Family Switch and Terrorism

The Pictures are of the Trident-Oberoi (the big tower and the little tower just to the right) after the attacks with broken windows, my new host parents (host dad standing)and I in Pune with my host mom's parents and another relative (who is actually from Vancouver), the Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai, me infrot of the Taj a couple months before the attacks, and CST a main railway terminus in south Bombay which was attacked by terrorists on the inside (800,000 people travel through this terminus every day).

Sorry it has been so long, my internet hasn’t been working for a couple weeks and I really have no desire to write this but here it is anyway. When I left you I had just been to Goa.
I had a few average days then I changed host families. My new family is great. They like a 15 minute walk away from my old house in a very large but old flat. They also have their own terrace and a dog. We live less than a 5 minute walk from Dadar station, the busiest station in Bombay. Dadar station has 1 million people pass through it every day, if you are near the door at Dadar station you will get pushed out with everyone else because chances are everyone within 3-4 meters of the door is getting out at Dadar. I had trouble sleeping the first couple nights with the trains but now I barely hear them even when I am awake. There is one not so good thing about the house though, there is a vegetable market around the building so it is always so busy and there are vegetables everywhere. I have to walk under a bridge on the way to the station and it smells so strong of coriander and peppers that your eyes squint and no matter how many times you have walked through there you start coughing. I do like the location and the family is great.
The family consists of my host dad Girish (who is the secretary of the Rotary club), my host mom Supriya, my host grandparents and my host dog. My host family is Maharashtran so they speak Marathi at home. They are Brahmites or Brahmans so they eat mostly vegetarian food but will prepare meat for me sometimes. Usually breakfast is North American style so I like that. Lunch is some sort of vegetable, chapatti bread, dal and a sweet. Dinner is much of the same. We eat dinner at eight which is early for Indians but I like eating at that time which is a little closer to my 6-7 Canada dinner time. My host dad works with Whirlpool bathroom accessories and supplies these products to consumers along with assembling them and doing other bathroom work. I don’t know many particulars about my host dad’s work but will find out.
I recently looked at the weather in Calgary and would like to let you know the weather here just so you can feel bad. Next few days are highs of about 35-33 and lows of about 24-22, the humidity is also crazy bad and it is sunny. I will tell you one thing though, I miss the cold. I miss scrapping ice off my car in the morning, waking up only to dread the first cold foot on hardwood, shoveling snow, skiing, and playing football with fingers you can’t even move. I miss the feeling.
Another feeling I miss is unwavering security of Canada. As you may have heard Bombay (my city) was the recent victim of a terrorist attack. I will let you know I was safe the whole time and never felt at risk but I definitely view the city in a different way now. Terrorists who had been training for 4 months in Pakistan and were told to go to Bombay to raise as much havoc as they could landed (by hijacked boat) on the 26th of November. They were armed with AK 47 rifles, hand guns, grenades, dry fruits and other provisions. Ten terrorists in groups of 2 attacked different locations all over south Bombay. They were targeting the rich and foreigners. Notable places that were attacked include: Leopold café, CST (a main railway terminus in South Bombay), Taj Hotel, Oberoi-Trident hotel, Nariman house and a few more places. There were hostage situations at 3 locations which proceeded for a maximum of 60 hours (at the Taj Hotel). In total about 200 people died including 26 foreigners and 14 police men. Nine of the ten terrorists were killed and the one who was captured has been questioned rigorously. There is no telling how many terrorists actually landed in Bombay and there are rumors that terrorists are still around. When I first walked out of the house after the attacks the first thing that struck me was the lack of energy in the people. Normally the city has so much energy it can not contain itself but when I walked out of the house I immediately noticed the lack of noise, the decreased speed of walking and the general somber mood. The country is not used to this kind of terrorism; they are used to the bomb blasts so dealing with this was an entirely different ball game. The government needed to bring in the National Security Guard commandos and even they had a hard time with the well trained terrorists. The situation ended but the Taj hotel will never be the same to me again and I will always view the city in a different way now. The attack was very well planned but could have been much worse. The terrorist claims that they meant this to be India’s 9/11 as they were to kill up to 5,000 people and blow up the Taj hotel. Thankfully they didn’t. Recent news has disclosed many other things about the attack including the training of the terrorists, which was very interesting, other explosives found, and lots of claims that the city was warned. The terrorists were trained to be able to stay up for a week with sleep deprivation training and they were also told to take human shields to a boat to take them out to sea where they would meet a getaway boat. If that didn’t work the ability to swim 15km out into sea was also included in their training. Can you believe that the terrorists believed that they would live through this whole ordeal? Explosives were found at the Taj in bags and yesterday a bag which was in the unclaimed baggage left but those who fled the railway terminus was also found to contain 8kgs of explosives. Like I said they are finding out more every day. The people here are essentially blaming the government for allowing this to happen and criticizing their response to the situation. That is probably enough news for you.
Now my story (which really isn’t all that interesting): I went to a volunteer organization in the afternoon from 2-6 and was home by 8. I ate dinner and was just reading at about 11 when an Indian friend called me and asked me where I was. I said I was home and he informed me of the terrorist attacks in south Bombay. I was shocked to the max you know that feeling when all the blood rushes to your head when you are stressed or get caught in a lie. That is what happened to me. I was fine after a minute and proceeded to watch the news till 2am phoning my mom in Canada during a break. The next morning I woke up at regular time and went to yoga, but there were only 15 people there of 50. I came home and watched news all day. I got a phone call from my districts IYE chairman and he said ‘where are you?’ I said ‘home’ and he said ‘good stay there.’ He had informed an exchange representative in Canada of the situation and just wanted to make sure I was fine. I spent much of the next couple days at home watching the news unfold before me especially with the hostage situations. The stories did get a little repetitive after a few hours though. My mom wanted me to phone every 12 hours or so to check up on me so I did that for a couple days. On the whole she handled the situation very well, or at least it sounded like that on the phone. Unfortunately 2 Canadians died in the attacks. My host family and I went to Pune on the third day of the attack which was a Friday. Pune is a city which is a 3 hour drive from Bombay. We woke up on the Saturday to find that the terrorists had been killed. We had already planned this holiday so it wasn’t like we were fleeing the city.
Some other stories of people I know. I have a few friends in south Bombay so they heard the gunshots/explosions and saw the fires. Also one exchange student went through CST (the railway terminus) a little more than an hour before the attack and the terrorist they captured alive said they planned to attack the station an hour earlier in rush hour. Another exchange student was in Leopold Café at a window seat, at the time of the terrorist attack but he was there 2 days earlier. As I said earlier I never really felt at risk but it does make me view the city differently, like when I see the places which were attacked and visualize what happened there you can never believe that this happened. I suppose if I really thought hard I might become worried but I am not really the thinking type. I often say I should just sit and think then after about a minute of thinking I realize something I would much rather be doing or something that needs to be done. This lack of thought can be beneficial though, such as when I don’t give a second thought to leave the house when someone else might convince themselves that it is too dangerous. Thankfully the city shares most of my feelings towards the situation and so it is pretty much back to normal now. People often talk about how you can not break the spirit of Bombay, for example after the 2006 train blasts everyone rode the train the very next day, and I am seeing that spirit first hand.
This was a life changing experience and aside from the obvious down points this will be a very good story to tell one day. Like at party, ‘so what you can bench press 300 lbs, I was in Mumbai during a terrorist attack.’ I am very glad I don’t have to go home but am worried about the India-Pakistan relationship and I really hope it does not intensify. That is my terrorism story, I know, not too interesting on my part, but it was really weird to live 10-15 kms away from attacks after I have been living in my little shell of security in Canada.

I am going up to North India on a Rotary organized trip starting on December 7th and extending till the 22nd. We will be in Rajasthan (cities include: Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jaipur), Agra, Delhi, and Haridwar. Notable things I will be seeing include: the Taj Mahal, jungle safari at tiger reserve, various famous temples, museums, a theme park, a cultural performance in the desert along with a camel ride, parliament buildings in New Delhi, river rafting on the Ganges River, and many other things.

One other thing I have to mention is I went to the Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai and had an amazing time listening to music, eating beef steak (which was amazing) and just savoring every moment.

This kind of went on much longer than intended. Next blog I will say what I’ve been up to but it won’t be for a few weeks unless I get an incredible urge to write. Hope you are well back home and getting prepared for Christmas or exams if you are a university student.

