It's been one hell of a day!
Started out great: 8am breakfast complete with real sized bread, and actual butter! I was thrilled. Then at the Indian High Commission I acutally got *inside* the building. (The day before I spent 3 hours in line outside only to be told I would have to come again the next morning). So that made 2 lucky strikes, but by the third strike my luck had run out. After being blatantly ignored by one visa officer who refused to hear my appeals - and would only grant me a 3 month visa, I was sent along to the next officer. He also ignored my pleas - or rather heard them, relayed them (many, MANY times) but always came back with the same answer. So I asked again to have it reviewed and kindly asked that they actually *read* my letters included, and when it looked like they might actually listen to me I took a seat. After 6 and a half hours of waiting I was still told I would only receive a 3 month visa. My patience had run out, I got frustrated and teary eyed and gave in. I at least needed to get back into the country and stay for as long as I could.
So to calm myself and get a grip I walked over to the ocean side and sat near the sea for a few minutes watching the waves. Then I walked the 20 minutes back to Vinitha and Tenny's house. They had been quite worried about me when I didnt arrive back in time for lunch - but when they discovered I had spent ALL da yat the I.H.C. they shared my frustration.
Tenny and Vinitha are this wonderful older couple from Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have had hte pleasure of hosting many many international guests, and many Sangam volunteers needed new visas. They live in this incredible house (a real house with a dining room, living room, etc. very exciting for me) that they built on their own. It's architecturally stunning, and made of all Sri Lankan resources. Anyway, they're a really interesting couple with lots to share and I've had some great intellectual conversations with them about all kinds of cultural differences around the world. It's been great.
Aside from the I. H. C. nightmare, I have had a good time. It defenitely isn't the vacation I had imagined but its been great being in a country a little more liberal and similar to home. I can wander the streets with a few less stares, and I can wear clothing from Canada and fit in fine. The traffic here is like home, the stores are big and have hte same set up as home...oooh and they have supermarkets!! I didnt realise how much I miss grocery shopping...it's like my happy place, so it was fun to wander around the other day.
I'm spending the next two days with a Sri Lankan girl who worked at Sangam in 2004 so it should be a lot of fun. She also works at the GG headquarters in Colombo so I've been meeting lots of new people.
I pick up my visa on Friday so I will be crossing my fingers that things go smoothly so I can head back home to India on Saturday :)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Continued...
Mangesh came and told me it was time to go sit by the pool and celebrate, so I came out, grabbed a sweater and sat out in our courtyard. Today was the longest day of the year I think – when we “fall back” is as much as I can understand.
It was incredible, I walked out of my office, into the courtyard which was illuminated by the moon. I don’t mean it was just lit up by the moon, it was sparkling, and the tree tops were all shining, and there was no need for any lights in the area. In fact Mangesh had turned off all the surrounding lights except for Manik and Mathuras house. And I just lay out there by the pool staring up at this bright, beautiful, full moon. You could vaguely hear the music from outside still playing (not as loud as earlier), and I just sat there in the peace. Mary T came and joined me, and then Mangesh came and sat with us. We talked about how you could see the stars in the city (how had I not noticed them before?), and about the celebration and how families all over the city would be sitting in their gardens too and enjoying the moonlight. When we finally decided it was time to move Mangesh was so sweet and told us he enjoyed tonight, and that we will remember it forever. There’s just something so sweet and innocent about life here in India that I love. Life here is holistic; the earth, religion, and human life are all tied in together.
It was incredible, I walked out of my office, into the courtyard which was illuminated by the moon. I don’t mean it was just lit up by the moon, it was sparkling, and the tree tops were all shining, and there was no need for any lights in the area. In fact Mangesh had turned off all the surrounding lights except for Manik and Mathuras house. And I just lay out there by the pool staring up at this bright, beautiful, full moon. You could vaguely hear the music from outside still playing (not as loud as earlier), and I just sat there in the peace. Mary T came and joined me, and then Mangesh came and sat with us. We talked about how you could see the stars in the city (how had I not noticed them before?), and about the celebration and how families all over the city would be sitting in their gardens too and enjoying the moonlight. When we finally decided it was time to move Mangesh was so sweet and told us he enjoyed tonight, and that we will remember it forever. There’s just something so sweet and innocent about life here in India that I love. Life here is holistic; the earth, religion, and human life are all tied in together.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
It’s been way too long since I’ve sat down to catch my breath and update you all.
