Diwali

Namaste!
I am sure some of you have heard of Diwali, the festival of lights. You have probably also heard that it is one of the most beautiful festivals in India. Well, it is! Maybe it is the excitement of the entire family coming over for dinner (Indian families are big!), firing illegal fireworks (illegal in America of course), or maybe it is all the lights that are hung on every single house. I think the most beautiful moment of Diwali was when I watched a single paper lantern float into the sky. I know it sounds cliche, but it was truly picturesque.
For 10 days before Diwali, everyone frantically cleans their houses. It is like the Indian version of Spring cleaning, except they actually do it :). For the 3 days of the festival, there are poojas at homes and shops, where the owners pray for prosperity of their business' and families. 

Many people underestimate the amount of fireworks that are blown up, as well as the unsafe conditions. You walk down the street and there are children lighting matches and jumping over fireworks! Of course, someone is bound to get hurt. The first night of Diwali, my host brother was lighting a firework and somehow decided it would be safe to hold onto it as it went off! He burnt 3 of his fingers! But I suppose I shouldn't talk, as I burnt my finger on the last day while lighting a firework. Ice is everyone's best friend during Diwali :)  

I leave for the tour of South India in 8 days! I can't wait to see more of India. Can't wait to share my experience with you all!

Namaste,

Hannah

A Day in the Life of an American in India

Today I woke up at 8am, ate breakfast (prepared by my wonderful host mother) and was out the door and in an auto by 9:15am. The auto took me to BVM school, which is where me and the other exchange students take our kathak and tabla classes. From there, the other students and I went in search of another auto. Like most times, we had around 4 autos surrounding us, 3 out of the 4 already filled with people. I am not sure if the drivers planned on dumping out there passengers and taking us or if they just stopped to marvel at the Americans!  Either way, we found an empty one and made our way to the Madame Principal's house (the principle of BVM school). She had invited us to a pooja(celebration) for her Goddess. After performing the pooja, which consisted of throwing a handful of pedals on a beautifully decorated temple, we were served lunch. It was delicious! I even had something that tasted like key lime pie :)
 At 2pm we met our kathak teacher at the school where I taught her ballet, Felix taught German dance, Zevi taught Waltz and Salsa and Britney taught Tap. It was a lot of fun!! At 5pm, after dancing all afternoon Britney and I went to Jaripatka (my neighborhood) and shopped for kurti fabric. I am becoming quite the expert at bargaining, but my host mom is still in 1st place out of anyone I know! After my mom took me to the tailors to have some kurtis and suits made, I helped her cut tomatoes, onions, and paneer to make khatti rolls, which are one of my favorite meals here. The dinner was delicious!
I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well :)
Namaste,
Hannah

Pictures

I have been asked to share photos, but because of the amount of time it takes to upload them to websites such as photo bucket, I will be uploading them to Facebook. You can add me as a friend to view the photos!! I apologize if this is an inconvenience...

Namaste,

Hannah

Envoy by Billy Collins

I was reading a book of poems that my mom gave me before I left and I thought this one described what it is like to go on exchange:

Envoy

Go, little book,
out of this house and into the world,

Carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen,
far from the desk and the nosy gooseneck lamp.

It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside,
time to be held in foreign hands.

So off you go, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

Stay out as late as you like,
don't bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.


