Rishikesh

After another overnight train and freezing cold rickshaw ride we made it to Rishikesh. If any of you have ever heard of this place its probably because the Beatles stayed at an Ashram there, while writing much of their Sgt. Peppers album. Thus far, Rishikesh is my favorite place we have traveled to. It's quite a hippy town with flyers everywhere for various classes and services such as: yoga, meditation, massage, reiki, palm reading, etc. The town is divided by the Ganges River and to get from one side to the other there is an amazing long narrow bridge that offers pretty views of the surrounding mountains and architechture. Overall the weekend was pretty relaxing; Becky and I did a lot of exploring on our own. One of the highlights was the group yoga session we did with other volunteers (who by the way I've been having an incredible time with). We had our class around sunset in a room with windows all around overlooking the Ganges (showed below). The monkeys were a bit disruptive but we all had a really great time. Rishikesh is another beautiful, peaceful place, with a unique energy that made me want to go back and spend more time there. The only downside was night time, which was freezing and left Becky and I shivering in bed wearing every layer we brought.

Hebrew everywhere

The view of where we did yoga from our hotel

Purifying my fingertips of all sins at the Ganges

I miss beef

This week's excursion was to different religious sites around the city. We went to the largest Mosque in Delhi, where we saw a test tube containing what is believed to be a hair from the beard of the Prophet Muhammed. After that we visited a Hindu temple and a Sikh temple. The CCS staff acted as our guides and taught us a lot about the different religions. The temples were all beautiful, elaborate, and welcoming.

The city is full of images relating to religion and spirituality. Almost every room has some representation of the Gods and Goddesses as well as different symbols. The two major symbols are the Om and the Swastika. The swastika has been a part of Indian culture for hundreds and hundreds of years. We went to the National Museum the other day and walked through the ancient art exhibits. A lot of the pottery had swastikas engraved as decoration. Here, it represents fortune, accomplishment, and perfection (coincidentily all happen to be qualities of Hitler's "Aryan Race"). Unfortunatley since Hitler decided to steal it, rotate it, and then make it a Nazi symbol, most of the world sees it as so. It felt a bit strange to see it everywhere at first but I'm used to it now.

Bollywood

We went this week to see an Indian movie. The one we saw was called Taare Zameen Par. .Its a really great movie and I was told it's playing in other countries to so if you get a chance, I recommend going to see it.

Pushkar

This past weekend Becky, Phil, and I went to a town called Pushkar. Since the town is about 8 hours away, we took an overnight train and got there late Friday night. When I first got on all I thought about was how much the car reminded me of...well I'm not sure how politically correct this is so if you care enough to know you can ask. Basically, the car was lined with beds that fold out of the wall. On the left there are two rows with three beds over one another and on the right, there are two beds. After a terrible meal and interesting conversation with two business men across from us, we got a few hours of sleep (with our backpacks safely protected under our heads). It was dirty and uncomfortable, and I can't wait to do it again this coming weekend.

Magic on the sleeper train

*Side note: In addition to vendors, shops, and advertisements, I forgot to mention that the streets are also lined with stalls, bathroom stalls. Here they have what are called "Indian toilets" and "Western toilets". The stalls in the streets are Indian style which is pretty much a hole in the ground. The type of toilet depends on how nice the place is, but most hotels, restaurants, and trains have Indian style toilets. It's pretty hard to balance on a moving train. Enough said.

I really enjoyed my time in Pushkar. The town is centered around a holy lake where many people come to pray and bathe. It's a really beautiful place temples and hills. Aside from prayers being projected over a loudspeaker from 4am-9am, it was a very peaceful experience. The locals in the town clearly get all their business from tourists. Aside from the homes, Pushkar is mostly made up of restaurants, hotels, and shops (there is literally just stuff everywhere). The markets are hectic but also really colorful with lots of cool things to look at and learn about. We've gotten a lot better at haggling. The secret behind it is that neither you or the merchant really cares what the final price is, as long as you feel you've gotten the better end of the deal. So clearly, the best strategy is to confuse the merchant as best you can and make them somehow feel that they have won. Not to mention that we're usually arguing over the difference of $0.50, which to us obviously isn't much at all. I would say that unless you are heavily into meditation, all you need is a few days in Pushkar to see all of it. Also, there were monkeys everywhere. They just sit around in groups on the steps or jump and swing across the trees and rooftops.
I think I've written earlier that Israelis can be found at virtually any backpacker town in the world. My trip to Pushkar has once again proven this to be true (granted most Israelis opt to go to India for their post-army travels). Almost every restaurant and shop had a sign in Hebrew welcoming guests and explaining the various deals.