Things here are good, I think I’m starting to feel even more at home. I catch myself sometimes really genuinely being shocked by the fact that I am living in India. I think that’s just because it’s become life now, and it doesn’t seem very impressive. But I think it’ll be very strange to go home and tell people that I spent 10 months living in India – and recognize what an experience it's been.
My Dad came to visit me last week, and it was awesome! I had Christmas 2 months early : ) I got gifts from friends and family, things to get me through like food, music, movies, and reminders of life back home. It was great…and the gifts just keep on giving every time I use them and have a little taste of home with me.
Like I was saying, it was great to have him here, to actually see and understand what I do. It’s hard to explain it to people, and it’s really nice to know I’ll have someone who will understand rickshaws, temples, and what running a program really means for me here in India. We had some good chats, and it was fun to get to hear about things back home. Just hearing familiar street names was enough. I have moments with Sarah (a CVP here from Kitchener) where I’m just thankful that she has things and places in common that we can chat about. The simple reminders of home.
It was sad to see my dad go – but I’ll be back home in 6 months, and get to eat ALL the bbq he can make me! Haha.
Over the past month I’ve been up to lots of stuff! Getting settled into my new position here at Sangam, which has been really fun. It’s been nice to be in on the planning of events, and get to work with a new staff team (not that I don’t miss the old…xo).
A few weeks ago, before Christa left me to go back to the US we went on a Sangam team building camping trip in Panchgani (3 hrs from Pune). It’s away from the city in a nice lush green area. It was incredible! We went and participated in a bunch of outdoor activities. We did high ropes where we had to walk across a valley on a rope, a low ropes course that had to be cut short because of the rain, and repelling and rock climbing! I’ve never been rock climbing, not even in a gym at home, and I’m so glad my first experience was the real thing. It was a-mazing. I definitely want to get out and do that more, it’s challenging in a mind over matter kind of way.
It was so nice to be away from the city, I’m finding that the trips I enjoy most tend to be the fun outdoor adventure things out in nature. It’s a great contrast to the rickshaw polluted city here. I love taking road trips here because I find myself being a tourist again with eyes wide open staring out the window at everything we pass. I’ve always loved road trips, but there’s something about driving in a foreign country that makes it much more interesting. Coming back was sad though because it meant Christa was leaving for home. It was hard to see her go, and hard to accept that I wouldn’t be leaving for another 6 months.
Anyway, since then I’ve been working lots, as the lead for this event “birds, bees, flowers and trees”. We’ve been building a garden at Reshmi school 5 minutes down the road from Sangam. It’s been a great week despite the whole gardening thing, because Azoba our gardener has been coming with us and I’ve finally made friends with him! He’s been really funny, and I told him I’ll be his assistant gardener if he needs (his response was to laugh so hard he had a coughing fit – haha). But its been so nice, we took him with us on a day trip out near the UPS village where we went to see the Horticultural Training Centre. On the way we made a stop to climb a mountain and see the temple/caves at the top of it. It was a beautiful view, and the climb was really fun (again, more of the outdoor stuff I’m loving) and Chloe and I had adventured past the trail to the *very* top which involved scrambling around on rock, and when we had climbed down a bit Azoba had decided he wanted to go up where we had been and so we climbed it twice! He was hilarious, climbing around on the rock like a monkey taking no time to get up there…I felt like I was chasing him and he’s the grandfather! But since that he’s been calling out to me everytime I see him with a big hearty “Julie” or “Jui”, it’s great. It’s always fun to find out more about the staff here and feel more a part of it all.
In 2 days I head out to Sri Lanka to get a new visa (mine expires Nov. 2nd) and it better come through or else my life and stuff will all be left in India and I’ll be stuck in Sri Lanka! eek. It should be a good little vacation from life at Sangam, I will be staying with a woman from the Sri Lankan girl guides, and because of the state of the country – and the area around Colombo these days, I will also be well taken care of by the Sri Lankan Girl Guides. If I plan on doing any day trips anywhere I will get a nice escort to come with me – so I’m hoping for someone my age so I can find out more about the country and culture! If not, maybe I’ll be lucky and spend my mornings at the government offices, and afternoons at the beach : )
Oh, gotta go - Mangesh is gathering us for yet another celebration. It's something to do with the full moon, a pot of milk, and the neighbourhood having a huge sound system set up and dance party in the streets from 10pm-who knows when. We're meeting at midnight at the pool, turning of all the lights around Sangam and enjoying the moonlight. I think when I finally make it back home I'm going to seriously miss the celebrations and festivities of day to day life here.
