I wrote about the end of my time on ISP, and all of a sudden my time on SIT itself is over too. It took some slaving away over a hot laptop, but everything is hot back in Jaipur so its not that dramatic. As soon as I got back to Pink City, it felt like an unstoppable ride, marked by small accomplishments that have to get done one by one until suddenly you are in a totally different state. I was moving into the guest house, then putting one more page into words, then formatting and binding when suddenly I had finished my junior year of college. Wait, what - when did that happen?
Ladies in saris! Only for the special occasion of the end-of-semester banquet.
To complicate the emotional burden of accomplishing a field research paper in a foreign country, my family is here to take me around and tour with me. It's been great and also jarring. The rest of the family has been hitting up tourist sites around the Golden Triangle, so when I first went to see them early Friday morning, they each burst into tears. I honestly could not tell if they were ecstatic to see me or just miserable from the adjustment to India (it can be a little overwhelming at first). They tried to explain it like this: "We are so happy to see you! ...And we are sooo tired."
My parents and my parents! Two worlds collide...
At the Hawa Mahal, one of Jaipur's signature attractions.
The weekend was complicated by balancing the end of a semester with the beginning of a family trip, so I was giving presentations in the hotel outside of town in the morning then roping a taxing to bring me back to hangout with both my biological and host families, and haggle with all of my 'dost' in the Old City markets. So fun, so exhausting. I am starting to see why they burst into tears.
Action shot! Looks like we are mid-haggle in the bangle shop.
On Sunday night, I took my dad and my sister to the new release of "Ishaqzaade," a modern day Romeo and Juliet set in India. The Raj Mandir is Jaipur's nicest theater, which does not mean that babies or cell phones are not implicitly encouraged to make noise throughout the film. Nadine, my fellow Bollywood enthusiast, came to meet us and we just hollered along with the rest of the crowd. Here is a hit song from the film, which Nadine and I knew almost by heart in the theater, so we were just as excited as the rest of the theater when Parineeti burst into song:
Now school is done, and I am missing the crazy, manic atmosphere of Jaipur, the dry heat of Rajasthan and the company of the amazing people that I spent the semester with, both students and staff. I miss the unstoppable chaos of Jaipur traffic and surprising rickshaw drivers with Hindi and in turn being surprised by the size of their families. I miss the energy of everyone moving all at once to what seems to be nowhere in particular.
Getting into the tourist scene by taking pictures of the catch near the Chinese fishing nets in Kochin.
After so much luxury, I of course made it my mission to buy a jackfruit, a huge, foreign-looking fruit. That quest took us down a few alley ways and into the vegetable market, which freaked some people out (see Anna, Mom) and made me ecstatic.
But I am also tired, and excited to relax with my family here. Now we are in Kerala, a magical state by all accounts with miraculously high literacy rates and health standards. Everything in Kerala is like heaven, according to anyone who lives anywhere else in India. I might miss the chaos of Jaipur, but I am also tired from moving all the time, and looking forward to getting back stateside and trying out the adventure of staying in one place for a little bit. I don't think I've slept in the same bed for longer than 6 consecutive nights since I got to India, and I am wearing a little thin. Maybe there are some advantages to life back in the States.
For now, time to just relax.
My time in Darjeeling is done! My paper is not but it is closer than ever, and I am back in Jaipur, where it is hot the way India should be in the month of May. It was pretty incredible to be able to pass a week of my life in such a beautiful place, but I am really happy that my schedule keeps moving forward. But, here's a few more shots of life around West Bengal's most famous tea-producing district.
One spot where I would never, ever, ever get a tattoo.
From the communist, pro-Gorkhaland rally on May 1st, Labor Day.
Our cabin's conductor-like man taking in the sights during our "joy ride" on the toy train.
Truly, some things are universal.
A monastery!
A view of one part of town.
An employee of Nathmull's, the famous tea shop of Darjeeling.
Just two ladies enjoying a Saturday morning ride on a coal-powered petite train.
My week in Darjeeling is rushing by - what a difference being with a friend makes. The geography of this part of the world is pretty similar to that of Gangtok, except that it is more mountainous and more open. I would show photos to prove that, but as I have mentioned before, my camera fails pretty badly at capturing the depths and scope of mountain ranges. Instead, here's some photos to show how the Nepali influence on the whole region mixes together with the British legacy to make for a pretty unique looking place.
Unfortunately, all that stands between me and freedom is one lengthy paper on earthquake preparedness, so I am putting a lot of energy into pretending to write that and hating word processing programs. Wish me luck on my paper!
The Champagne of Teas! That's golden Darjeeling tea.
See those mountains, in the middle of the shot? Thats Kachenjunga! and Everest! (and a mysterious smudge on my camera lens that shows up when I use the zoom).
From inside the tourist shop.
A more familiar sight, within same tourist shop.
I pass this delightful (read: creepy) church on my walk home.
Another part of the walk home - notice no flat surface in sight. There are 70 steps in this portion (Colleen counted for me).
Just one of the many many signs proclaiming that we are in the state of Gorkhaland - a state defined ethnically by the tea workers who feel disenfranchised from West Bengal and India at large. Gorkhaland does not exist yet in any political body - but don't tell the shopkeepers.
