Small living spaces getting smaller

A most delicious lunch (probably the best I've had here)

CEPT studio

Tensions are high in the Heritage House. The lack of personal space is beginning to drive some people up the wall. With two rooms (and one bathroom) for seven girls and two rooms (and one bathroom) for eight boys, small spaces begin to seem even smaller as the days pass by. While I would like more space, I’m not overly uncomfortable; my main complaint though is that we have nowhere to work. No desks, few outlets, no comfortable seats, no quiet areas to actually get some reading done. I’m pretty flexible with things like that most of the time, but I haven’t even been able to start on my independent study, and I’m starting to get a bit anxious about it.

a GOOD version of what we normally eat

Since I have no place to work at the house, I found an alternative. Last night I stayed late to work in the CEPT studio, during which I was pretty productive. Even though I stayed to work, it was still refreshing to have somewhat of a familiar atmosphere to spend some time in.

Today we ate lunch at the most fantastic place; it was quite possibly the best food that I’ve had since I’ve been in India (which really isn’t hard because the food here is a bit of a struggle). It was a salad place, but didn’t have what most think of as a traditional salad. There were things like pineapple salad, falafel salad, broccoli soup, and cheese fondue with vegetables. It was sooo good…definitely beats the usual rice and curry.

A few interesting experiences...

CEPT University

So it’s been a few days since I’ve had a chance to write a journal entry, but I’ve definitely had a few interesting experiences since I last wrote. On Saturday, we went to CEPT as well as Chharanagar (since apparently in India school is week long and there is no such thing as a weekend!). The work in Chharanagar was pretty successful; we were able to speak with an 88-year-old woman as well as a man who is involved in the community punchayat, which is the local governing system.

So we were at Chharanagar until about 6, then we had about an hour’s worth of a rickshaw ride to see Mr. Mehta’s (the man who’s family we’re staying with in Khadia) “musical performance.” No one, however, thought that it might be beneficial to inform us that the “musical performance” was probably the most upscale wedding that any of us had ever been too. So we show up, after a day outside in Chharanagar, jeans, t-shirts, backpacks- at this ridiculously fancy hotel/event venue- don’t even know where we’re supposed to be going. The dress was beyond extravagant, as was the food, which was all veg, of course. There was an also fantastic dancing- very specific dances to which there were distinct routines.

Eventually we found the Mehta’s…performing on the stage…though that didn’t really reduce the awkwardness- at all. Not only were we wearing super casual clothes to set us apart- we were all white. People stare at us and takes pictures of us enough as it is- like we’re from another planet- through us into a super high-class wedding- we definitely did not fit in.

Come to find out later, the celebration was only the rehearsal. Two ceremonies had already preceded the evening, and the actually wedding and reception still remained. Tad and a few other ended up talking with the uncle of the bride who said that the evening alone cost about $100,000- not rupees, and that the reception was to be held at an even larger location as they were expecting over 2,000 guests. Yikes.

To say the least, I was more than excited to get out of there when we left, and I was a little more than irritated that no one had bothered to inform us that the mystery “musical performance” was a fancy wedding rehearsal. Anyways, we did get some good food out of it as well as some interesting pictures.

The mall BEFORE the entire city decided to shop up

The following day was essentially a free “work day,” though I think we all slept til 11 and spent the day shopping or attempting to play cricket (I was in the shopping group). Tad and I went to the Sunday market near Ellis Bridge, and then went the mall near Khadia, which- on Sunday’s we discovered- is absolutely insane. Our experience in the “Big Bazaar”- which is the Indian version of a super market/everything store- puts any bad Walmart experience to shame. It was wall-to-wall…or rather aisle-to-aisle full of people. We were in numerous standstills because there were so many people that we couldn’t move. Checkout…for our Rs. 40 of merchandise…took at least 20 minutes. In addition…every single person that realized there were white people in the store stared us down until we were out of sight. It was a pretty overwhelming experience and I was more than glad to get back to the house at the end of the day.

Today was another day at Chharanagar, with several rickshaw rides from hell. The worst was the driver that Chloe’ and I had on the way, who clearly did not know where he was going, though he claimed he did. It took us nearly an hour to get there…and he wanted Rs. 250 for it. We argued for a while with him after we finally arrived (though he understood no English), gave him Rs. 200 and walked away.

Familiar, though not quite adjusted

Wedding in Chharanagar

I’m at an interesting stage in this trip, as things aren’t really new any more, but I’m not adjusted either. I am doing better with the whole food thing. Tad and I go to a place down the road almost everyday where the food…at least what we’ve been eating…hasn’t been excessively spicy. I’ve been eating mostly vegetarian, as many people here do, but tonight we went to a non-veg place, and I had some deliciously bland chicken chow mein.