Namaste.
Hannah 

Only in India

I have found myself saying "only in India" quite a lot. I have had so many bizarre experiences in the past few weeks that I would never had imagined. At times I actually find myself wondering who I am. India has already changed me in 3 weeks. And that's another thing.. I can't believe I have been here for an entire 3 weeks already :) Time has passed so fast.
So as I was saying, I find myself in situations that last year I never would have imagined. I find myself doing things, saying things, and expecting things that actually scare me. I look back at them and think to myself "Who was that?"
I have ignored poor children begging me for money, walked away and not looked back. Already I am used to having a maid, used to expecting my bed to be made, my bathroom to be cleaned, my dishes to be washed. Many times I have argued with an auto driver about an unfair price, insisting on 50 rupees when he wants 70, afterwards realizing that his house is most likely somewhere in the many slums, he is trying to support his family, and all he wanted was a little more than a dollar. I have ignored and been angry with the many people who stare at me, finding it overly annoying, when they can probably count on their fingers how many white people they have seen in their life time.  I have seen so many slums and so many people who have nothing. I have kept walking, ignored them, done nothing.
Many times I have looked back at these experiences and not recognized this person. It honestly scares me! India is so much different from America. I can't even give justice to these 3 weeks with only words. But there are also the truly amazing moments that I don't think twice about.
Eating ice cream with the other exchange students, going to Cafe Coffee day (which is like starbucks, but Indian) every single day, riding on top of a car while it is moving ( I guess this is completely normal and legal...) but don't worry they only do it on the side roads! I have ridden down the highway with only my legs inside the windows, gone shopping in the market, played cricket in the street, gone 80 km per hour on the back of a motorcycle, worn a sari, tied rakhi to 7 new brothers, started to learn hindi, helped my host mom cook in the kitchen, and learned how to cross an Indian road ( well at least I haven't been hit yet!). But most importantly I have met people that will impact my life. People who I will know 60 years from now and still remember the year that changed our lives.
I keep having to remind myself that I have only been here for 3 weeks. It seems like I have been here for a year :) I know that there will be so much more to come during this year. I just hope I can keep up with the blogging so I don't forget anything about it!
Oh and I have been able to understand certain words that people say when they speak in Hindi. It is quite exciting to sort of know what they are talking about :) And of course I have been working on speaking it as well!
Namaste,
Hannah

Adventures in Nagpur

 Yesterday me, Felix and my host brother, Praveen went to "Crazy Castle water park". It was a blast, although Felix is now as red as a lobster. So besides the lack of intelligence to put sunscreen on, we had a really fun time. For some reason 90 degree, humid weather isn't hot enough for Indians so we had the entire park to ourselves :)  The rules about safety in India are a lot less than in America. That's one thing I learned at the water park :D
Today was my first day of school. It was very, very confusing! The classroom looks like a classroom from the old movies... My first class was Physics. It was... interesting. The teacher completely ignored me and the other exchange students. And I can't really understand when she is speaking English and when she is speaking Hindi! Oh well.
After school Felix, Donald, Zevi and I went to our Katak and Tabla classes. On our way to our hindi class, we all climbed into one rickshaw. That was a bad idea! Zevi and Felix were sitting on the outside with their feet towards us, halfway out the vehicle. Oh and did I mention it was raining really hard? After we told the driver where to take us, he ended up taking us to some random mall. We gave up and decided to go shopping instead, after searching for the temple (where our hindi class is). But I WILL say that I successfully got home in a rickshaw. I guess my Hindi isn't that bad. And he only charged us 30 rupees! That's less than a dollar!


Alright time for me to go to sleep.
By the way please feel free to comment on my posts. It's nice to hear feed back.
Namaste,
Hannah

War

Hey everyone. At 2 in the morning today a war broke out between the christians and the sindhis. There were 2 sindhis and 250 christians. The christians beat the sindhis without mercy, resulting in one of them in the hospital and one dead. Because there were 250 christians and only 2 sindhis, the christians cannot be prosecuted. The police have to listen to the christians because they are the majority in the situation. They are saying that it was the sindhis who provoked them, but there are no sindhis to tell their side, so the police have no choice but listen to the christians. This is a completely unjust situation and it is very frustrating. How is it christian to beat people of other religions? As I recall God said "love your neighbors", not "beat your neighbors". But what can we do? It is just another situation in life that is unfair and unjust. Perhaps someday our world will be at peace. I hope I am alive for that day.
On a happier note, I am having a wonderful time in India and it has definetly opened my eyes to many things.
Namaste,
Hannah