This week was the first week of normal at school after almost over a month. I had missed several days due to traveling with AFS and my host family, various religious holidays, exams for the Indian students, and the inter-house athletic competition. I’m taking the bus home at my normal time, attending full days of school instead of half days, and I am back to counting down to Tuesdays when my favorite afternoon tea time food is served. Although, this brief flirtation with normalcy is not permanent. Diwali is quickly approaching as well as wedding season so the next month, the halfway marker, will fly right by.
Hindi classes are consistently frustrating, again not learning the lessons I came to learn in a very literal sense here. I am instead working very, very slowly to try and alter my learning style to become more independent. The only way I really learn is through personal relationships and discussion which is the opposite of what I get here. I am trying my best to rope in my ego and just memorize silly vocabulary words while keeping calm when Hindi class is too ridiculous. Not to worry, my saving grace and possibly also the Achille’s heel in my language learning came to save me again this week, travel!
As in typical Indian fashion I was informed at the start of the week that I would be attending an AFS India conference in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I, sadly, left my American allies in Indore and departed by train with the Indore Chapter from Indore. This AFS conference happens every year but this year was special because their annual volunteer meet was celebrating the 10th anniversary in India. AFS as an organization is 100 years old but AFS in India has just turned 10. This conference mainly caters to AFS returnees (past AFS India exchange students) and AFS volunteers and staff but I along with 3 other host students were selected to attend the conference. I’m extremely grateful I was able to attend this conference and hang out with some really cool international people for 4 days.
I can’t really call it a conference because it was more like a party or an excuse to have a party with 150 of your closest friends. The first evening I met my two roommates Angelin from Belgium and Olivia from Brazil who were both being hosted for 10 months. It worked out perfectly because we were all just completing our 4th month together! We were able to talk about all the funny things we had experienced in India and compare our experiences as we were in 3 difference cities in different states: Angelin in Pune, Maharashtra, Olivia in Anaand, Gujarat, and me in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Our first full day at the meeting was spent in fierce competition. From 10-4 everyone played games for some sweet AFS merchandise. I was stuck in scrabble gridlock with Angelin for 2 hours. English is the medium in which everyone uses to communicate but Angelin didn't let that stop her from trying to make Dutch or German words to cheat her way into winning. Not to mention we were both only vaguely familiar with the rules for scrabble so we both cheated equally until I was eventually declared the winner, even though Angelin would probably dispute that claim. After some intense tug-of-war, karaoke, and piktionary everyone loaded up on busses in traditional wear for graba dancing! Garba is a dance that originates from Gujarat so it was only appropriate that we do some graba. —In my last post I wrote about seeing garba as well for Navratree and Dusshera.— Graba is my new favorite thing. I even got an award for “Non-Stop Garba” at our awards ceremony on the last day! After an impressive performance from a graba professional everyone took to the circular, rotating group dance. I learned countless new Indian dance moves and only briefly stopped in the 3 hours we were dancing to adorn my hands with mhendi (henna tattoos for those in the US). That evening was my absolute favorite. There were fireworks, lots of dance cramps, and good food, all my favorite things.
Hindi classes are consistently frustrating, again not learning the lessons I came to learn in a very literal sense here. I am instead working very, very slowly to try and alter my learning style to become more independent. The only way I really learn is through personal relationships and discussion which is the opposite of what I get here. I am trying my best to rope in my ego and just memorize silly vocabulary words while keeping calm when Hindi class is too ridiculous. Not to worry, my saving grace and possibly also the Achille’s heel in my language learning came to save me again this week, travel!
As in typical Indian fashion I was informed at the start of the week that I would be attending an AFS India conference in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I, sadly, left my American allies in Indore and departed by train with the Indore Chapter from Indore. This AFS conference happens every year but this year was special because their annual volunteer meet was celebrating the 10th anniversary in India. AFS as an organization is 100 years old but AFS in India has just turned 10. This conference mainly caters to AFS returnees (past AFS India exchange students) and AFS volunteers and staff but I along with 3 other host students were selected to attend the conference. I’m extremely grateful I was able to attend this conference and hang out with some really cool international people for 4 days.