-Allen

Goa, Diwali and 4 months

The pics are me on the beach, the church which has St. Francis Xaviers body, some coconuts and a scooter, the temple, and me lighting fireworks.

Hello everyone,

This one will be a really long one so if you want to read it over a few days feel free.
Yesterday was my 4 month anniversary in India. I am sorry I don’t write very often but I, along with many other exchange students, feel that this is like a job which I don’t get paid for until many years from now when I look back and read the post. Then the feeling is priceless but right now it is a chore. This post will tell you what I’ve been up to while also exploring the festival Diwali and religion. At the end I will answer some questions.
Oh ya and I just figured out Sunday that I am moving host families on Friday.

I left you just before I went to Goa. Goa is a really nice place it is like the Hawaii of India. It was a Portuguese settlement till 1961 when they were finally kicked out but the Portuguese still left their mark in a major way in the form of religion and architecture. Goa is the party place of India and is where you go to relax on the beach. Some of the best beaches are Goa. Due to the Portuguese settlement there are many Christians in Goa it is very surprising to see all the crosses set up on the side of the road for a quick prayer and all the churches in a county which I expected to be predominantly Hindu. Although the population is generally Hindu most of the country is tolerant of other religions in particular Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis. This being said religion is the main cause for civil unrest in the country the most notable conflict is probably between the Muslims and the Hindus. Speaking of unrest, there where more serial blasts in India which killed 75 people and injured at least 300 more in a state called Assam. This area, which is close to Bangladesh, is generally not that stable but this was the most deadly blasts of the year. So far there have been blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Assam and a couple other small places since I got here. I only really know about the Hindu religion as my host family is Hindu so I’ll give you a brief overview.

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ ABOUT RELIGION SKIP THE NEXT COUPLE PARAGRAPHS

No one can be a Hindu except by birth but anyways there are over 800 million Hindus world wide. Hindus believe in a god called Brahman, but there are three manifestations of Brahman which symbolize three aspects of such. These include Brahma, who is the creator, Vishnu, who is the preserver and Shiva (my family’s god) who is the destroyer. There are also other gods and gurus they worship such as the elephant god Ganesha, the guru Sai Baba, the monkey god Hanuman, and others who come from the Hindu epics. There are two Hindu epics, like the bible in Christianity but they have very different stories and purposes for the readers. Hindus pray in temples which are everywhere and you must enter the temple without shoes. There are also the laws of Karma and Dharma. Dharma is the obligation to accept ones condition and perform the duties while Karma is the law of consequence or fate. Karma governs the cycle of rebirth in which individuals are reincarnated on earth according to past behavior. Hindu’s don’t eat beef or if they do it is not cooked in their kitchen and they are very liberal Hindu’s.

I don’t know much about Muslims other than they don’t eat pork and there is a god called Allah, maybe Meaghan can help me out. Buddhism started in India but a very small portion of the people are Buddhists (less than 1 %) so I don’t know much about it other than followers try to achieve enlightenment. Sikhism is a religion where the followers are very recognizable because they have uncut hair and wear a turban. The Sikhs see their religion as modern and practical as they do not fast but do stress qualities such as honesty and courage. Jains are a small religion but a powerful force. I have mentioned them before they refuse to eat any meat, eggs, potatoes, ginger, carrots or anything grown in the ground. They believe in the attainment of Nirvana in life. Parsis are one of the oldest religions in India but it did not develop in India. Parsis came to India as refugees from Persia and settled mainly in Bombay and Gujarat. Truth, goodness, and charity towards others govern their way of life. The Parsis adapted very quickly to the British ways and were often employed in British companies, therefore they are usually westernized and are generally wealthier than most.


Anyway back on topic Goa is a good place to relax (or how they say in Hindi araam se) so I did a lot of that. My host family has a lot of family in Goa so we did a lot of visiting and not a lot of spending time on the beach like I would have liked but it was still a very enjoyable trip and it was a good change of pace from the big city life.

In an attempt to reach Goa before the sun set we got up early in the morning on the 29th to take the 9 hour drive. But that was not ever going to happen, as like most other things in India it took a lot longer than expected for two reasons. The road we took was a very curvy road and our tire burst 4 hours in to the drive. So this 9 hour drive took more than 13 hours including stops. When the tire burst we had a spare but, due to Murphy’s law, not all the part to fix the tire so we waited around till someone got the parts from a nearby town and he didn’t bring the right part so he needed to go back and get the right part. I just waited around in the car. When we finally got to Goa, to the family’s house we were staying at, (Margao was the name of the town we stayed but I also saw Panjim, Barga beach and some other places) my host dad and I went out for a snack. I think I take after my Canada dad when traveling I always want to be doing something so just relaxing around is not really my cup o tea but maybe I will learn the beauty of relaxation in India. We defiantly did a lot of hanging around on this trip.

The next day was my mom’s birthday so, just like back in Canada, I sat in my room and thought about how much I love her all day…just kidding. She doesn’t make me do that but Happy Birthday anyway. This day I went with my host family for a walk around the town we were staying in and then had a nap. In the evening (after the sunset) I went to the beach with my host dad and had some beer and a special dish that was prepared for us. The sun had already set so the beach was dark but I could see how beautiful it would look in the day. Anyway back to the special dish, I found out on the drive home that the dish was frog legs which are banned in India but my host dad spoke the local language to the waiter and he hooked us up. He called it jumping chicken and I believed it was chicken when I was eating it. Keep this on the DL though because that restaurant could be in serious trouble if they are caught serving frog legs.

The next day was Halloween but they do not celebrate Halloween in India so it wasn’t actually Halloween. I did phone my mom in the morning, her birthday night our time and it cost me many rupees but not many Canadian dollars. Like $2.50 for a 9 minute call from out of station to international, not bad. They were very surprised because I didn’t warn my dad. On this day we checked out a couple resorts, which were nice, very similar to Mexico resorts but not as big. I then went with my host dad to do the regular routine with relaxing in a restaurant with a snack and a drink. This time one of my host dad’s friends came and he was an interesting character. He was a judge in Goa and he wore a wig I didn’t understand what he does now but he does know a little about astrology and palm reading so he read my palm. It was pretty cool, we also philosophized together. He was asking me unanswerable questions like why do we live? and what is happiness? When he read my palm he said I will have a very long life, I don’t like education but don’t give up on my studies, I make decisions with my heart, I am very kind hearted, I will face obstacles to reach my goals (who doesn’t?), I will have one boy and one girl child, I will become more spiritual later in life, I am unsure about my goals right now, and some stuff that wasn’t true like I am an artist. Although I know what I like in art I have no idea how to create it. He also says when he comes to Bombay next he will tell me what I was in the previous life and what I will be in the next life with the reincarnation and all, that would be cool to know.

The next day we went to a big temple that was pretty stellar and we also went to see a church where St. Francis Xavier’s body is kept. That was pretty cool. You couldn’t see the body or anything but it was interesting to see the church. We then did a family visiting extravaganza where we saw three families in fours hours in different parts of Goa. They all fed us something, boy howdy am I fat. I hope my next family doesn’t fees me so much, hint, hint, if you are reading this Supriya. I then saw a Bollywood movie called ‘Golmaal Returns’ it was not that great because it was a comedy and the jokes didn’t really make me laugh because I didn’t understand them.

The next day we saw the touristy side of Goa which I liked, so we went to the beach and had a tropical mocktail by the beach, along with some seafood. It was good. My host dad bought me a t shirt then we left for home. We didn’t actually make it all the way to Bombay because the drive was long and it was late so we stopped in Pune on the way home, and stayed with family.

When we got back the next couple days I just hung out. It is still holidays right now, this is truly like Christmas vacation for Indians. A couple times Red Bull representatives (who were foxy) gave us Red Bull, so I guess being a foreigner does have some benefits. I also went running a couple times last week, it felt good. I also saw Obama become elected as the next President of the USA so that was really great seeing his speech live. I will never forget that moment.

The next day I went to tabla (drum) classes but I am not sure when I will start the classes in full because I will be away much of December and stuff. The drums are like bongos but the two drums are different and you have to strike the drum perfectly to get a proper sound. The children in the class were all very young (10 or so) but could play really well, except for the one like 5 year old I was better than him. Is this what I have become comparing myself to a 5 year old?