Things here are good, I think I’m starting to feel even more at home. I catch myself sometimes really genuinely being shocked by the fact that I am living in India. I think that’s just because it’s become life now, and it doesn’t seem very impressive. But I think it’ll be very strange to go home and tell people that I spent 10 months living in India – and recognize what an experience it's been.
My Dad came to visit me last week, and it was awesome! I had Christmas 2 months early : ) I got gifts from friends and family, things to get me through like food, music, movies, and reminders of life back home. It was great…and the gifts just keep on giving every time I use them and have a little taste of home with me.
Like I was saying, it was great to have him here, to actually see and understand what I do. It’s hard to explain it to people, and it’s really nice to know I’ll have someone who will understand rickshaws, temples, and what running a program really means for me here in India. We had some good chats, and it was fun to get to hear about things back home. Just hearing familiar street names was enough. I have moments with Sarah (a CVP here from Kitchener) where I’m just thankful that she has things and places in common that we can chat about. The simple reminders of home.
It was sad to see my dad go – but I’ll be back home in 6 months, and get to eat ALL the bbq he can make me! Haha.
Over the past month I’ve been up to lots of stuff! Getting settled into my new position here at Sangam, which has been really fun. It’s been nice to be in on the planning of events, and get to work with a new staff team (not that I don’t miss the old…xo).
A few weeks ago, before Christa left me to go back to the US we went on a Sangam team building camping trip in Panchgani (3 hrs from Pune). It’s away from the city in a nice lush green area. It was incredible! We went and participated in a bunch of outdoor activities. We did high ropes where we had to walk across a valley on a rope, a low ropes course that had to be cut short because of the rain, and repelling and rock climbing! I’ve never been rock climbing, not even in a gym at home, and I’m so glad my first experience was the real thing. It was a-mazing. I definitely want to get out and do that more, it’s challenging in a mind over matter kind of way.
It was so nice to be away from the city, I’m finding that the trips I enjoy most tend to be the fun outdoor adventure things out in nature. It’s a great contrast to the rickshaw polluted city here. I love taking road trips here because I find myself being a tourist again with eyes wide open staring out the window at everything we pass. I’ve always loved road trips, but there’s something about driving in a foreign country that makes it much more interesting. Coming back was sad though because it meant Christa was leaving for home. It was hard to see her go, and hard to accept that I wouldn’t be leaving for another 6 months.
Anyway, since then I’ve been working lots, as the lead for this event “birds, bees, flowers and trees”. We’ve been building a garden at Reshmi school 5 minutes down the road from Sangam. It’s been a great week despite the whole gardening thing, because Azoba our gardener has been coming with us and I’ve finally made friends with him! He’s been really funny, and I told him I’ll be his assistant gardener if he needs (his response was to laugh so hard he had a coughing fit – haha). But its been so nice, we took him with us on a day trip out near the UPS village where we went to see the Horticultural Training Centre. On the way we made a stop to climb a mountain and see the temple/caves at the top of it. It was a beautiful view, and the climb was really fun (again, more of the outdoor stuff I’m loving) and Chloe and I had adventured past the trail to the *very* top which involved scrambling around on rock, and when we had climbed down a bit Azoba had decided he wanted to go up where we had been and so we climbed it twice! He was hilarious, climbing around on the rock like a monkey taking no time to get up there…I felt like I was chasing him and he’s the grandfather! But since that he’s been calling out to me everytime I see him with a big hearty “Julie” or “Jui”, it’s great. It’s always fun to find out more about the staff here and feel more a part of it all.
In 2 days I head out to Sri Lanka to get a new visa (mine expires Nov. 2nd) and it better come through or else my life and stuff will all be left in India and I’ll be stuck in Sri Lanka! eek. It should be a good little vacation from life at Sangam, I will be staying with a woman from the Sri Lankan girl guides, and because of the state of the country – and the area around Colombo these days, I will also be well taken care of by the Sri Lankan Girl Guides. If I plan on doing any day trips anywhere I will get a nice escort to come with me – so I’m hoping for someone my age so I can find out more about the country and culture! If not, maybe I’ll be lucky and spend my mornings at the government offices, and afternoons at the beach : )
Oh, gotta go - Mangesh is gathering us for yet another celebration. It's something to do with the full moon, a pot of milk, and the neighbourhood having a huge sound system set up and dance party in the streets from 10pm-who knows when. We're meeting at midnight at the pool, turning of all the lights around Sangam and enjoying the moonlight. I think when I finally make it back home I'm going to seriously miss the celebrations and festivities of day to day life here.
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