One of the hardest things that happened a lot in Pushkar as well as Delhi, is seeing the children who live and work on the streets. Often times the kids come up to you and ask for money or food. They will grab your hand and hold it as you walk for a block or so and just look up with sad eyes and beg. It's a really hard thing to ignore and brings tears to my eyes but at that moment in time there is really nothing to do. The truth is that a lot of times the kids are "pimped out" and report back to an authority figure with the money they get. Buying them food is useless because they will just sell it back to the vendors. When we drive in the streets, they come up to the cars and try to sell magazines, which we aren't supposed to buy either. I'm still struggling with accepting, or even processing, the notion that although I feel I've already seen too many kids on the streets like this, there are still millions more in the world who are in the exact same position.

I'm in India

Where do I start?

I've been in India for almost a week and a half. Although in this time I've both learned and seen a lot, the knowledge I have makes only a small scratch in the surface of the country's culture and history. There is already a lot for me to write about, and I'm still not exactly fond of blogging so I'll do my best to keep whoever actually reads this informed.
The set-up of my weekly schedule is basically the same as in Costa Rica so for those of you who don't know, scroll down. The CCS homebase is set-up in a very large apartment complex where other locals live. We have three flats that are all pretty close to one another. The other volunteers here are definitely much different then in Costa Rica (I can't help but make constant comparisons between the two programs). The average age is a bit higher then before but as usual we've managed to find a clique of our own with similar priorities and of course, sense of humor. I also expected to be starved at this point, but we manage. I'm starting to try and accept that everything we eat is going to be spicy. Fortunately, I can say that none of us have gotten to sick yet as we were warned would inevitably happen.

A common phrase here that I see or hear on a daily basis is "Same same but different." Whenever it came up I would naturally be reminded of a Ben Kweller song with a similar title. After that, I would wonder what this phrase meant; today I found out. Simply, it implies that India is made up of many diverse groups that are all able to unite and be the pieces that make up the same great country. In my professional opinion, the fact that this phrase is so present in everyday India is a reflection of the people and their values. They truly have a strong respect for each other's differences and a strong loyalty to their own identities. To me, this phrase is a recognition of the beauty in co-existence and I hope one day it can be globally relevant.

New Delhi:
This is the only way I can think of to begin describing this city...
Dirty, crazy, overpopulated, exciting, exploding, friendly, sketchy, historical, changing, safe, traffic, impoverished, rapidly developing, languages, different, confused, customs, systems, corrupt, spicy, respect, stinky, complicated, religious, fragrant, loud, values, colorful, careless, deep, contradictory (that goes for the whole country), and Chai.
New Delhi is a place that cannot be easily compared to the rest of India. Like any other big city, it has different neighborhoods or parts of town. The streets are lined with cows, shops, and vendors. There is construction everywhere and tents set-up on the sites where many families live. It's a lot like NYC in the sense that your eyes are constantly stimulated by people, places, and advertisements.
The first thing that everyone notices when they get here is the traffic. There really is no such thing as rush hour because bumper to bumper traffic happens all day long. In orientation, Bella, one of the staff members, told us that to Indians, having a working horn is more important than breaks (although there are many accidents and deaths due to traffic, almost never has a cow been hit). There are no legitimate lanes or rules for that matter. The first couple days we would all be at the edge of our seats gasping, but I've gotten used to it and I've come to trust that our drivers know what they're doing. In one of the lectures we had, the professor told us its been predicted that in the next 5-10 years, driving in Delhi will be virtually impossible. Crossing the street is also an experience in itself. The best way I've thought of to explain it is that it's a lot like playing a game of Frogger. It's overwhelming, exhausting, and stressful. Bella said our best shot is to grab a cow to walk next to us.

(Toilet stalls on the street)

I'm a bit sick and it's lunchtime so more later...

London??

Well, Becky and I are on our way to India (we're meeting Phil there). We're going to be stuck in Heathrow for the next 10 hours so I thought it would be the perfect time to start blogging again. We're excited for India and I'll write about it as soon as I get a chance.