The next day I was sitting watching the sun set on Marine Drive with a couple IYE friends and some really old guy was creeping us he had already talked to us before and wants to take us for a swim or something like that. We had to be pretty mean with him but I swear he is up to no good. I also have another RYLA in a couple weeks and we had the orientation there were so many rules for the RYLA. RYLA is a program designed to develop leaders of the future so there are activities and lectures and stuff and we are foreign so we go. There are so many rules for the RYLA but at the RYLA orientation there was an open bar so the Rotarians said that we should do all the drinking there so we don’t do it at RYLA so we obliged.

I wasn’t feeling too good the next day so I just hung around most of the day.

The next day I saw the new James Bond which was good but not quite as good as Casino Royale. Part was filmed in Siena, Italy where I had been a couple summers ago so that was cool to see on film.

Diwali is like Hindu Christmas. It is actually celebrating something to do with one of the epics like the return of Rama to his village after he completes his goal or something. It is the festival of light so people burst many crackers and they have lights (just like Christmas lights) to decorate the apartment. This is the main time to see family or go back to your village or travel with family. Schools and offices close and there are even Diwali office parties. The people are supposed to get up early for reasons unknown to me other than to wake me up from my beauty sleep with firecrackers. People give gifts and say Happy Diwali all the time during this 4 day festival. Any questions ask. I think it is technically celebrating the Hindu New year also, although the western calendar is used for business, the Hindu calendar is used for festivals. I really don’t know a lot about the festival but you do get special food and there are a few rituals (poojas) throughout the festival. That was actually the last festival for a while so no more crazy festivals for me till next year :( (2009)

NOW QUESTION TIME

Samantha: Did you eat at the German Bakery by OSHO?
-No unfortunately I didn’t but I know a German Exchange student who did. He said it was the only place where you can get a cold salad. If you have a salad here it is boiled so it is no longer a salad it is just veggies. I will go next time!

Dad: Have you been able to participate in any sports?
- I have played soccer a few times and went running three times but other than that I just walk tons every day.

Trevor: how is the cricket??
-The cricket is good but I haven’t really played much. Batting isn’t too hard but bowling is really tough. You need to buy all the special pads and stuff if you want to join an academy. It is on TV all the time and the people always talk about it.

Carlann: Have you had any other things happen to you that could have happened here in Calgary?
-I will get back to you on that one I haven’t really thought about it. Many of the clothes are the same which are for sale, especially for the boys. It is just so different in general though so I will think about it.

Mel: Is your host family observant? Of the fasting.
- No, my family is Hindu so they are not observant of the Ramadan fasting. They might have some other fasting thing I am unaware of though. I will get back to you. I really appreciate your comments and questions Past President Mel.

Lesley: What do they do for Christmas over there? Do they celebrate Christmas?
It seems like there is always a festival happening, does everyone just kind of know where to go and when or is there like... the Indian Festival Users Guide?
- I don’t think they do much for Christmas over here other than just get a little time off work. There are Christians so they celebrate it but it is not a huge festival. I think I will get together with the other exchange students to celebrate something. Everyone just knows when the festivals are basically but I got info on the internet and a book.

Aunty Rhesa: Are you still practicing and learning about yoga?
- Yes I still go to yoga every weekday morning if I can get up.

Aunty Wendy: nce it's hunting season, we have two deer carcasses hanging in the garage already. What would your host family think of that? Do they hunt anything there? Maybe gnu's? I dunno... Let me know what the great hunters are stalking out your way!!
- I don’t think they do a lot of hunting here, maybe in the south. My family is liberal but may be a little shocked by the carcasses. They don’t really hunt much here but I wouldn’t know as I am experiencing big city life. Maybe they hunt wild pigs, ducks or buffalo. I don’t know though I will ask.

Happy Birthday Mom

Pictures= Pooja, traditional dress, Haji Ali mosque, and Juhu beach at sunset.

Happy Birthday Mom. This blog entry is your gift so enjoy and just so you know I had to stay up till 2 am writing it when I will get up at 5:30 am tomorrow to go on vacation. So if the language is sloppy forgive me.

This blog is intended to answer some peoples questions, tell what I’ve been up to the last week or so and explore a little about the Hindu holiday Diwali.

First I will try to zip through what I’ve been up to. I left you on October 20th so I will pick it up from there. If you remember last blog I mentioned that extremists from a local political party prevented North Indians from writing the Railway exam. Well the a couple local courts didn’t really take well to that so on Tuesday the police apprehended the leader of this political party, which is called the MNS. So the extremists of the party didn’t really like to see their leader put on trial so they flocked to the streets in large numbers rioting. I had planned to go out that day but I was not allowed to go out for much of the day. Near where my second host family is there are many supporters of the MNS so there were riots there. What these riots entail are burning buses, breaking cabs/ rickshaws, and just generally disturbing the peace including fighting with riot control police. They are not really organized rather just going on power trips and breaking stuff. I watched some footage on the news about the riots and thought it would be pretty cool to be one of those police guys with the baton hitting everything that moves but it would not be so great being the guy getting hit or the rickshaw driver being beat up by the extremists. I was walking to my Hindi class that day which was the only thing I was allowed to go out for and four guys on two bikes drove by on my street and threw two large bricks at a cab which was parked on the side of the road while they were still moving. They really had terrible aim though and missed the cab from like 10 feet. It was weird because my area is one of the safest and quietest areas in Bombay. If I had been walking like 10 seconds faster I would have been right beside the cab when they threw the bricks and who knows what would have happened. The MNS leader had to spend a night in jail so more riots were expected the next day that never really happened but I did spend almost the whole day inside my house. The plan was to go to the water park that day too so it never happened. I forgot to mention that I went for a run a few days before and went out to meet some other exchangers and I walked by some beggars and one of the beggars threw a piece of dirt at me and was not happy.

The next day I went to an art gallery with a couple other exchangers and the Natural History society. The art gallery was decent and it changes artists pretty frequently so it’s not just a one time deal. Best part the gallery was free, I love free things. At the gallery we went into a room that only had like 3 modern art statues and it was a huge room so we thought there should be more so we made up art. What this means is we would go stand at a huge blank white wall with a “No Smoking” sign on it and analyze it as if it was art. Some Indians would look at us funny others would come see what we were checking out which was hilarious because we were actually looking at nothing. Just analyzing it like “you can really capture the artists emotion in the color of the sign” or this scuff mark on the wall is perfectly placed. I think it was one of the countless had to be there moments.

The next day was a birthday party but I was going out during the day too to meet a couple exchangers, (it is holiday time right now) on the way to the train station a bird shit on my nice birthday party shirt so I had to go change it. Anyways in India when a bird shits on you it is said to be good luck and I found that out. It was a really good day. Firstly we went to some Mosque that is on a man made island with a foot path out to the mosque. During high tide the foot path is submerged in water so you can’t get out there and it looks like the mosque is floating. We reached at low tide so took the foot path to the mosque and saw it. After that we went to a mall that sells all the fake Rolexs, Omega, etc… it was good. After that we were walking to the station and somebody I knew from Canada, named Steve Morie, phoned me. He is my dad’s friend’s son from Edmonton and he is traveling through India for 3 months on his own. So he phoned and we have met up twice over the past few days. He is just in Bombay for a few days before going to Rajasthan. So when he phoned we were just going to Juhu beach so he came also and saw Juhu at night which is crazy. Then the girl’s birthday party. We just went to a restaurant and had a good time together. We had an Indian Rotex guy with us who is Sikh and believe it or not another Sikh guy saw this and bought us 2 pitchers of beer. We got to talking and the guy who bought us beer was actually from Mississauga, Ontario. He is in town for eight months on diamond business. It was awesome.