I can’t really call it a conference because it was more like a party or an excuse to have a party with 150 of your closest friends. The first evening I met my two roommates Angelin from Belgium and Olivia from Brazil who were both being hosted for 10 months. It worked out perfectly because we were all just completing our 4th month together! We were able to talk about all the funny things we had experienced in India and compare our experiences as we were in 3 difference cities in different states: Angelin in Pune, Maharashtra, Olivia in Anaand, Gujarat, and me in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Our first full day at the meeting was spent in fierce competition. From 10-4 everyone played games for some sweet AFS merchandise. I was stuck in scrabble gridlock with Angelin for 2 hours. English is the medium in which everyone uses to communicate but Angelin didn't let that stop her from trying to make Dutch or German words to cheat her way into winning. Not to mention we were both only vaguely familiar with the rules for scrabble so we both cheated equally until I was eventually declared the winner, even though Angelin would probably dispute that claim. After some intense tug-of-war, karaoke, and piktionary everyone loaded up on busses in traditional wear for graba dancing! Garba is a dance that originates from Gujarat so it was only appropriate that we do some graba. —In my last post I wrote about seeing garba as well for Navratree and Dusshera.— Graba is my new favorite thing. I even got an award for “Non-Stop Garba” at our awards ceremony on the last day! After an impressive performance from a graba professional everyone took to the circular, rotating group dance. I learned countless new Indian dance moves and only briefly stopped in the 3 hours we were dancing to adorn my hands with mhendi (henna tattoos for those in the US). That evening was my absolute favorite. There were fireworks, lots of dance cramps, and good food, all my favorite things.
The next day everyone loaded up in busses again to visit some iconic sights of Ahmedabad. First off I love Ahmedabad. It is such a cool city it has evidence of the British with old architecture, a beautiful (CLEAN!!!) river running through the middle, a snapchat filter, and there streets are spotless for Indian standards. I really only need the simple things in life to be happy, clearly. Our first stop was the Sidi Saeed Mosque. This mosque is famous for its intricate stone carving of the tree of life. Women weren’t permitted to enter the premises and I had to stand back and admire from afar until one of the volunteers who was of Islamic faith used her lawyering skills to point out that women who were not of Islamic faith/offering prayers were actually allowed into the mosque. After removing my shoes I entered and was able to admire the structure up close. I’m not a huge fan of any religion that excludes individuals on the basis of gender so I was really encouraged to see this volunteer fighting for the inclusion of all in her own religion.
Our second stop was at a Jain temple. Jainism is a branch of Hinduism that is a little more intense in their diet, not consuming onion or garlic in addition to being completely veg. This temple was decorated with thousands of intricate stone carvings of gods and goddesses. Pictures weren’t allowed but sometimes one needs to take those statements as suggestions rather than rules. Here’s a link to a 360 panorama while I was standing on top of the temple.
The step well was my favorite historical sight we visited that day. Like most things in India your surroundings don’t typically hint at anything special ahead but as we approached some steps going into the Earth and took a turn we were looking down several flights of stairs to a well. The way this whole well was designed was very interesting. It definitely didn’t look like a well it was more of a corridor with carved walls and columns going into the earth. I heard several stories about this well; that princesses used to bath here in the private and run up and down the stairs for exercise or that the reason the stairs existed was to allow a large amount of water movement so that if there was an increase or decrease in water supply all the locals had to do was climb more or less stairs according to the water levels that day.
The last stop for sight seeing was Gandhi Ji’s house. Before going to Ahmedabad I, of course, looked at what the city was famous for and this was the top tourist attraction. If I am being completely honest it was very underwhelming. It was simply his white bungalow by the river but I guess for a man who emphasized simplicity and all the things he stood for you can’t expect many spectacles from his home. I admired his room and his few belongings that stood on display as well as the cotton mill that used to be his.
