Srimantum and Farwells

Our cook is named Durga. She is a beautiful 21 year old girl who is 7 months pregnant with her second child. Her first pregnancy resulted in a still birth, so there is a great deal of concern about this second baby. The program, meaning Dr. Krishnayya and Dr. Nuckolls, takes very good care of her and she, in turn, takes VERY good care of us. If you doubt that just look at my waist line and you will see her nurturing affects. Part of Hindu rituals involve pregnancy rituals and blessings. This is all celebrated during a “Srimantum” (a religious baby shower of sorts). Amy Drake, my super “Natti” roommate, is studying Hindu infant and child care practices. She decided to throw this lovely woman an extravagant (seriously incredible by Indian standards) Srimantum party! She is such a sweet heart!

We had a blast! The Brahmin priest came, there were lots of people, a throne for the mother of the day and we participated in putting rice on Durga’s head for auspiciousness and giving/ receiving gifts. I even had some rice put on future fertility… yeah that was way awkward.

Over all it was wonderful and everyone felt like we had participated in something very Indian. Not like living is enough of an experience already ;)

Sunday was a bitter sweet day for the BYU students and the missionaries. Our two US missionaries bid farewell to this fair Vizag and are getting home BEFORE US!!! I guess it is excusable because they left before us and all. Not to mention the whole two years without facebook, home cooked meals, AC, etc. Needless to say, Elder Zafara and Elder Loomis are rock solid and we’re going to miss them. Good thing is both of them will be going to University of Utah ( A decision we constantly ridicule and of course forgive them for) and we’ll be able to keep in touch. 

Good thing is that we still have Elder Stephen and Elder Kumbakar so we’ll have some good times and be able to teach for people about the truthfulness of the gospel. Woot!

The roomies and I have been going on little excursions to keep ourselves sane. The only suitable time of course is when it is cool which is EARLY in the morning. We go on little hikes and watch the sun rise. Make sure to note that you can’t really see the sun rise over the ocean… you only get to see it rise above the pollution… SAD!!! On Saturday we went to Tenneti Park and watched the sun rise, people doing some legit yoga, and Indian men  “working out” ( the Indian concept of working out is kinda really laughable, but I applaud them for their effort anyway).

My days have really been consumed in counting down days. Days til Holi (4 days). Days until my Telugu Final (8 days). Days til I leave Vizag (21 days). Days til I get to see the Taj Mahal (15 days). Days til I start "real" school again (42 days). Days until I see my Mom and Dad (28 days). Days til I see Stephanie (? days). Days til Cameron gets home from his mission (16 days). Days until I get to hug him when I get off the plane (28 days!!!). 

I wish I could say I've been doing more important things but Vizag is a pretty mellow city and we honestly haven't seen all that much of it. There doesn't seem to be any cheap fun compared to that of Provo.

Other than all of that, research is almost all done and our Telugu final is next week! Holy crap! I will eventually make it home J

16 days + 28 days! Life will soon be perfect!!

With Love From India,

Jaci

Back to Vizag Life

            It is HOT! It’s not as hot Indio, but nasty! 35 °C and 63% humidity (95 °F) is nasty! I have only 35 days left in India. Cameron has 23 days until he gets home from his mission. My sister will have had Jymmer by then and I will get to meet Sophia and Luke (the newest babies in my family). So much change to come home to and I’m way excited!

            Days here right now consist of research, research, research. I’m been conducting interviews and then transcribing them like a mad woman. If anyone reading this has worked for or knows my Mom you know how difficult is is to transcribe. Now try having it in a different language, with the louds noises of Vizag in the background, and with a translator who’s English isn’t all that great. My life is so much fun J … ugh! I seriously love it though.

            Please don’t misunderstand any of what I say. It is very difficult here, but it is so worth it and rewarding in other aspects. I love the hospitality of the people here and I love the members of the branches here in Vizag. I love that what I love most is church, choir, institute, teaching with the missionaries, making new LDS friends that are Telugu. Maybe I’m limited myself by hanging around the LDS crowd by choice, but I feel that I get so much exposure to the non-LDS Telugu culture that it’s okay to stay in my comfort zone in my free time.