The next night a few exchangers went to Marine Drive and there were fire works because it was 2 night before Diwali starts. There were crazy loud crackers and flares and everything too bad they are made by children. The fireworks are a little dangerous and the Indians operating them are crazy. They are dangerous because most of the fireworks are ground based so little pieces of debris fly everywhere. The vertical ones are pretty good and basic but some people complicate things by light the fire work then waiting till the last moment then throwing it towards the water while it explodes in the air. The reason why there are so many fireworks is because it is Diwali, another festival. But this one is big it is the new year according to the Hindu calendar and is the major holiday for vacationing or seeing your family. This is the festival of lights so there are firecrackers for the 4 day festival (Mon-Thurs) and a few days before and after. I will go more in depth into Diwali and include more information on religion in my next blog because I do not have the space in this one. Basically all you need to know is Diwali means bright lights, loud noises (which wake you up at 7am sometimes), family holiday, equivalent of Christmas, traditional dress for me, not traditional dress for Indians (so I was the only guy in traditional Indian dress the 3 Diwali functions I have dressed up for even though I am a foreigner), streets/houses decorated with lights, and religious rituals which are called poojas. You do something different at the separate poojas your family has, first one in our house I wore some hat (like the ice cream men from the 1960’s) and saw my reflection in water, then broke a fruit with my foot then tasted it. The second one I was just on cymbals the whole time making loud noises and trying to keep a beat with the chanting of my family.

On the Sunday I went with one of the Rotaract clubs sponsored by my Rotary Club, which is like Rotary for youth. So they have local projects that aid local people. This Sunday we went to a project that celebrated Diwali with mentally ill or orphaned children. It was a really great program we spent time with the kids doing arts and crafts and talking with them. It is kind of depressing when you analyze the children’s situation but that is all forgotten when you see the big smile on their face and realizing you put it there. It was also a little disheartening when I realized that a child who just learned to walk and from the smell just pooped their pants speaks better Hindi than me. That program was great and really put me in my place in the world, it made me step back and really look at how fortunate I am. In the evening there was another program which raised awareness about transgendered people, aids, and homosexuality. I don’t know how I was dragged into that one but I went anyway. The whole program was in Hindi so I didn’t understand much but the idea was good for the area. I am sorry if this sounds blunt but I didn’t like the program that much because my idea of a good time does not consist of a transvestite, a homosexual and a bisexual talk in a language I don’t understand for an hour and a half. That night I went with my family to a Diwali dinner with my family and a bunch of family friends, dressed in traditional wear and everything. I know I am not the person to be saying this so forgive me but I was ballin’ out of control.

As I said next post I will go more into Diwali and religion but now it is question time.

Yes Maeghan you had a question: “Do you find that people speak to you in English? And is there anything they don't have in India that you wouldn't have thought about?”
- Yes pretty much everybody speaks to me in English, I find it hard to learn the language because I am not totally immersed in it. Hindi the national language is not even the local language so I don’t even know if people on the trains are speaking the language I am learning unless I can pick out a word I know. There are way too many languages in India so you never know what to learn as per the location you are in. 29 languages have at least 1 million speakers, and newspapers are written in 90 languages all over India. The Indian people are really amazing when it comes to languages anyway like most people speak or understand at least 3 languages if they are educated. That is a long way to say yes people speak English to me. Not really anything you can’t get here apart from cold weather and clean public bathrooms but I already had thought about that. There are many imported food stores which sell you things you are used to at high prices, like the Europeans love getting Nutella here. Also there is no toilet paper is many bathrooms instead there is a spray hose. Indians think TP is not clean but soaking your butt is so that is a little different. I bring TP with me almost everywhere.

Callander: “Do you find that you are continually amazed by the people and culture but at the same time, longing for the efficiency and cleanliness of North America? It really is like being on a different planet, isn't it?”
- YES, especially the cleanliness part. There is so much diverse culture here stemming from the region or religions and I love the culture even such a big city has culture, and I’ve heard out of the city there is way more culture.

Many people asked about the tube video: I do feel some what refreshed after the process but I really just do it because it is so rad and is cool to tell people what I’ve done. The purpose they say is the friction in the nasal passage increases the blood flow to the area and in turn creates a more healthy nasal passage which is less likely to become infected. And no it is not a piece of red licorice but I am seriously considering going out to buy licorice now just for that purpose. I only had to do it a few times before I quit gagging but even now I still gag a little.

Aunty Linda: Will you be seeing the famous Taj Mahal?
- YES I will be seeing the Taj Mahal in mid December on the Rotary organized North India and Rajasthan trip.

Brad Duholke: 1) Do you ever feel unsafe during this journey?
2) have you experienced the Indian medical system yet? Any insights?
3) Do you think a trip like this is for everyone or only the bold?
Finally could a girl do this and could you have done this without a sponsor family?
- I have not really felt unsafe on the journey, India is actually a very safe place when it comes to crime on a large scale but does have quite a bit of petty crime. When I am walking around alone after dark is the only time I really have to keep a watch out. I have seen a couple of fights but I was in the house for the riots and apart from the brick throwing incident I was very safe. I do feel unsafe in the cars sometimes but that is just the cultural differences, it is part of the culture to dive the wrong way down a road or pull out in front of a speeding car in traffic to make a slow turn. The two most important parts of the car are the horn and the brake here. The hoards of people are, although overwhelming, reassuring of your safety. If India is not the country for you there are many other more safe European countries offered as choices.
I have not experienced the Indian medical system yet, I assume it is pretty good. If you want to know more ask Steve Morie who was a little sick. I have heard the system is relatively clean and efficient but I don’t intend to find out first hand. I heard that if you want medicine at a hospital you have to buy it from a pharmacy then the doctor will administer it.
I feel this exchange is for anyone who is up for a challenge and wants to have a great time becoming more mature and meeting new people in the process. Many people are content at home and I respect that but the world is waiting for you to see it. If you really want to learn a ton about another culture and even more about yourself the exchange is for you. Yes girls can definitely do this and world wide more girls than boys do the exchange. In my district in Canada there are about twice as many girls as boys abroad in 15 or 16 different countries (I think). I don’t really understand the sponsor family question but I can tell you how I began the exchange process. My father is a Rotarian but it is not a necessity nor very common to have the parent of a student abroad as a Rotarian in Canada. That is how I knew about the exchange process because my family has hosted students before. Otherwise you can contact the schools guidance counselor about the Rotary International Long Term student exchange or look up your Rotary International district and there is usually a web page dedicated to the international youth exchange (IYE) in the district. You can get info there. If you want to leave in summer 2009 then start planning fall 2008, there is a preliminary application, an interview, a full application and a few orientations you need to attend. You can tell them what country you want or what you want in a country but you won’t necessarily get that one. You leave for the exchange July or August and return about 11 months later. What the parents need to pay is the airline ticket, the insurance, trips in the country, vaccinations before you go to the country and spending money beyond what you get from the Rotary Club locally. This is the best thing I have decided to do in my life. Sorry if I bored the other student who read this blog but I really support the program.

Lauren: Just to clear it up.. .Is a eunic like a transvestite? Because I thought eunic's were just men who had their... parts.... removed... you know like a gelded horse. It's still a guy but just... less of one. You know?!? But is a Eunic different?!
- I am not actually sure what they are. People here call them eunuchs but they look more like transvestites or transgendered people to me. I thought a eunuch was like a gelded horse too and enjoyed that analogy but these ……. Dress up like women but I am not sure if the breasts are real due to taking female hormone pills or if they are just fake. I am really just baffled by the whole thing. From what I knew from before I think a eunuch has no parts but doesn’t necessarily dress like a woman, and a transgendered person dresses and acts like a woman but I am not sure if they have parts or not I would guess not (I think I don’t know from experience), and I think a transvestite is like a transgendered person who went to the extreme with hormone pills and no parts, I actually didn’t look this up so it is not legitimate at all but that is what I feel from what people call different people here. I know they call the thing that touched me a eunuch I just don’t know if it falls into the eunuch category I explained. What I would call what touched me is a transgendered person.

I have left some people questions for next blog as I am running out of time including questions from Dad, Trevor, Carlann, and Lesley. Remember to leave comments and I think this answering questions thing could also be reoccurring so leave comment or ask questions.
Have a Happy Diwali.

100 Days!

The pictures are of the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel, followed by me in front of the 3 headed Shiva (god) bust at elephanta, then the durga pooja, and finally the Ravana that was burnt.

Not that I am counting but I just wanted to know so I went back to July 10th when I arrived and counted 100 days to today (October 17, 2008).

This blog will just tell what I have been up to and answer a few of the questions people leave as comments.

