Monkeys, temples and the night we took care of the world

So a lot has happened since the last time I posted so I will try and fill in the gaps while still describing the cool stuff. Academically last week was pretty interesting we visited a hospice, which was really tastefull but still depressing. Then we visited a public housing project and met with the president of the group of people living in the project. It was a little awkward to visit people's homes especially because there was very little privacy and there were numerous discussion about whether what we were doing was acceptable and appropriate. Regardless after we left the house we were mobbed by all of the children in the neighborhood who were so excited to see us and kept wanting to shake our hands and get their picture taken by us. On Thursday we visited one of the high-tech medical tourism hospitals that people come from the U.S. to have major operations for a fraction of the price. It was interesting to see and also to serve as a contrast to the inadequate health care that most of the population receives.
On Friday, after class we went to explore the city of Bangalore a little more. After visiting a few temples we decided to climb a hill near one of my friends homestays on the outskirts of the city to watch the sunset. Not to mention the joy of being outside the city the hill was beautiful with great views of both the city and the unoccupied area to the other side. On top of the hill was a Hindu festival. They were celebrating Maha Shivatri which is the day when Shiva the Creator of the World rests for a day and all of the people have to stay up all night and watch the world. So we stayed on top of the hill and enjoyed the view and the celebration took a few pictures of eager children and then finally walked down the hill. The way down the hill was lined with Christmas lights and was beautiful. The path was crowded and people were helping each other and making room as people climbed both up and down.
On Saturday I went with a few friends to Mysore which is a city three hours from Bangalore. We saw some interesting stuff includinga bird sanctuary which is on the migration path for birds from China and a huge spectacular palace. The coolest part though was at the end of the day. After climbing down another hill from we had to wait in this village-like area on the hill for about an hour as we waited for our driver to pick us up. While we were waiting there were around hundred monkeys in the trees climbing the trees jumping up and down and running along the trees as well as the power cords. They were semi-domesticated and we even saw one eat the crumbs from a bag of chips just like a human would.
As a final note it is amazing how quickly people can adjust to a new city. Two weeks ago India seemed like a whole different world but now we are all getting used to the crowded dirty city and finding our way around with a lot less difficulty.

Frisbee soccer, Indian cooking and the Bundh

The past week has been a whirlwind of classes, seeing the city of Bangalore and believe it or not classwork. Today I finally get a chance to write because of the Bundh. The state of Karnaktaka (probably spelled incorrectly) has essentially shut down today to protest an interstate dispute that the State lost involving water rights. So today all public transportation, shops and pretty much everything else is closed and people (especially foreigners) are encouraged to stay inside which gives me an opportunity to write this blog. I walked down the street to my host families relatives this morning and the streets were mostly vacant a far cry from the usual commotion.
The Bundh also gave me an opportunity to watch my host mother cook. We also had a cooking/ Indian nutrition lesson on Saturday so maybe when I get home I'll try to make a South Indian dish or two.
On Saturday I went to play frisbee with the Bangalore frisbee club. After somehow finding the field I was surprised to find them playing a combination of ultimate and soccer with goals and a goalie and the rest of the rules similar to ultimate. I had a good time playing and it was good to meet some people from Bangalore not affiliated with our program. I told one of them that I was here to study health policy and he looked at me incredulously and said, "We have a health policy?"
On Sunday I went to a national park which was more like a zoo, poorly maintained but I can't complain because I saw tigers and Elephants walking around. I also went to a human rights film festival and saw a couple interesting movies including an incredible one about the Hmong people living as fugitives in Laos. The same group as the protaganists from "The Spirit Catches you and You fall down."

