Gone off the Grid

    On Friday morning, my advisor called me around 7:30 in the morning to tell me to catch a taxi to a village that afternoon. "No - I don't want to go today. I have interviews set up - I need to. go. tomorrow." was my spritely, morning-ready response, but to no avail. I passed the phone to Lauren, in the next room over who is apparently better with mornings, who thankfully got the details about where, when and whom we'd be seeing this weekend. I called to postpone the interview, and a few hours and frantic light-packing later, we headed to the taxi stand in Gangtok to ride to Payung, a few hours south.
    The Jeep packed 14 people into it for the three-hourish ride, including 6 in our row alone. It was a little tight. It was an exciting way to start the weekend, because the daily routine of afternoon downpour began just as we crossed into the district of South Sikkim, obscuring the other side of the valley in a thick mist and adding the extra element of suspense to the drive as we careened up the gravel roads. Often, there is no guard rail between the road and the expanse that is decidedly not the road - a sudden drop off for trees and mist. Also, as it began to rain, the jeep's stereo system finally kicked in. To put it more simply, it was a kick-ass drive.

   I was intercepted in the Jeep by Gitanath, who informed me that my host for the weekend had been in the front of the Jeep the whole time. My traveling buddy got out to go to her new weekend home, while I rode an extra few turns up the side of the mountain and was welcomed through the rain to my new home for the weekend. The Sharmas were a lovely family in Payung, and their new daughter-in-law, whose name sounded something like Prahmela (as far as I could tell, like 'Pamela" with an R lodged in there somewhere) was my in-home translator. Besides Pramela's English, the entire family spoke Nepali exclusively. Even though there was a severe language barrier, I really felt welcomed by the family who fed me very delicious village food - which means piles of rice, leafy greens (various Nepali-named 'saags') and tons of pickles and curd. I also had some really good tea.

Looking out on the back porch, towards the valley.

   When we were leaving for ISP, my friend Kate, who is a biology major and therefore knows everything about the world, observed the amazing extent to which the pop culture part of my brain has developed. Warned that the internet was going to be spotty up north, she asked me what I would turn into with my pop culture muscle cut off. Would I atrophy? Grow intelligent and creative original thoughts? Well, after spending some time in the village without laptop, iPod, or (foolishly) even a book, I can finally answer her - I just struggle even harder to connect my life to pre-existing cultural moments. Balancing down irrigation canals with my guide, I could not help but think of Lost Boys exploring the wilds of Never Never Land.

Me, all weekend, but in three dimensions.

Encountering rickety rope bridges and fragile looking suspension brides, I was flashing back to Indiana Jones (but the Jeep rides were priming me for that one). I was delighted by every bizarre instance of Western culture that popped up in Payung, from the Justin Bieber playing off of a cell phone in the Jeep ride there, to the Celine Dion song that Pramela played for me on Sunday night before bed. "I just love this song, na?"

Just like every Indian host I have encountered so far, my own shoes were unacceptable and I was lent a pair of household slippers. In Payung, they were Angry Birds flip flops.

It was a really good weekend for collecting interviews and just walking around. Although that is not to say it went without some hiccups. On the first night, after I arrived, I was making my way through the awkward dinner that inevitably follows when a stranger shows up a family's home. I was mid-bite on a scoop of rice when my weekend 'amma' said something in Nepali that could have either been degrading or very reassuring. Pramela was a little casual in the pace of her translation, so about two minutes later, she told me very enthusiastically "She says... do NOT! feel awkward!" which made me burst out laughing for simply being so warm. Then all of a sudden, some of the bite of rice flew right out of my mouth, making me laugh even harder. I'm not sure if the family saw the rice fly, so it was pretty much just the foreigner cracking up in the corner.

Then there was the incident with this guy:

That thick black line is about 3 inches wide, just to give a sense of scale.

When I was shown my room, a very nice four-walled, 2 twin-bed furnished digs, I sat on one bed while Pramhela sat on the other. And then I looked to the left of her thigh and saw the biggest spider that I have ever seen in the wild. Or in the same bedroom as me. It was not a tarantula, but was of comparable size, in my opinion. I looked at the spider. I looked at Pramela. And I courageously said, "Wow - that's uh, a pretty big spider!" And she went to get a magazine to scoop him up and toss him out. Unfortunately, besides being big, he was also fast, and disappeared behind the bed before he could be evicted. And then Pramela and her husband dropped off my blankets, and left the room. And then he reappeared, on the far wall. I tried to take a picture without the flash so he wouldn't get mad, but I think he still got mad because he started moving before I could take a shot in focus. And then he hid under side table, and (I thought) disappeared under the bed. Then Pramela came back in to make my bed, despite my protests that I could do it fine on my own, and I told her that I was a little scared of that spider. So she and her husband moved the bed away from the wall, away from the headboard wall, and then picked up one end of the bed to shine a flashlight. No sign of the spider, though. So Pramela told me that if it came back, I could knock on her door next-door to get some help. But putting my fears to rest, I took one for the team and just went to bed. When we all got up at 6 the next morning, she asked me about the spider - "Did it come back? I was sooooo afraid all night that you would knock on my door!" She also mentioned it the following night and morning (is your friend back?) so there was just no living that down.