First my activities, I saw my first Hindi movie since the last blog; although I didn’t understand the dialogue I understood the story. It was called Kidnap and was about some billionaire’s daughter getting kidnapped then her dad is sent on a wild goose chase to find clues and such. I really didn’t have anything to compare it to so I enjoyed the movie but other people said it was bad so I guess it was bad. I don’t know if I have mentioned it but movies in India are a pretty sweet deal. You can get the ticket for about $2.40 and the popcorn and pop for $1.75. What would you expect at that price? While you get a sick theater where the seats recline (just the back so it’s not quite a lazy-boy but it’s comfy) and the seats are assigned on the ticket but you tell ticket guy before where you want to sit so you don’t have to wander around the theater scouting out the best seats only to have them stolen right before you go to sit. Anyways theaters are pretty ill here and they have to be, the average Indian sees way more movies per year (in theaters) than any Canadian I know and with Bollywood pumping out a new movie every week they have to see the movies fast.

On October 8th I had a good day although I was forced out of my comfort zone a few times. First I met up with a few exchange students and we went to the Elephanta caves which are some coves on an island 10km off the main island. You catch a boat from the gateway of India and take a 45 minute ride to the caves. Unfortunately they take advantage of tourists majorly there. For entry into the caves Indians pay 10Rs and foreigners pay 250Rs. No joke 25x what the Indians pay. That is only like $5.50 but still it is the principle. I guess it is a UNESCO world heritage site though. We also got to see the Gateway of India from the water which was pretty neat. Near the caves there were monkeys that were perfectly adapted to all the people there, they knew humans are afraid and took advantage of it. One Indian guy I saw was chased by a monkey and was forced to throw his bag containing a souvenir up in the air to distract the monkey.

The same day I went with my host family to a Durga Pooja it is some god with multiple arms that is a woman. What we did there was just offer gifts to the god and ate some food. I can’t believe how grand the idols of the gods are here it is insane.

On that same day I was invited to do this dancing thing. It is called Dandiya and it is like dancing with sticks that is sort of like line dancing but it looks like you are in combat with the other person with sticks. First I went to some big open area and there were many people dancing. This dancing is part of the festival navratri which means 9 nights roughly. What the festival entails is dancing for 9 nights, although I only danced for one night. What the dancing entails is swinging the stick with your left hand and contacting the other persons stick then with the right stick, then clapping the 2 sticks together and finally hitting both your sticks with the other persons 2 sticks and doing a spin. People said I was good but I know what I look like when dancing and it is not a pretty sight. After the big open space dancing with sticks a couple friends took me to a street dandiya dancing on one of their friend’s streets. I was already pretty tired so I asked not to dance but when the people there saw me I had to dance. This was a circle dandiya where after every round you change partners as there are 2 circles going around in opposite directions. The people who organized this event went crazy when they saw me and were like whistling and yelling “FROM CANADA” then everyone looked at me and cheered it was weird. When I was dancing it was like people forgot how to dance because they were like a deer in the headlights or they wanted to do something stupid to impress the foreigner. I was just about to leave and the organizers said no don’t leave and they called me up to the stage and said I was the chief guest. They made me make a speech and I gave out prizes, I got a rose and a sweet pen out of the deal so it was ok though. So I went from not wanting to dance to chief guest and dancing till my feet were red, actually my feet were red and I had to walk some of the way home without sandals. When you are out of your comfort zone that is what defines you as a person so this experience was good for me even if I didn’t think so at the time.

The next day was a holiday so I slept in a little but my room heats up way too much in the morning to sleep in too long. It is really way to hot these days I hear this is the worst part of the year. Yesterday was a high of like 37 C and low of 24 C; the low is still too hot. This day I went to the burning of a huge wooden person called Ravana. Ravana is the enemy in the Hindu epic poem the Ramayana and is a dude with 10 heads or something like that. So to show the defeat of Ravana they have a huge play then at the end they burn the Ravana and he has fire crackers and such everywhere, it was pretty impressive. What was more impressive was how man people were there. I still can’t get over how many people live here. After the burning of the Ravana there was a massive speech of a political party that is huge in Maharashtra, I did not stay for that because I went out for dinner with my host family and because politics can be dangerous here. There were bus loads of people going to hear the speech that were all very patriotic and extreme. That political party in insane, I don’t want to judge them too harshly but they think everyone in Bombay should be Maharashtran or at least be able to speak Marathi and they are particularly against the North Indians from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. I have heard of some of the things that the extremists do which include going up to cab drivers (who are generally from UP or Bihar) and asking them to speak Marathi if the cab drivers can’t then they will beat up the cab driver and the cab. Just yesterday extremist from the political party rioted at Railway examination centers where North Indians were taking examinations to work for the Railroad and prevented 6000 North Indians from taking the exam. They claimed inadequate representation of locals in the railroad industry as their justification for the riots. So there was just a speech, no riot, on the holiday but there was an insane police presence at the park where it was at. Like I said we went out for dinner that night, while we went out to the “suburbs” and while out there we locked the keys in the car so we needed to take the ½ hour dive back home in a cab and then take the other car to pick up the car with locked keys. Also the watchman at the building tried to pick our lock with a ruler which ended up breaking inside the gap between the window and door. I thought it was funny but others didn’t. Now we have half a ruler in our car door.

I will try to zip through the next few days because some people feel the blog is too long. I arranged volunteer work for myself at a NGO designed to uplift street children through sport and education, so I will probably start that pretty soon. There was a big Rotary meeting with the District Governor and I was to go there. I was out much of the day then I took a train to the closest station and proceeded to walk in the complete opposite direction of where I was supposed to be going. I ended up walking about 20 or more minutes in the wrong way and was just in the process of asking a cab driver where to go when the President’s wife pulled up in a cab and took me with her. It worked out well but I was still late. It is weird normally I would be worried about that stuff in Canada but here it is not that big of a deal. I know I will show up and guaranteed, even if you are an hour late, you won’t be the last one there. There was a birthday party for one of the exchange students I went to on the Saturday night. It was really fun. Next day I got up and did some volunteer work with a Rotaract club which entailed taking old people out who are in a Salvation Army old age home. So we gave them basics like toothpaste and soap then took them in a bus to a couple nice locations like a garden and a beach. It was weird because they all had western names like George and some had tattoos on their arms of crosses. I wanted to know their past but was unsure if they wanted to tell it because they may have been forced to change religions or names due to the Portuguese or British. It was good to see old people happy though. I played soccer the other day in the dirt. The next day I went to the planetarium and some art exhibits. In the last few days I also worked on Hindi, went to a travel museum, and went to a German movie (Sophie Scholl (spelling?)) with the Germans about some girl who was spreading information against Hitler and when she was caught and punished. It was in German with English sub titles but it was still powerful. Just a couple days ago I went to Bandra (nice shopping area). I didn’t buy anything but I had a memorable moment for the wrong reasons. I was in a Rickshaw and a eunuch came up and was asking for money then he/she saw us and was really weird. Of course I was closest to him/her so he/she was like I love you and touching my leg and stuff. It was terrible but where else could that happen other than Thailand I guess. Just a hint for the eunuch next time: if you want to be a girl try not to have facial hair. My host mom told me that if you are mean to them they may spit on you so I didn’t do anything but Jens was pretty angry at it. Also my host mom said that if you see a dead eunuch it is good luck. What is also weird is it is good luck to have a bird poop on your head. I find this funny what is good luck here would suck in Canada. Also in India you see people walking through the streets with a dead body sometimes (I’ve only seen 3) they are on a stretcher decorated with flowers and stuff, but if a eunuch dies then people just drag the eunuch standing up to their resting place. Like if you are helping someone off the sports field who just had a serious leg injury in both legs. I haven’t seen that and don’t think I will, the chances are low.

That is pretty much it for what I’ve been up to. The next post I will answer questions that people have posted in the comments section so if you want to ask a question you can this post.
Also I would like to wish my dad a Happy Birthday! Just so you know this is your gift, a blog entry.

Still loving every moment,
-Allen

Thank you for the comments

Just a little treat for everybody as I am happy that you commented.
If you didn't read the most recent entry scroll down.
The pictures on the last post were: a sunset on Marine Drive over the Arabian Sea, Chhatripati Shivaji Terminus (CST) a railway station on the central line, and Mahmadali road where we ate late at night where lots of Muslims go to break their fast after the sun sets.

No Time No desire but here it is

I keep procrastinating about blogging and not enough people are commenting but I have put it off too long.
This one will just be about what I have been up to lately.