Yesterday we met briefly with the urban planning graduate students at CEPT University that we’ll be working with in Chharanagar and discussed our findings from the previous day, during which we produced cognitive maps of the community, spoke with three residents, and identified important locations within the community. We broke into five groups to cover different areas of research about the community; mine is social infrastructure.

Wasim and the family we were interviewing

Family that wanted a photo with me

So then today we went back to the community in our groups with the CEPT students to conduct some more research, and it was kind of an overwhelming experience. In addition to the endless staring and handshakes we received, we met with the community leader and a handful of others. During this conversation, at least three different languages were being spoken, everyone was trying to yell over each, and I struggled to understand Wasim, the CEPT student in our group, who was translating the Hindi into a somewhat hard to understand English. It was a little frustrating because we weren’t able to ask about and get answers to all of the questions we had, but we did learn some interesting things about the Chhara culture…particularly marriage…they definitely told us a lot about that. Hopefully when we go back tomorrow we will be able to collect a little bit more information. 

CEPT University

Mural on a wall at CEPT

India requires patience. “Informality is the strength of this program” according to the dean of climate change and sustainable design at CEPT Univeristy, which essentially means, “we’re not organized, and we like it that way.” I am sort of enjoying the long gaps of time that seem to appear when we’re waiting to meet someone, or the unavoidable festival that pops up and changes plans.

Yesterday was interesting- spent the day in bed with diarrhea from some unknown food or drink. However though after two liters of 7up, half a loaf of bread, 24 hours of sleep, and the Cipro pills I brought with me, I am back up and out, running at about 85% today. –Thank goodness! Could I even be ready to eat Indian food again? Perhaps?

Outside of CEPT

We have just arrived at CEPT, and it is beautiful here. It is also great to see so many Indian students with common interests and educational pursuits. So far, CEPT has provided my favorite functional and social spaces- and I still have yet to even step inside the buildings! The canteen is the social center of the campus- everything seems to revolve around conversations held over lunch or tea. I would also probably go so far as to say that the campus at CEPT is the most integrated combination of building and landscape that I have ever experienced. It contrasts greatly with the haphazard development that comprises most of the Old City, where we’re staying.

Sweet spiral staircase at the university

I am not sure how I feel about the tea- which is ALL chai- just yet. They load it up with milk and sugar to the point that it is a latte on steroids- not really how I like my tea, but I’ll deal with it. I really liked the Ceylon tea that they served on the Sri Lankan airlines- sugar and cream on the side!

I’m not sure how I feel about the Chharanagar project just yet. It’s not something that I really know how to wrap my head around yet, which I suppose is precisely the reason why we’re looking at it.

3:15

At the canteen

I think I just successfully ate my first Indian meal after yesterday’s episode! Still not a huge fan of Indian food though. Tandoori Butter Chicken sounds pretty mild on the menu definitely not the case.

A different kind of art near the canteen

The bathrooms here are something else that takes some serious getting used to. Thank goodness we have clean, western toilets at the house. Let’s just say that I’m going to be very good at squatting by the end of this trip. Not to mention the Indian toilet paper substitute- water- that shoots out from the back of the toilet. I thought I was flushing it, but I actually ended up spraying myself with the unusually strong stream of water from the rear of the toilet seat. Yuck.

Another surprise at CEPT: a dog that looks just like my own! I call him "Scooby's Indian Brother." :)

We spent the afternoon in Chharanagar, where we will be doing some sort of planning project with CEPT. We were celebrities there, and as one of the guides and theatre members said, “These people have never seen foreigners before.” As a result, I was handed a small Indian child so that I could pose for a photo with it- the child was terrified, but the mom got her picture.

We also ate some fantastic food fore dinner at a place that Nihal took us to. After dinner we went to see a few major things around the city, including a large mosque, which was where we were at when the fireworks that conclude the day of kite flying went off.

Getting Settled In

Our first auto rickshaw driver from the Airport

Bedroom, Heritage House

The auto rickshaw ride yesterday was incredible. At one point we were in between lanes with rickshaws on both sides of us. My favorite part though was probably when the driver turned around to look at us so he could pose for a picture… while he was driving. 

Main room, Heritage House

Today there is a grand kite festival. All of the kids go up on the roofs with kites attached to strings that are embedded with glass in attempt to cut the other kites- similar to “The Kite Runner.” They blare loud music from the rooftops and everyone gathers there.

This morning we went out for breakfast instead of eating at the house. We were starving because we all slept through dinner last night (We did some sleeping after three days of traveling. Fell asleep around 3 pm, didn’t get up til 5 the next morning.) It was fantastic!

Our breakfast consisted of small fried dough that had some sort of greens inside of it, a potato and green bean dish, and something that was essentially an Indian version of a funnel cake. Odd breakfast, but it did the job.

Flying kites on the roof of the house

Giant kite at the Chharanagar community

Arrival!

