Mindful Expression

December 7, 2011

 

 

IDK if the man in our cabin went to sleep at all because he was sort of tossing and tunring all night and turned on the bright overhead light at one point to read! Each bunk has it’s own side lamp, so I’m not sure why he felt inclined to disturb his sleeping companions with the main (and birghtest) light in the cabin. He got off before me and the older woman, so before my stop, I had a chance to to talk with her. Turns out, she works for the government in the area of water/santation/public health, and  is a suvivor of ovarian breast cancer.She was telling me about how some of the States in India are backwards when it comes to water safety and sanitation. She said that the highest rates of mortality are due to water-bourne illnesses. She explained that people don’t use the toliet system and still think it is OK to use the bathroom in the middle of the street, thus polluting the water supply (and I told her how I witnessed this with shocked eyes!). I asked what is being done about all of this. She said that the States (like Utter Pradesh where Raiwala is located) do little to even try and manage the issue. Some are better than others - like Kerla, because of the tourists. She said the government of India is trying to roll-out communications campaigns and strategies aimed at women and children and through this - the men will slowly come along. I hope so, because it’s upsetting that babies die because of lack of education about proper sanitation. This woman also went on to tell me that she graduated from Harvard Business School and received here Masters in Public Administration. She seemed very accomplished. I was glad to have had a decent conversation with someone for a chance.

I went running with one of the other volunteers yesterday. We ran for about an hour and I’m pretty sure I have black tar coating my lungs now. What a mistake that was. From the immense amount of dust, pollution and other filth in the air - I know I will be coughing up black soot for probably the next ten years. It is really sickening. Not only is there nastiness in the air, but the fog is thick and dense and that adds another layer of craziness which makes it hard to breath sometimes. People also burn their trash (right in the middle of the already chaotic street) and that just makes it just as bad. But anyway, I’m still trying to flush the blackness out of my lungs. Been drinking water, but I can feel the slime gurgle in my throat so I have to spit the water out and guess what comes up - black nastiness! OMG. (Quite graphic, I know, but geesh…imagine it). Let’s just say that I won’t ever run around here again.

Yesterday, I met up with my friend Bharti for English lessons (everyone wants you to teach them English!). Bharti is 19 y/o and lives with her Mom, her sister and brother in a two-bedroom flat. Her family had me in their living room/bedroom and questioned me about my life in America (interrogation is the standard way to get to know someone around here). They served tea (of course!). Seemed weirded out that I didn’t want chai, but instead wanted black tea (with sugar). I explained that the milk in the chai makes me sick. They still looked at me as if I was crazy. It was clear that no English lessons were being taught today - they were much more interested in my boring life and I was interested in their lives! :)

It was kind of weird at first, but then they loosened up when I started speaking some of the limited Hindi that I knew. We started talking about the arranged marriages of India and the “love” marriages of America, which they point out (rightly so) typically end in higher rates of divorce than their pre-arranged marriages. At one point, the brash Aunt (who lives next door and stopped by with the Uncle to join in on the excitement), asked me if I would be interested in her 16 y/o son! Strange. I quickly changed the subject. -__-

I’m back at the host family’s house and dinner is about to be served. The food has been amazing. It filled with an assortment of flavors, textures, and colors - so vibrant and full of energy and life. The only problem for me is that it’s way too much food. We get three very full/heavy meals a day and since I just don’t eat like that at home, I’ve been skipping some meals. And plus, I think the host family kids eat after the volunteers and they just sort of eat what’s left over. I definitely prefer them to eat more than me because they are growing boys.

After dinner, I think I’ll try to find a quiet place (ha!) to meditate. However, there’s just so much noise, drama and other stimulation that my meditation practice has been challenged by it all. Something I should work with - I don’t know yet - I kinda miss the quiet sanctuary of my bedroom back at home.

November 24, 2011

I may not last in this house with the host family. I thought my family had problems. Sheesh. There’s a lot of negativity in this house that I’m just having a hard time dealing with and I know that it’s not all culturally related. I WILL say that I do like my volunteer activity very much. The women (more like girls) are so sweet and kind. They are eager to get to know you and will do anything to understand your world and where you come from. In the mornings, I teach English to “street-kids”. Even though it’s a charity run school - I don’t understand their admission process, because there are a few kids from my neighborhood (which is considered middle class) that go to the school.

 

Anyway, my teaching is completely useless in my opinion, because the kids barely know English and those that do know it are only learning off of their memorization of the 2 posters that hang in the dark (and damp - eww) classroom. (The posters have a picture and the word written underneath - for example: a picture of a cat and the word “cat” spelled below).  It’s annoying. You can’t really teach anything beyond what is on the posters and it’s really sad. Yesterday, we played “fill-in-the-blank” with the words on the posters. What’s sad is that if I tried to use a word not on the posters - they didn’t know it. For instance, I’d point at a “desk” and since they don’t speak English - they’d know the Hindi word (of course) but when I told them the English word - it just got lost. URGH. Only a handful of the kids in the class were remotely interested in my “fill-in-the-blank” game. OK. Enough gripping. I’m doing the best I can and at least these kids get to experience another culture through me. That will be my contribution.