My Wednesday

In a year of travel that includes a handful of around the world flights, twenty-passenger flights in the mountainous regions of Papua New Guinea and a vomit-filled boat ride from Melbourne to Tasmania Wednesday February 7th may go down as the most traumatic transportation day of the year. It all started innocently enough getting to the bus stop 15 minutes early for a bus to class which came 30 minutes late not unusual for India. The bus had the population density of an NYC subway at rush hour and the smooth ride of the aforementioned boat-trip to Tassie. After holding on for dear life for the 45 minute ride. When the time came to get off I thought it was time to get off one stop before the rest of the group did. The guys ride in the back of the bus and the girls in the front and I didn't have a map so there was a miscommunication and I got off one stop to early. I should also mention that Indian buses don't cautiously wait for everyone to get off or have doors so I had to hop off the bus as it was sprinting away only to realize that no one else in my group had gotten off. Since I didn't have a map I sprinted after the bus to try and catchup with my group. I ended up on the wrong side of a bust street from the group. My father always told me to observe how the locals cross the street and follow that. Apparently that advice can't be followed halfway as I walked across half the street next to an Indian man. He then crossed the rest of the street but I didn't think I could make and 30 seconds later the direction of traffic changed and I ended up caught between two flows of traffic without the benefit of a divider. After I couple heart-wrenching minuted I somehow made it across. My travel adventures weren't done yet however as after a few hours of lectures I had an assigment to go to a market and purchase some vegetables. The only problem was they gave us the vegetable language in Kannada the local language. We tried to take a bus to the market but after waiting 45 minuted we concluded that the bus wasn't going to come so we took a rickshaw. The 45 minute rickshaw was an adventure in and of itslelf with a ground level view of the Bangalore streets complete with a half-dozen near collisions and viewing all kinds of crazy contraptions people use to transport goods and other people including prisoners. We finally got to the market which was awesome with all kinds of crafts sold for next to nothing.

First days in India

I've only been in India for two days but I am already used to eating with my hands and showering from a bucket.
The flight to India was fairly uneventfull but very long. We left our hostel in Boston at 4:30 pm on Friday night and didn't get into Bangalore until 5am Sunday morning. In between there was a five hour layover in London's Heathrow Airport. My first glimpse of Europe.
Enough of the complaining India is an amazing place. The second we left the airport we knew we were in a foreign country the cars, sounds, smells and clothes were all completely different. The city of Bangalore is where I will be based for the first 18 days is a crazy place. The traffic is out of control with cars competing with rickshaws( three-wheeled motorized scooters is the best description I can come up with) competing with motorcycles and bicycles all without the benefit of lanes, or anyone following traffic rules. The sidewalks, if there are any, are filled with beggars some of them young children. The streets are lined with small shops or advertisements in three languages usually Hindi, Kannada (the state language of Karnataka) and English. Many people come from all over India to Bangalore because of the tech industry so there are at least half a dozen languages commonly spoken on the streets The most notable ads are for people to work in call centers. Most of the time when you call tech support from the U.S. you are talking to someone in Bangalore.
The markets are also amazing, they are completely crowded, and noisy but they sell amazing things for incredibly cheap prices. People were buying shirts, skirts, and bags for only a couple american dollars.
On Monday evening I moved in with my host family. They are really nice and they lived in the U.S. for 5 years so they speak English well. Mrs. Rekha is an amazing cook and having homemade Indian food for three meals a days is great. They also have two sons about my age which is great. Mrs. Rekha is also a great artist and she has some of her own paintings up. There is also what she calls a small Hindu temple (basically a few sculptures on a shelf).
This morning class was cancelled so I went with the two sons to play basketball in the park. The park which was only a five minute rickshaw ride away was pretty interesting. There was a huge field which could only be described as dust where people where playing cricket and then a small basketball court where we played two on two until the sun made it too hot to play. It was the first time I had ever been hit with a cricket ball (it was a tennis ball so it didn't hurt a real cricket ball would definately leave a mark) while playing basketball.
Mrs. Rekha told me about a Jewish population that moved to South India during World War 2 and I am going to try and learn more about it.
Before we started class we did a really cool ceremony were we light candles off of other candles to symbolize knowledge as spreading the light rather than something we possess.
That's all for now. Stay tuned I'll write more when I get a chance and don't worry I am taking plenty of pictures.