Tad, Jeff and Jaron after arriving at the Heritage House

Flight, Mumbai to Ahmedabad

I just sipped the most bizarre tasting juice that I ever have had. “Jus Fresh” is what it is called. It tastes at first a bit salty, and then like a liquid lemon drop. Strange. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. Kind of like a cold, liquid version of a cheap lemon sucker. Everyone around me seemed to quite enjoy it though, as they all downed theirs pretty much immediately.

Ahmedabad, India

Heritage House

We just arrived! After a most incredible and intense auto rickshaw ride, we have landed here at the second “Heritage House” on this street (The first one we went to was a mistake). The Heritage House is actually home to a family in addition to our 15-person group. It’s three stories, plus a large roof, where we will be doing yoga every morning. Here’s a link with some images of the house: http://heritagehouseinahmedabad.blogspot.com/.

My bed! (4 of us share this room)

View from the 3rd floor patio

Indian Airport, Mumbai

The last flight went fairly well- I napped, slept off whatever sort of stomach upset I was experiencing, and ate part of the vegetarian tofu or cheese something meal that was served on the plane.

Our situation started to go bad, however when our group was split into two while going through customs. The other group ended up exiting the airport, and was not allowed to return, so they were forced to take taxis to the next terminal, as it was 5 km away. The rest of us were then very delayed as we waited for the others to show up. We also experienced difficulty later on as we did not have boarding passes to get to the shuttle to take us to our terminal. As a result, we had to show the armed military figures that were guarding the door our itineraries and passports, and they eventually let us pass. While boarding the shuttle however, our already split group was split once again, and Nihal was separated from six of us; plus our itineraries showed that our plane was supposed to leave at two different times: 5:35 am or 9:00 am.

I think it was about this time that I started panicking. Airports terrify me as it is, and this trip is certainly not changing my mind. I was about ready to call the travel agent myself, which I am still considering doing. Even with the difficulties though, our group was reunited, we obtained actual boarding passes and now we are having breakfast before we get on the plane.

Sri Lankan Airport in Colombo

Hotel we stayed at in Sri Lanka

My body hates me right now. I haven’t slept since we flew in last night, and the sleep that I have gotten was broken up and over two major flights. My stomach also does not feel ideal- I don’t feel sick, but not too great either. It may just be out of the lack of sleep in combination with new food and living conditions. This trip is definitely going to be trying. Although I’d like to think of myself as somewhat of a traveler, this is a place unlike any I’ve experienced before and it is certainly going to take a lot of patience to do it for three months. I haven’t even experienced real India yet- only a tourist hotel in Sri Lanka! I can’t believe that I already have a desire for American food- I thought that I liked curry.

View of the sea

Today was so bizarre with the whole not sleeping thing. We arrived at our hotel around 6 this morning, and we spent the day there. Some people went to visit the city of Colombo, other people took a boat ride on the Indian Ocean, which I wasn’t really feeling at the time. Tad and I spent the day sketching, walking on the beach, and socializing with everyone else. Some time in the afternoon we consumed a decent amount of beer on the patio next to the beach, which may or may not have been a good thing. I then proceeded to take a nap, which I overslept, but still woke up in time for dinner and the trip to the airport. 

Flight from London to Colombo, Sri Lanka

And so it begins. The Asia adventure is underway and I’ve got two flights under my belt; one in progress, and two more to go. Of course there had to be complications early on in the trip and I experienced major difficulty with my ticket from Chicago to London, which completely freaked me out early on. Sound slightly reminiscent of Haiti? Apparently the travel agency did not correctly link my reservation and my ticket (though they did everybody else’s…), which resulted in me having to get on and off the plane, speak to the hard to understand travel agent multiple times, and try to explain to the airline what had occurred, though I really had no idea what was going on. All is well now though since we have switched from United to Sri Lankan airways; I am, however, slightly concerned about my trip back home. Hopefully though I can get everything sorted out with the travel agency before that occurs.

I’m already getting to know everyone on the trip a bit better. Our assistant director, Sanjeewani, who is from Sri Lanka, but is currently studying at Ball State, is returning to Sri Lanka for the first time in one and a half years to see her husband and family- which seems amazing to me.

Once we arrive in Sri Lanka, we will have one day to recoup and shower before heading to India- I am definitely looking forward to this. We will also meet up with Nihal there.

The flight from London to Colombo has been fairly comfortable, at least much more than the previous flight. It might have helped though that I wasn’t all frazzled before getting on this plane. Everything is free on the flight- including alcohol! I’ve never experienced such a thing. All I had though was wine with dinner. At least I think that meal was dinner… This whole losing twelve hours thing is rather confusing to the stomach. I am hungry now though ha.

Now I need to read for classes before we arrive in Colombo in about 3 hours. The plane ride is 10.5 hours, and the one from Chicago to London is 8 hours. All I can say though is that I’m sooo glad I’m flying to Sri Lanka right now and not in Muncie!

P.s. Noise cancelling head phones- greatest things ever!