This blog will date all the way back to September 20th when an exchange student from the USA left. It was his own wish to leave and I never figured out why but that is always a bad moment for any exchange student when another leaves. He was one of the only guys I could use my Canadian slang with and was a very likeable person.

On September 22nd I went to a birthday party of a girl who is in Roteract, which is like a Rotary for youth and they participate or arrange events that foster development mostly on a local level. So we went to Shivaji Park which is like a big open dirt field with some restaurants and such around it. She took us out for Frankie’s which are amazing, like the mix between a tortilla, a burrito, and a shwarma with great masala (spices). I actually figured out the other day that I gained some weight which isn’t great news because it is not muscle weight. Most of the weight I have gained is now hanging out in my belly, although I have only gained 2-3 Kg I feel very fat and should start exercising. I keep pulling my shirt up and looking at my belly and pulling at it. As you can imagine the party was not what you would happen at a 22 year olds party in Canada, we had Frankie’s then sat at Shivaji Park being pestered by beggars for about 10 minutes and were home by 10pm.

Lately we have been doing some touristy stuff as it is exam time and I don’t have to write the exams, so we have bought some tourist books and have seen some touristy things. The city doesn’t have all that much for tourists actually, it is more a city you have to experience rather than see. Some of the restaurants are the best in India and I feel the city is the most contradictory place ever as there is so much wealth but there is also so much poverty. You can see a beggar beside a Bentley (fancy car). The one museum we went to was not very good, some of the statues and such are decent, and the Chhatripati Shivaji Terminus (CST) has an amazing building but other than that we often times just sit on Marine Drive and watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea. Other things that we plan to do are go to the Planetarium, to a big mall, to a hill where you can see lots of Bombay, and to a water park. One thing that we did do that qualifies as a tourist attraction was go to this massive and famous market in south Bombay called Crawford Market. It was very crazy it was a vegetable and fruit market but also had many other types of food, clothes, electronics, bags, hookahs, and shoes in the surrounding area. It was kind of weird but amazing at the same time the there were also some weird things for sale like baby kittens in a box. I will go with an Indian guy next time so I can buy things without having a gypsy take advantage of me.

Speaking of parks last Friday 10 of the exchange students went to an amusement park, that is supposedly high tech but if that is high tech I would be very scared to go to the low tech park. The park had rides that you would expect at the Calgary Stampede fair grounds but it was still fun and great times. The security was not really an issue for me but this kind of park would never pass in Canada. For one there was a water ride that gave you these two loops of seatbelt material that you would just slide your respective arms through and it really didn’t restrain you in any way. There was nothing that clicked to guarantee your safety and you could easily slip out during the ride. As stated before the park was not extreme by any means but there were a few good rides (mostly the ones that got you dizzy) and it was fun. On the way to the park we had an adventure too the people we were supposed to be meeting were at the same station but a different part and we couldn’t find each other for a good 20 minutes. Then we were 6 and usually we have to take 2 Rickshaws (3 wheeled taxi) but the Rickshaw driver wanted extra money so all 6 of us piled into a rickshaw, which was an adventure. Obviously the rickshaw driver wanted way more than we ended up giving to him but we still ended up paying too much I think.

After our trip to Essel world I went to a 5 star hotel near the Airport with my host dad where the company my host uncle works for was signing an agreement to work together with a company from the UK. It was Ok but I felt really out of place with all the business men but what can you do. I was standing there in my sneakers and a short sleeved button up and men in suits were all around me. The food there was good too, as you would expect and there was an open bar.

Also in the past two weeks my host family took me to the road known as Mahmadali Road which was crazy. It is a food that has tons of restaurants and roadside joints that you can eat at and is typically where many Muslims go to break their fast in the evening as it was Ramadan so the Muslims can not eat during the daylight hours. The food was really good and we had some pretty weird things. Firstly we had amazing tandoori chicken, followed by excellent mutton in sauce, then liver, followed by goat brain. The brain was ok but it was really hard to get my head around what I was eating. For dessert we had a rice pudding and some really good really oily thing that was like a pancake deep fried but not crispy. As you can imagine (like anywhere else in Bombay) this place was packed it was on a road but no car even tried to go down the road as not even the people could walk comfortably. The food was amazing, the atmosphere electric and the experience was priceless, what more could I ask.

There are five German exchange students in Bombay and it was their national day on October 3rd so the German Consulate invited all the Germans registered including the exchange students to the most expensive hotel in Bombay and presumably the most expensive in India too. It is called the Taj Hotel and Palace and is where all the famous people who come here stay, John Lennon, the Queen etc... They got to eat German food and drink German beer which made me wish that Canada day could be changed to when I am still living here rather than July 1st.

Last Sunday I was taken out to the Cricket Club of India (CCI) by my second host parents (Jens’ host parents) where we played badminton, swam and had brunch it was a great time. It is here where I figured out I had gained weight. Something else about the club was how great the shower in the locker room was, some showers in India you don’t really know if water is falling on you or not because the water pressure isn’t great and most showers have a large bucket filled with water and a smaller bucket in it so you can pour water over your head, if that was not the case I would always have shampoo in my hair. The showers at houses are different than Canadian showers, you don’t really have a specific area for showering there is just a shower head sticking out of the middle of a wall in the bathroom and you just stand in the bathroom while everything around you gets soaked, it’s ok though because the bathroom is all tile and the is nothing that could really succumb to water damage. It is a little different though imagine just standing beside your toilet taking a shower. Back on topic, the shower at the CCI was amazing it was one of those ones that is directly above your head and the water pressure and temperature was perfection. I think Jens must have spent at least ½ an hour in the shower and I kinda wish I had too because the next day I was disappointed in the shower at my house.

After the CCI club was great because our (mine and Jens’) counselor took us our for a street food tour of Bombay. He really knows his food. First we went up to Juhu Beach and had Gola which is like ice shavings with really concentrated juice that you dip it in. We then hung out at Juhu a little and saw the weird things on the beach. I can’t believe what people are doing these days for money. There were these stalls that made you put on headphones then it told you your future and also like really cheap flying glowing discs. Also one of the funniest most bizarre things I’ve seen is when some boy was walking a monkey trying to sell “Monkey Dance” (I have no idea what this is) and the monkey he had on a leash snuck up a stole the ice cream a little girl (maybe 2 years old) was eating. The little girl was so surprised and her dad was very calm about the matter, usually when the monkey does something the person who owns it gets beaten up I’ve been told. But the monkey just sat there eating the ice cream like a human acting like he did nothing wrong. I was trying, unsuccessfully, to contain my laughter as this is so different but extraordinary at the same time. I guess I am amused easily if a monkey stealing ice cream makes my day but what ever. Oh ya the shower made my day too, I guess this was a pretty good day. After Juhu we went to Bandra (still north of where I live) and had tandoori fish and tandoori prawns, they were amazing and cheap. I am really grateful to have such a good counselor and host family that care for me. After that we went to a true roadside restaurant for more food, now this was an experience. When I say roadside I mean it, we were actually sitting on the road on stools with a metal table and newspaper as table cloth. The owner had to kick a stray dog so he could set the table down on the road, and if you think I’m kidding I’m not. We had some sausages of some sort, some butter chicken and liver. All these dishes were in great sauces, spiced well, and we ate them with bread. It was good and cheap and I would defiantly go back there just for the experience. As cheap I mean 5 cokes and 3 big dishes cost us $8.20 Canadian dollars or 340.00 Indian rupees. After that we got dessert at a bakery (cheese cake for me) and called it a night. It was really a very great day and I would love to do it again.

That is pretty much some of what I’ve been up to but I will inform you of a few other things too. I got my haircut on Wednesday that was pretty cool too, my choices of haircut were: short, medium or long, I went with the short. It wasn’t that bad of a haircut actually but the guy cut my prize winning sideburns without asking. The shape of the cut was pretty nice though and I can work with it a little. He also asked if I wanted a shave (straight razor of course) and a head massage but I declined. I now wish I had done both the shave and the head massage. I saw the guy ahead of me get a head massage and it looked cool but I had no idea of the price and may have been gyped. For the head massage the guy took a vibrating machine and put it on the back of his hand while he rubbed the head. I will definitely do that next time.

I also attended a Rotary function where we acknowledged senior citizens, and there was one guy who was 100 years old. It was interesting and the tea was good but I was kinda really bored so Anil and I left.

