evening, we went to this Indian version of Colonial Williamsburg. The setting was like that of a traditional Rajasthani village. All the people there wore traditional clothes and performed traditional dances, music, and various types of entertainment. We at traditional village food (not very tasty...so spicy that I was crying) on the hot stone floor and then we all rode an elephant! It was super scary (and super fun!)


Last but not least, we got to the Taj Mahal. When we were there, it was world hertiage site day and we got in for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! But the scorching heat (120F) and the crazy crowd quickly made it much less fun. When entering the Taj, one must remove one's shoes but after baking in the sun all day, the ground and stone floor are very, very hot. It made me very, very cranky.

The structure itself is quite beautiful but I didn't have the awe-inspiring experience everyone else seems to have had when they got there. I did, however, pose for a "Where has your Glamour been?" photo. I hope to be published in the magazine. We'll see. Don't let the picture fool you. I had to towel off all my sweat before we took it.

Sulabh

Sulabh International has become synonymous with toilets in India. However, the organization is so much more and its story and the stories of those involved in it are incredibly inspiring.

This organization, started in the 1970s by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, aimed to achieve Mahatma Ghandi's dream of freeing the scavengers. Manual scavenging is a system of employing people for public sanitation--manual removal of excreta from "dry toilets", i.e. toilets without the modern flush system. Most scavengers are women. They work before sunrise to clean the dry toilets, carry the excrement in buckets on their heads, and walk long distances to dispose of the feces. These scavengers, usually from the lowest caste, are shunned from society. They have to cover their heads in public, are not allowed in temples, are not allowed to get water from public areas, their children are not allowed in schools, and they are deemed "the untouchables." Not only do they suffer discrimination but also are infected with a myriad of diseases.

Sulabh wanted to and liberate these women from their profession but first needed to develop a concept for building and managing public toilets in India. Only then could the untouchables truly be free. With this in mind and after years of hardship, Dr. Pathak and his team were able to develop a system of manual flush toilets (the users pours 2 L of water into the toilet to "flush").

Pictured here is an open-air manual toilet. As I've written before, many Indian villagers practice open-air defecation. It is their belief that this is the better way, so as to not breathe in the unpleasant fumes and to enjoy nature. Also, most villages lack public sewers and septic lines. Even if they wanted toilets they would not be able to actually use it. These toilets are hooked up to two septic tanks. One is used for a period of two years and the system switches over to the other tank. For the next two years tank A ferments into fertilizer and tank B is used for storage of sewage. The fertilizer can then be used for agriculture (of which 65% of India's population is dependent). You'll notice here that the toilet is squat style. Sulabh took into account the needs and wants of the people (open-air, squatting) but gave them privacy and a way to properly dispose of the wastes. This system requires no public sewer system or running water. Ingenious!




Sulabh also makes toilets with roofs, with Western style toilets, and the materials are constructed out of those that are readily available in the various parts of India (rock, cement, even wood). Over 1.2 million of such toilets have been constructed and are currently in use. Additionally, they have recently built a model of toilets that harness biogas (generation of CH4 from excreta and a filtration unit with UV rays to purify urine for water for agriculture). This is currently being used to power the Sulab campus and in Kabul.

Sulabh also includes a school for children of scavengers. The ratio of scavengers to other castes is 60:40. The kids learn together, eat together, and play together. They have learned to get along and no longer discriminate. A third component of Sulabh is their vocational school. Women who were previously scavengers learn new trades to support their families. They produce high quality saris and food products and learn skills to open/work in a beauty parlor. Their work is now in high demand and people eat food products produced by women they would not have even looked at 10 years ago.







Practicing the art of henna













Sulabh students. When we visited, some of them gave us speeches on the importance of environmental consciousness and sanitation (in English!) Very impressive.



We visited a village called Lugputaga in the state of Rajasthan in which all of scavenging has been eradicated. Since 2001, they have trained and rehabilitated 113 women. These ladies are now all accepted members of society--invited to weddings, they shared food with their previous employers, welcomed in the local temple, and their children in local schools. It was so inspiring to see what these women and Sulabh were able to accomplish!

Making Saris

You'll notice that all the women are wearing blue saris. This is their uniform when at work and the color symbolizes freedom. They told us that whenever they put on the uniform, they are filled with much pride.






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I am attempting to make popadoms (sp?) And failing. Obviously.













The ladies are so much better than I am! The ladies offered to draw henna on us. Pictured here with the artists.

Being tourists. At a castle built in the late 1700s. This white marble structure is where the King of Rajasthan would addess his court. I couldn't imagine talking to people outside in this heat!