After touring the city we were free to spend the remainder of our day doing whatever we like. So I went out into the city all alone wearing short shorts and my money wadded up in my hand. Just kidding, this was the image I’m sure my mother had when I told her we had free time in the city. I actually went to lunch with 5 AFS India returnees one of which, Rezbeh, was a Parcie. Parcel is a new religion I had never heard of in the US or India so I was very intrigued. Ruzbeh explained that Parcies are a small group of people that are decedents of the Zoroastrionism religion in Iran. Ruzhbeh, being a local, took us to the best Parcie restaurant he knew of or maybe just his favorite those details are a little fuzzy, he did seem to have a lot to say about how delicious the food was. We ate our hearts’ desire in non-veg mwahaha then headed out for shopping. The boys dropped me and my two new best friends from Mumbai/Bombay at the traditional market a block away from our hotel. I made several unnecessary purchases as is typical for my shopping trips, acquiring a traditional garb outfit, a kurti for my American mother who will not take me off of her s!#^ list until I buy her at least two more, and duputahs. Everyone reconvened for dinner with a red wardrobe theme. I had taken the liberty to pack a red sari. I have only worn a sari twice before. I have never tied a sari by myself or even assisted someone else in tying a sari. Despite all odds I tied my sari by myself! So what if it took my 30 minutes, the back side of my sari dragged on the floor, and I had to walk like a penguin I DID IT! After somehow making my way down to the dining area for dinner was when I discovered we would be having a dance party and an Indian dance party at that which go for 4-5 hours at a time. I guess all that gods and goddesses who have had experience wearing saris were looking down on me with sympathy that evening because by some miracle my sari stayed put and I was able to party hard with my Indian buddies.
After touring the city we were free to spend the remainder of our day doing whatever we like. So I went out into the city all alone wearing short shorts and my money wadded up in my hand. Just kidding, this was the image I’m sure my mother had when I told her we had free time in the city. I actually went to lunch with 5 AFS India returnees one of which, Rezbeh, was a Parcie. Parcel is a new religion I had never heard of in the US or India so I was very intrigued. Ruzbeh explained that Parcies are a small group of people that are decedents of the Zoroastrionism religion in Iran. Ruzhbeh, being a local, took us to the best Parcie restaurant he knew of or maybe just his favorite those details are a little fuzzy, he did seem to have a lot to say about how delicious the food was. We ate our hearts’ desire in non-veg mwahaha then headed out for shopping. The boys dropped me and my two new best friends from Mumbai/Bombay at the traditional market a block away from our hotel. I made several unnecessary purchases as is typical for my shopping trips, acquiring a traditional garb outfit, a kurti for my American mother who will not take me off of her s!#^ list until I buy her at least two more, and duputahs. Everyone reconvened for dinner with a red wardrobe theme. I had taken the liberty to pack a red sari. I have only worn a sari twice before. I have never tied a sari by myself or even assisted someone else in tying a sari. Despite all odds I tied my sari by myself! So what if it took my 30 minutes, the back side of my sari dragged on the floor, and I had to walk like a penguin I DID IT! After somehow making my way down to the dining area for dinner was when I discovered we would be having a dance party and an Indian dance party at that which go for 4-5 hours at a time. I guess all that gods and goddesses who have had experience wearing saris were looking down on me with sympathy that evening because by some miracle my sari stayed put and I was able to party hard with my Indian buddies.
Our last day together was quite depressing. No one was quite ready to go back home especially since we had all only slept a total of 10 hours the whole time we were there instead choosing to spend the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning together. Reluctantly I departed with my new friends from Delhi, Mumbai/Bombay, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kashmir, and Anaand. The positive thing about leaving was that now with all of my Indian AFS friends I am able to make plans to see them soon and go stay with them! Hopefully my travel adventures never stop and I’m able to maintain all the friendships made this past week!