I think that is most of what I’ve been up to, I am trying to start drum classes soon and do some volunteer work but I have been saying that for the past month so I may actually show some initiative this week.

Always remember to comment because it really helps me out.

-Allen

Ganpati Take 2 and Differences

This post is intended to take you through the last few days of Ganpati and explore some differences between Canada and India. This post will be a short one because I am running out of things to talk about.

Firstly I would like to take you through some Ganpati happenings. On Sunday there was a huge celebration to mark the end of the Ganpati festival. The streets were filled with people and it was crazy I have attached a video to show how crazy it was. I went with Jens (German exchange), a Roteract girl and my club president to the mayors bungalow. It was cool because they were doing an eco friendly version of the immersion of the idols so the sea, which is already really dirty, does not become dirtier. At the mayors bungalow we hung out for a bit and watched a few eco friendly immersions then we were about to leave when we were asked to do an interview for a TV network so we did. I just said how I liked the idea of an eco friendly immersion and how much I enjoyed the festival. The interview was on a live feed so I didn’t get to see it on TV but the Roteract girl’s friend said she saw us. Then we were just about to leave again and a newspaper wanted to write an article about us so we waited around again answered a few questions then got a picture, the next day on the third page of a daily paper (that isn’t all that popular) the headline read: “Foreigners On Eco Friendly Bandwagon” and it had our picture. The only bad part is how terribly wrong they spelt my name. I am sure the other exchange students can relate when you can never pronounce or remember the names of people you meet and I figured out it goes both ways. Our ‘normal’ names are really weird to them. So they spelt Allen Fowlis: Alen Souulil, I told the lady how to spell it but she must have had terrible writing so the F looked like an S, instead of W she wrote UU, then li is right and I have no idea how she got the last letter as L maybe the S looked like an L too. So Jens and I are pretty much Bollywood all stars now...not. Speaking of which Bollywood has asked me a couple of times to be in an extra in their movies at Colaba (a touristy area) but I heard it was a scam and plus you can’t work for VISA purposes and Rotary purposes. Julien, a Belgian exchange student, thought Bollywood was a location like Hollywood (when it actually Bombay) so when some guy asked him if he wanted to go to Bollywood he went in to a long hilarious rant (with a French accent I might add) about how he was at Bollywood all last week and this morning and he didn’t like it so the guy asking was pretty unhappy but it was hilarious. I think you had to be there.

It was pretty cool but it was dark by the time we left so we didn’t get great pictures for the real celebration which was on the beach about 500m away. There were literally thousands and thousands of people streaming to the beach to immerse their idols or help immerse a big idol. The beach was packed with people for as long as you could see and the picture really doesn’t do this crazy experience justice. We took quite a few photos but not many of mine turned out great and I really wish I could have seen this in the daylight or at sunset. This is just one of 4 main immersion points and apparently the others are far busier. We went down to the beach and just saw what the whole thing was about there were just a lot of people, there wasn’t a lot going on but there were tons of people. Many of the huge idols which come to this beach were immersed the last day so it was really interesting to see the huge Ganpatis and the way they immerse them. How they do it, or what I’ve heard, is they send one guy out in a boat with a pretty big Ganpati and then the one person has to flip the boat by himself therefore submerging the Ganpati. It was very cool to see this but the pictures aren’t great. I did a lot of walking around that night and I didn’t feel so bad pulling out my camera as there were other Indians pulling out their cameras. Usually when I pull out my camera in the city people give me a dirty look like what are you doing and why are you doing it or maybe a how can I take advantage of this guy. Speaking of which a cab driver tried to get a lot of money out of us for a short ride he didn’t even know the way and he wanted 100Rs and the meter said 21Rs so we gave him the 21 and left. He was very unhappy. We figured out later that when it says something in Rs it is a code for a different amount and we actually gave him 5Rs less than what the amount was but he was trying to take advantage of us so he deserves it.

The rains have not stopped yet so I am pretty pissed about that because they suck. After that is autum and then ‘winter’. I hear October is hot as hell and so is May. Winter is not actually winter it never goes below freezing temperatures so it is like 20 and pleasant in the Winter but people still wear their sweaters. Maybe I will have a tan when I get back, probably not but maybe.

Oh ya, did you hear about the bomb Blasts in Delhi (India’s capital). There were 6 small bombs that were set off in crowded areas that killed at least 23 people and injured many more. 2 more bombs were found and defused. In today’s paper they say police have shot and killed one of the main guys behind the attack. Terrorists say Bombay is next but I hope not. There is prank calls every few days that really set the bomb squads off because they search the area supposedly under threat tirelessly to find nothing. One of the stations that was threatened was the one I get off at to go to college. Generally Bombay is very safe as it is India’s financial capital and is watched very closely so I am not too worried.

Yoga today was pretty weird because it was all about cleansing your body so the Sir tells you all these gross things that you should do everyday. Please if you are groosed out easily don’t read this sentence. He said you should put your middle finger up your but to the max and then move it around to clean it out. I was pretty grossed out but nothing is really considered gross here. For one passing gas is not really rude because he says if you let the gasses build up that is when you have problems so after meals lots of Indians burp and someone will just be sitting and then they will fart not trying to make it silent or anything. I kinda like it though because then I take that as permission that I can burp and fart around you. What was I saying again, oh ya for a different cleansing exercise they gave you this long rubber tube and you put it in your nose and breathe in then swallow and finally grab the tube at the back of your throat. It is like what you see on the discovery channel. Where you have a tube come in your nose and out your mouth and then you have to move it back and forth, needless to say I (along with most of the others) had watering eyes and were gagging all over the place. It was really cool though having something come in your nose and out your mouth and then move it back and forth. I will take a picture next time I do it.

I think I have run out of things to talk about but I do have a really killer story that didn’t happen to me but I will tell it anyway. Some Indian people act really weird when they see a white person who is living in Bombay doing everyday things. So there is this French exchange student called Simon and he is usually pretty bored in the morning so one day he decided to go for a run along Marine Drive (that is in south Bombay where he lives) and very close to my school. So he was running just listening to music minding his own business and he passed an Indian guy and the Indian guy went crazy. Simon was just running along and the Indian guy was running right beside him like running around him all excited. Just bobbing and weaving in an orbit around Simon. What I picture is as is like that old Kibbles and Bits dog food commercial where the big dog is saying “It better be kibbles and bits” and the little dog with way too much energy is like “I hope it’s kibbles and bits” jumping around all over the big dog. So Simon was understandably pretty tired of this after a minute or so, when the annoying guy passed a little too close in front of him, Simon stuck out his foot all casual like and tripped the guy, he didn’t just stumble like was expected but he rather did a huge dive with full extension, like Bobby Orr after scoring that hockey goal, and landed with a thud on the sidewalk. Simon was going to turn around and be like: what happened? But he just kept running. That would have been hilarious to see and I wish I would have but it still cracks me up when I think of it.

Here is just a little tidbit of info about some bad words and a misconception concerning such. One of the girls names is Laura and in Hindi Laura means dick so when ever she tells her name to anyone they do the old rotate head a little and open their eyes it’s pretty funny although I’ve only seen it a couple of times.

I think that is it for now.
Remember to comment because if you don’t I will be unhappy or may go on a hunger strike.
-Allen

Ganapati and Pune

Still can't figure out how to put the photos in the middle of the post so all are on top again. The first is a pretty nice Ganapati there was so much action in that room. The next is a really rich Ganapati that is all real gold. Next is me and a friend with that really rich Ganapati. After that is the immersion at night so the quality isn't that good, it gets much busier than this. Lastly is the procession for that really rich Ganapati on the streets.

This post is intended to inform you about my short trip to Pune and the Ganapati festival that is going on right now.

