Week One continued

Wednesday

            We had our second Telugu class today and it was more difficult than the first day, but I’m still hopeful. We learned more numbers and the consonants. The difficulty I’m having is with the aspirated vs. unaspirated sounds ( Ka vs. Kha). It’s interesting and I’m sure with practice I will be able to improve.

            One of our favorite past times is going to the beach and enjoying the beautiful Bay of Bengal! It’s so fun and we get to meet lots of fun and interesting people. 

We also of course get to deflect the intentions of certain interested Indian men. It’s really uncomfortable when you have to tell men to get lost, but I know that they are not the genuinely curious type, they just want to date American women. Aside from the every so often awkward situation I really love the beach and the scenery.

Wednesday also was the first day that I began to work intensely on my project. Ragia Lakshmim, one of our program translators, came to my home and helped me to translate one of my vignettes. It was a long process. The hardest part is getting her to understand the point of the story and the actual plot line and then making sure the transliteration has the same meaning as the original story. I’ll will have to continue to do lots of editing in order to manipulate the data appropriately.

            Chuckolls took a group of us to the Jalari village. The Jalari are a specific caste of people in South Indian (literally translated fishermen even though most of them no longer fish). The village has progressed so much since Chuckolls began working with them. The people in India have no concept of proper trash disposal so there is trash all over the village and the beach. We saw some of the catches of the day including a ginormous sword fish and some small shark. It was very interesting. I will be conducting the first section of my research in this village. Pentaya is Chuckolls older brother and he is so funny! I love his family and how full of life he is even though he is 80 years old.

Thursday

            We went to the beloved Borra Caves! It was amazing! As a junior in high school I never would have imagined that I would be going to the place that was being described in the literature we were studying (A Passage to India by E.M. Forster). 

I’m still in disbelief that I was actually there, but it’s true and I went! The caves are made by a liquid that is naturally secreted by the earth that gradually degrades the rock making crevices. The liquid drips down from the ceiling of the caves. Other things drip down too (i.e. rat poop!), it’s kinda nasty, but worth it. Dr. Nuckolls told us that in 1979 he and a group went through the Borra Caves and explored and found a secret river! How amazing is that!? Sadly, I was in a saree and Chuckolls told us we shouldn’t be as adventurous. 

Despite the staunching of my adventurous spirit the caves were magical! On our way out of the caves we were attacked by a monkey… it was terrifying! Hilarious in hind sight, but blood chillingly terrifying in the moment. I kept thinking of how much my mom would kill me in I came back with a monkey slashed face. Needless to say after taking a few snaps I promptly ran away!

            After we left the caves we went to a NGO training center called “Nature”. This particular NGO promotes awareness and modernization for backwards tribal peoples. They help them by providing “manchinillu” (drinking water) and medical attention for HIV and AIDS patients. 

We went to one of the tribes in the Araku Valley and joined in this tribal dance called “Dimsa”. When we reconvened to the training center and dancing some more and had a grand ole time. 

Driving to all our sites today we had to go up and down narrow mountain passages. Mom don’t freak out! It was insane! I know these drivers have been driving in India and have a sure knowledge of the road, but holy crap! Our driver was way fast and we all thought we were going to die the whole time! It was just a little too insane for me J

At the NGO training center do the dimsa dance with the NGO workers. So fun!

   A lot happened these last couple days and I’m so excited for more to happen!

With love from India!

-Jaci