Monday, 14 January (still!) - 11:00 PM

I can't believe this is still the same day! We woke up around 8:00 AM and showered. This was an experience. In the bathroom, there is a giant bucket with a small pitcher and there is also a pipe sticking out of the wall... this is the shower. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with the bucket, so I just kind of moved it aside. I hope it wasn't used for anything gross!

When we went out into the kitchen, Radhika was there and so was some short, older guy who made us omelets. They were actually pretty kick-ass... normal eggs with a bunch of vegetables. And normal toast.

We were supposed to fly out of Mumbai to Hubli at 11:00 AM, but our flight was delayed until 1:00 so we wandered around Mumbai with Ajay and Radhika. Mumbai is like Times Square on crack!! The driving is insane - there don't seem to be any logical rules. Everyone is honking their horns all the time, passing on the right and left... there are no lanes or traffic lights. And pedestrians just kind of walk everywhere! Like, in the middle of the road. I won't describe it as "bad" though. More like... "alive!"



We walked to a temple. There were people selling floral garlands and offerings all along the street leading up to the temple. The people looked to be in pretty bad shape. Half-dressed, dirty kids started following us and asking us for money. And there are wild "street dogs" everywhere. They don't seem to bother anyone, but they are covered in mange and all look pretty skinny.



The weird thing is, even though these poor people look like they're in hell, they smile! They look like they are happy just to be.

We made our way to the temple and Radhika gave us each a flower to give as an offering to the deity. We took our shoes off outside and had to walk through security stalls - one for men, one for women. When we got inside, we literally had to push our way through this massive crowd to get to leave our offering. I don't remember ever being in such a tight crowd!

After the temple, we walked back to the flat to leave for the airport. On the way, our driver was pulled over for making an illegal turn -- to avoid a cow!! (I am so not making this up!!) He ended up bribing the cop 250 Rs. to get out of the ticket. Radhika told us that Mumbai is known for having one of the most corrupt police departments in India, but also one of the most efficient.

Our plane didn't end up leaving until 3:00. We had lunch at a buffet in the airport and my journey as a vegetarian began. The plane turned out to be a little puddle-jumper, and I slept the entire hour-long flight to Hubli,

When we landed, we were greeted by about 30 people who gave us flowers, waved oil around us, and gave us each a little dot on our forehead with this red powder. We took about a million photographs and were united with our respective hosts, who loaded our luggage in their cars and took us "home."



My family lives in the next town over from Hubli called Dharwad and they are super-nice. The Rotarian's name is Nagraj Tigidi, and he's a civil engineer (architect). He lives with his wife, Neeta, and their two daughters: Rachana (15) and Krutika (7). We shared photo albums and went up to their rooftop to look at stars and talk. We had potato pakoras and some Kingfisher beer on the roof, and Rachana tried teaching me to speak some Kannada.

I learned that there are 27 states in India and each state has its own language. Dharwad is in the state of Karnataka, so they speak Kannada. They also speak the mother tongue: Hindi, and most people speak English. So kids leave grade 10 speaking at least three languages fluently. Amazing.

We went downstairs around 10 PM and Neeta had made dinner. Stupid me! I thought the potato pakoras were dinner so I was pretty full. But I tried a little of what she'd made: some sort of tomato curry, rice and chappati (kind of like a delicious, homemade, whole wheat wrap.) Everything was great and is sitting very well. I'm glad my nausea went away!


Neeta and Krutika

I can't believe that was all in just one day! India is amazing... I can't believe I am here!! More tomorrow -- must sleep.

Namaste.

START HERE!!

[Here we go - straight from the archives. So what if it's a month late?]

DAY 1: Monday, 14 January - 4:00 AM

We're here in Mumbai. It's just about 4 AM (5:15 PM on Sunday in NJ) The flights were fine, we left JFK around 9:15 PM.

On the way to the airport from Rajiv's house, Bernie realized he'd left his portfolio in Misty's car. So there was this sitcom-esque phone tag going on between Misty, her brother and her friend Scott - all trying to get in touch with Debbie, the woman driving the car with Bernie's portfolio in it. We finally caught up to her, although we ended up losing about 45 minutes. No worries - we were to JFK in plenty of time.


Saying "Goodbye" to New Jersey, USA.

Checking in was a blur. I still felt so sick from the anti-malaria medication, and was just like a zombie checking in my bags. The flight from New York to London was fine. We flew British Airways and I had an aisle seat with two empty seats between me and an Indian dude. I slept most of the time. They fed us dinner and breakfast - both within about 6 hours. I had zero appetite, but figured I should stay well hydrated.

Our layover at Heathrow was only like 90 minutes. The flight from London to Mumbai was longer. I debated not taking anymore Malarone, but decided I would be better off not getting malaria. I ate a container of rice pudding on the plane and it really helped a lot.

I watched a couple movies on the plane (Fever Pitch and Death at a Funeral) slept a lot and before I knew it, we were landing. As soon as we got out of the airport, I noticed the smell. Kind of a cross between sulphur, exhaust fumes, b.o., curry and cows. It smelled like LIFE! The weather is kind of muggy.



We met up with our hosts, Radhika and Ajay, and they took us to a nearby flat to stay the night. We three girls (myself, Misty and Elizabeth) are in one room and Bernie and Rajiv are in another. I think the hosts are staying in the living room.


Our Mumbai escorts, Ajay and Radhika

I can't believe I'm here. It's 4:00 AM and I don't know how I am going to sleep since it's really only 6:30 PM back home. One thing for sure, the next four weeks will certainly be different from what I am used to!

Namaste.

BACK IN THE U.S.A.!!

What an absolutely amazing journey - physically, emotionally, spiritually... As I mentioned, I kept a written journal the entire time and now that I'm home, will transfer it all to this blog. The photos are abundant and seem to keep piling in! So bear with me as I readjust to "normal" life and I'll be in touch soon!