So on Wednesday last week the Ganapati festival started but let’s first rewind 1 day to the Tuesday. I finally got to have some physical activity on this day, apart from the marathon, that was a little more like a novelty, the trek and riding the trains every day. The later of which is probably the most physically and mentally taxing. I was invited to play soccer or football, as they and most of the rest of the world call it, with my counselor’s son, Tanay. It was really fun but so different from what I am used to. The Canadian fields are like heaven compared to what we played on. So first of all I don’t have any cleats yet so I have to wear Tanay’s old pair, and his jersey, which I really appreciate but they were like playing in clown shoes. We walk to Shivaji Park at 8:15pm, and it is dark out already. So we play in mostly dark, except one pitiful light, on a dirt pitch, with a flat ball, in extreme heat, with bags as goals, and it was so fun. The skill was actually surprisingly good and the people were very kind. I learned a few swear words while playing. It was so hot I was sweating like a hooker in church (thanks Neil) through the whole game and was dirty as the dirt we were playing on by the end, but it was still great fun. I was so tired by the end it was insane, I guess that’s what almost 2 months of hardly any exercise will do to you. The next 2 days I walked like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz because I was so stiff. Why this was relevant was because while we were playing some Ganesha idols were being brought to their houses via huge processions on the streets. So there was great music and what not.

You may be wondering what this Ganapati celebration is all about so here is the story. Lord Ganesha is the elephant god you may have seen a picture of and we celebrate his birthday. The terms Ganapati and Lord Ganesha are pretty interchangeable from what I’ve heard. The festival is actually pretty confusing but I will try to explain it. So some people, mostly Maharashtrans I think, have Lord Ganesha idols in their house and there are some big public idols on the street. The most common thing everybody yells out on the streets during this festival is “Ganapati Baapa” then you have to yell “Moriya!” It is as common as “Go Flames Go” on at a hockey game. Also I didn’t realize what festival meant back in Canada, we mostly have days (Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, Easter Day etc..) what it means here is the whole city is decked out with lights and everything. Another thing festival means is as soon as the sun sets there is a drum beat and firecrackers every few minutes, especially on immersion days (which I will go in to). Ok back on track now, if you have an idol in your house people come over to it and pray. On the Wednesday the festival started so there was no school and an Indian friend took me around to a few of his friend’s places and a few public Ganesha idols to pray. All together we went to 6 I think. Then I got home and my host family took me out to a few of their friend’s places to pray to their Ganesha idols. Then there was one where most people were related to us somehow so we stood in a room and clapped, chanted and preformed some other rituals to the Ganesha idol while a couple of hired drummers made a sick beat. At every single Ganapati you must take a sweet that they supply and eat it, I was so sick of these sweets by the end of the day thinking of them now sickens me. According to belief your family immerses the Ganesh idol in water on certain days. Most commonly the idols are submerged on the 1 & ½ day, the 3rd day, the 5th day, the 7th day, and the 10th day. Most of the house Ganapatis are immersed on the 1 & ½ day, 3rd or 5th day and the big public ones are usually later into the festival. The water which the idols are immersed into is most likely the sea, so you can imagine how dirty the water is the next day. There are other eco friendly options such as big pools supplied by the city or just pouring water over the idol in your house. The way in which the idols get to the sea is crazy, you have the idol on a little wooden cart and you wheel it to the sea, now that doesn’t sound that different. But it is they have hired bands that play ultra loud drums and horns, everybody involved in the procession is dancing, they let off really loud firecrackers and fireworks in the middle of the street and if that isn’t enough some guy always has coloured powder that he will throw on you. I actually wasn’t part of one of these processions yet but I think I will do one on the tenth day. I wasn’t part of one of these processions but I was part of a huge procession for one of the richest Ganapati’s in Bombay. There was gold and precious stones all over this Ganapati and it was at least 2 stories high. There were at least 200 probably closer to 250 people pulling huge ropes with the Ganapati attached it was like ancient Egypt or something. There wasn’t a lot of music or dancing but there were tons of people and it went on really late. On the route the Ganapati takes they give away free food and tea so it was great. There were thousands of people following this Ganapati. I don’t actually have the words to explain how crazy it was. There were garlands hanging from ropes in the middle of the street that would fall onto the Ganapati’s neck. I got home at 4am and slept most of the next day. The crazy thing was the Ganapati was not even at the sea yet when I got home; it would be submerged at 6 or 7 in the morning after travelling all night and removing all the precious stones and gold. The only thing I regret is not pulling the Ganapati, which would have been cool to say. I am sorry if this just seems like a jumble of information but that is really what it was. I wasn’t sure how to explain how different but amazing the experience was, and I am sure I failed in fully capturing the splendor and awe of the event. I hope I gave you a little idea of how much support this celebration receives every year from all the people and how the festival works to an extent.

So lets have a basic recap, I will give you the story of Günter the house Ganapati. The name is just for comedy sake no Ganapati is actually named Günter. So Günter is sitting in his house and people whom are known to his owners come over and pray to Günter. Günter’s owners give away sweets and food to anyone who comes over, then everyone makes small talk for a bit then they leave. Then more people come and pray, and eat. Then they perform some sort of ritual in front of Günter involving a big group of people, chanting, clapping, fire, and music. Günter is a 1 & ½ day Ganapati so after that many days Günter’s family takes him to the sea via a huge procession with music, dancing, firecrackers and colours. Then the family performs a short ritual on the beach and swims Günter out into the ocean. Günter is made of clay so he melts but it takes a while so there is bad pollution in the beaches. Well they actually have swimmers who take all the Ganapatis out deeper because many Indian people don’t know how to swim. That is the story of Günter.

There is also the story of Lord Ganesha that is very complicated and I don’t understand much of it so I will not tell you much but on a basic level: he has 2 mother’s one birth and one who brought him up. Also his father is Shiva, the destroyer, who my families god. Lord ganesha sits on a mouse this is supposed to represent being able to control your temptations or habits because a mouse is all greedy and Ganapati is sitting on him. Also there was another long story of how it is a mans body and some god took his head for some reason and then the first animal he encountered in the jungle he would get his head and it was an elephant hence elephant head. Others say that his father, Shiva, beheaded him and just replaced his head with that of an elephant. So that’s most of what I know.

This festival will go on till Sunday this week. It has been very fun but I wish I had celebrated a little more like joined one of those family processions or something.

Ok that’s enough about Ganapati. From the title there is a second part to this post. I got to travel out of Bombay to Pune this weekend to see Ganapati there. Pune is a very nice place. Instead of 19 million it only has 3 million so, compared to Bombay; it had more greenery and parks.

I really don’t know what to say about the trip apart from what we did. It was a relaxing trip so we just met up with family and ate great meals, saw this shopping area, went to a sports club, and just kinda saw the city. There are lots of reputable universities in Pune so there was an ethnically diverse crowd by Indian standards. There was also this one thing that interested me it was a meditation centre but it was also sort of like a cult, what you do is you give these people tons of money then you can go there and meditate, do yoga, get massages, and do other relaxing and enlightening things. I was so confused by this, what Anil (host dad) told me is that people sell off their lives in America, their home, possessions, everything, and just go live there. It was a very nice green campus but I had so many questions about it, I was so confused. What do they do all day? Don’t they get bored after a few years? Why do they all wear the same maroon robe, is it a cult or something? I was in awe at how people just wanted to find themselves rather than living the corporate created world that we all love.

Pune was mostly just visiting people and eating so there is not much to write about. Just that it was a nice place with a traffic problem. Oh wait one more thing, my host mom pointed out to me a typical Punari person and I was spotting them left and right after that. What she said was that they have a shrewd face, and green eyes. I don’t know if you have ever seen an Indian with deep green eyes but it is memorizing the people must have thought I was crazy staring at them. The shrewd face is pretty funny too like they just did something that was sneaky and no one noticed. I saw a whole family of them and almost laughed out loud.

The language is coming along slowly but surely, the sentence structure is a little different, the noun comes first then the verb like I went to the market is like I market went. Even one of the Indian guys I hang out with says that when I talk in Hindi it sounds like Russian to them. What makes things even tougher is that everyone here speaks english, because of the British influence they learn english at a very young age, english comes almost as natural as their native tongue. I asked an Indian guy if you need to translate things in your head from your language and he doesn't it just all comes natural. One other thing that make things difficult is how there are so many Indian langages being spoken everywhere, the national language is Hindi, the local language is Marathi, and my host father and grandfather speak Konkani, there is also a lot of Gujarati and Punjabi. In India 29 languages are spoken by over 1 million people. Way too many languages for me. I am sure I will start to pick it up if I work harder. That's my little struggle with languages.

Oh ya forgot to mention 2 months in India today. Happy Anniversary.


Ok I think I covered most of what I wanted to so I’m signing out for now.
Remember to leave comments they keep me going.
-Allen