Doing it Indian Style...

Picture this: 5 young 20-somethings rocking out to Justin Bieber while washing clothes with a bucket and spicket.  And thus began my Thursday afternoon.  I think the Justin Bieber was our small longing for American culture, but I will not deny my utter enjoyment from the experience.  But, all aside, I officially completed my first attempt at laundry.  7 buckets worth of clothing and 5 hours over 2 days, I was able to successfully clean my first set of dirty clothes.  I think I’m going to reform how I wear/wash clothes… as in reduce, reuse, recycle.  However, overall it is an extremely grueling process that I need to get used to because I will have to continue to repeat it over the next 11 months. 

The laundry crew, clothes in the background.  Success!

         Well, overall this has been a fantastic week.  Prior, we really had been secluded to our ashram and hadn’t really seen too much of the city of Ahmedabad.  It was as if we were in a bubble, shielded from many of the realities of our city and the opportunities that existed past its gates.  But, fortunately, this week we began to explore.  Some of the activities of the week:

• Homestay Family: We have all been broken up and given “homestay” families.  Every Sunday night, we spread out to our homestay families for dinner and cultural immersion.  My family is fantastic.  They are a couple, married within the past year, and recently returned from Toronto, Canada where they completed their Masters in architecture.  The husband is Rajasthani(a northern Indian state) and the wife is Iranian.  They’re young, hip, and are excited about their new architecture business here in Ahmedabad.   Best part of the evening, I was served eggs (which are almost considered black market here) and beer (which you need a special permit to buy in the state of Gujarat).  I can tell you all the other fellows were jealous about the above two.  I’m really interested in learning about the acceptance of their international/racial relationship, but I think I’ll ask that at our second meeting on Sunday…save the sensitive subjects for later.
• HINDI CLASS: So, I’m finally fluent in Hindi.  JUST kidding.  But we have started to take our language classes.  We are being thrown into the language from the beginning and have immediately begun learning to speak.  Who needs the alphabet….  But I have begun to pick up some essentials, like the numbers and some basic greetings and questions.  (Un)fortunately, I’m going to have to learn another language when I get to my placement, Marathi, which is very close to Hindi and shares the same alphabet, but is slightly different.  Taking it one by one though…
• Scavenger Hunt: WOW.  What a way to spend the afternoon!  Last Tuesday, as a part of our programming, we were split into pairs and given a list of tasks/places to visit around the city.  My partner (Shaina) and I were determined to get through the entire list.  However, all the clues were “coded” and, with our minimal Hindi, provided some difficulty in figuring out where to go.  We got through most of the tasks, and had a great time exploring the city.   Some pictures of where we went:

Find Pani Puri, an Indian street food.

Find a live chicken.  Not so easy in a city that is mostly vegetarian.

Find Gandhi's 3 friends.  This is located on the famous Gandhi ashram (not the one we're staying on, but another).  We added a couple of our own as well...

• An Indian Jewish community?: Believe it or not, we went to synagogue this week.   Wednesday marked the 76^th anniversary of the synagogue here in Ahmedabad.  The bustling Jewish community here in the state of Gujarat boasts a staggering 125 members.  So, needless to say, this community and building really is a testament to their faith and dedication.  The entire experience was surreal.  Indian people, praying in Hebrew and doing the HavaNegilah, with names like “Elijah Jacobson”.  The community was really excited to have us, and are looking forward to have us as a part of their high holiday services (which are next week and the week after – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).  I think the feelings are mutual, as many of us are just as interested in seeing how this community celebrates these holidays.

A processional around the synagogue with their Torah.  What a sight

• Holidays…Indian style: So, I would have to guesstimate that about every other week in India there is a holiday.  Since I’ve been here, there have been 2.  Please forgive me if I get some of the details wrong in describing them, but I’ll give it my best try

o       Raksha Bandan: This is the brother-sister holiday, where sisters tie a “rahki”, usually a red string, around their brothers as a sign of protection and loyalty to each other.  Celebrated the day of our arrival last Tuesday, each of the men in our group was tied by Sunitaji, the AJWS in-country representative, and continue to wear the red rahki around our wrists.  And we really have been taken under Sunitaji’s wing, more like a mother than a sister.  She has been an amazing guide to the city and life here in India.

o       Janama Ashtami: Thursday was the Lord Krishna’s birthday (one of the Hindu gods).  Throughout the day (and during the middle of one of our sessions here on the ashram), people in cars and floats go down the street with music and drums to celebrate the birth of Krishna.  This goes on until midnight (the exact time of his birth) where everyone gathers in the middle of the city, at which point there is a big celebration in the streets.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go to the celebration, but we were able to see fireworks from our ashram.

And thus was my last week here in India.  I’m going to start a Word/Phrase of the Week, where I’d like to teach you all a little something from my life here in India.  This week, it will be: bahut sundar: very beautiful.  I’m going to tell you, this one has come in handy.

Have a great week you all!!

Andrew