Namaste.

*SIGH*

After three weeks of being super careful (and super lucky) I finally got the trots. I don't know if it was something I ate at the conference, or perhaps the water from somewhere, but I was sick with a fever all night (and other lovely symptoms which I will spare you from)

Ah well, I think it's good that it happened here in Goa and not in the other places. As beautiful as it is here, I feel like I am no longer in India. It's more like being in some resort town and there are too many shops, bars and tourists. After the amazing spiritual journey I've been having, this is a little disappointing. My fellow teammates seem to have no problem though. But I guess we're all into different things.

My host family has been great. They gave me medicine and have really been looking out for me. And I have a Western toilet and shower here -- there are so many things I will never take for granted again!!

GONE TO GOA

We arrived in Goa late last night after three days at the Rotary International district conference. The conference was held in the city of Hubli, which is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka.

A little bit about India... There are 27 states, and the district with which we are in exchange spans parts of three of the states: Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. Every state has its own language (Kannada, Marathi, Konkani) In addition to the state languages, the people all speak Hindi (the Mother tongue) and English. Kids in school all learn at least three languages, and some elect to take on a fourth or fifth.

Me? Um.. I think I remember some drinking songs from German class.

The conference was a blast. There were about 1,500 Rotarians there from 300 clubs in the district. It was held at this huge outdoor reception venue called Gokal Garden. It's where lots of weddings are held (Indian weddings last 3 days and there are typically over 1,000 guests!)

We heard a lot of great lectures during the days spanning topics of environmentalism, education, service and religion. In the evenings, we ate amazing food, attended cultural programs of music and dance, and hung out with our friends from Gadag. The Indians know how to party, I'll say that much :)

Our GSE team gave its presentation Sunday morning to a crowd of over 1,000 Rotarians. We also got to meet the outgoing team from India who will be traveling to New Jersey in April. They are an awesome group: the team is made up of three young ladies and one guy, and is led by a woman. All of them are either doctors or lawyers, or engineers, and they were selected from a huge pool of candidates.

My current host family in Goa seems really awesome. They have a beautiful house and two dogs. I'm sitting here at my host's kitchen table (he's got a laptop with wi-fi!!!) and his wife is doing the crossword puzzle... (those of you who know me know what a comfort this is!)

In a half an hour, one of the girls from the Indian GSE team is picking us up to do some sight-seeing. I'm exited to see Goa in the daylight. We got a late start from Hubli yesterday, and the trip took about 5 hours on terrible roads.

So I guess that's all for now. Will check in again soon. Hope everyone is well!

Namaste.

AT LAST...

We just arrived in a town called Gadag. After a series of exhausting days in places that were not very nice at all, I am happy to report that my current host family is AWESOME!

I think it would probably be best if I planned on revamping this blog when I return home. Because internet access is so rare, I guess my blog is pretty boring. But fear not - I have been keeping an old school journal (many times I write two or three entries each day) So I guess the best thing would be to check in here when I can and do a full, good blog with pictures and everything when I get back.

I miss you all very much. In terms of the rest our schedule, we are staying in Gadag until Thursday - visiting a very historical place called Hampi tomorrow - and then attending the Rotary district conference in Hubli over the weekend. After that we get to head to Goa which is supposedly heaven on earth.

I could use a little piece of heaven right about now :)

Namaste.

REST DAY... FOR REAL?

So at long last, I have a few hours off. They have our schedules so tightly packed that we literally have been going nonstop from 9:00 AM until 11:00 PM. The Rotary district that we are in exchange with is so big - over 300 clubs - and it feels like they are trying to get us to see as many as we can.

I am still in Kolhapur and will be until Friday morning. On Monday we rode to a town called Sangli. Everywhere we go, we are greeted with these ceremonies - flowers, oils and the "dot" on the forehead. In Sangli there were three clubs and we got to see some of the projects that each Rotary club was involved in.

Sangli's big project is fitting poor, handicapped people with free prosthetic legs and feet (see if you can google "Jaipur foot") We watched them fit four people with new prosthetics for the first time. It was so beautiful it made us cry. They also provide physical therapy to teach the people how to walk.

We toured a new hospital and then a grape vineyard and winery (wine's not real big in India) and then we went to a place where they make and store raisins (cause Sangli is pretty famous for grapes and supplies a lot of the world with raisins and table grapes.) In the evening we did our presentation for the Rotary club and watched some cultural dancing.

Yesterday we went to a town called Ichalkaranji (say that three times fast!) The projects that this RC are working on were even more amazing. We saw a mobile medical unit that visits 19 poor villages each week and provides free medical care to those in poverty. Then we visited a Rotary Colony: 24 low-income housing units for homeless. These homes (and I use the word "homes" loosely) consisted of two small rooms. For a five-person family.

The third project we visited was a school for the deaf. Rotary built a school for poor deaf children - a population that was probably never given any consideration - and teaches the kids sign language, speech skills and general education. It also provides them with a full meal for lunch. And it's all free for them.

When we're not visiting RC projects, we're visiting the vocational places that Rotarians work. The grape vineyard, for instance, and we've seen a lot of textile factories. Gives me a whole new image when I read "Made in India" on a clothing tag.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but Sunday I attended a musical performance in the home of one of the Rotarians. He arranged a sitar, violin and tabla - just for me! It was frigging awesome.

I'm about to head to the market with my host family. It is the first opportunity I've had to do some shopping and the first thing I need to buy is a second suitcase! Every time we visit a club, we leave with a gift. And my suitcase will no longer close :) We're in Kolhapur until Friday morning and then we head to a place called Bijapur. I will write again when I can. 'Til then, NAMASTE!