            My ankle is getting better which means: YOGA! My roomies and friends won’t let me run on it yet for fear I’ll injure it again, but they are “letting” me do yoga. It’s pretty fun, so far we’ve only done the basics (which is pretty boring), but it’s going to get more fun I know it! We’re in a private class, but the classes on the other side of the building are doing advanced stuff. I’m sure we’ll move up quickly.

            With the free time I do have I tend to day dream about the next place I’m going to visit. I’m thinking about brushing up on my Spanish and then going to teach English in Mexico. Free time also gives me a lot of time to look up grad schools and figure out what I’m going to do with my career. Right now I’m looking into international disaster psychology. There’s a program offered through University of Denver. It’s a two year master’s program and you get field experience during the course work. It’s looking promising.

Anywho nothing much else is going on right now. Just loving life and counting down the days until I’m back in the arms of the people I love.

With love from India,

Jaci

Feminism Rant

March 8 is International Women’s Day yet I’m living in a society where a young woman cannot run in a public park, where 3 of her friends are nearby doing yoga, without being accosted and held against her will by a man. Thankfully this young woman is defensive and knows her place in the world enough to stand up for herself, get away, and then bring others to scold the man. I say scold in the loosest sense of the term. For some reason, I have been observing, in this society men are not harshly reprimanded for being domineering or harassing. A quick little finger wagging by some older Telugu gentlemen and the man was released without consequence. Another young lady was walking outside her HOME, in her own neighborhood, and was stopped by a man who proceeded to grab her chest and gesture at her with his penis which was already out of his pants. This was outside her home. Women are scoffed at for exercising because they are too weak, left without proper divorcement by their husbands, can’t wear clothing they prefer because their own husbands will not allow it, they are put into submission on a daily basis by male authority. The list goes on for pages and pages. Yet there are women who hold high profile government positions, have successful careers and are well educated. What causes the disparity here?

I submit that women of all ages here need to be educated and empowered thereby. I think women should be taught that they have equal opportunities with men and that they are not subservient to them in any way shape or form. I feel so often that women (of all countries) are being held up to a dramatized standard that they see in media. The women who are of the highest profile and reverie are those in the media. Something that is quite evident is that these women sell themselves, explicitly their bodies, to gain attention and reward. This sexualizes the roles of women in society and causes them to become a slave to the drives of man. How dare women and men put women into such positions where their worth is measured on the sexual pleasure they fulfill. How dare men assume that because a woman is from America, or from a culture where certain standards are different, that she is welcoming to sexual favors or asking men to touch her body. That is nonsense! Women need to be taught that they are dictated by their own conscience and do not have to succumb to any man because he is higher or more powerful than she. Men need to be taught that they are not the dictators of women’s lives. She is an individual, she has options, she has a voice, and she will be heard.

I am sick of being thought of as weak because I am a woman. I am strong, I am intelligent, and if you ever touch another one of the girls in my group you will hear me roar!

Respectfully yours,

Femqueyla

A Quasi Feminist in India

Documenting Fiend

I am so sorry about not keeping everyone up to date as of late. The Goddess Sati Pollima must have gotten word of my lack of communication and cursed me. It is really that simple because now I am struck down with illness which enables me to blog for as many hours as humanly possible… yay me?

Rajamundry was a delightful trip and it was nice to get a break from Vizag. Once we got back to Vizag a small group of us were able to go to the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Kakinada. The Vice-Chancellor there is good friends with Dr. Krishnayya and Dr. Nuckolls. We were his honored guests for the weekend. He treated us all very well and we were able to go and meet with students in the endeavor to foster an international education (one of the Vice-Chancellor’s main goals/ administrative break through).  

Kakinada: Day One

            We set out in cars in the morning on Thursday the 3^rd of March. We arrived in Kakinada by mid-afternoon and dropped off in the University Guest House. It was a different experience being treated like you are the most important person in the world. All of the rooms were AIR CONDITIONED!!! I was so happy. I think when I get back to the desert I will have turned into my Mom and will be addicted to the AC always at full blast. BRRR!

Our driver got the car stuck in some sand and some students were kind enough to help out.

            After dropping our things at the guest house we went to a restaurant that’s on the University tab system (basically the coolest thing in the world). We ate well and then made our way back to the university to meet students. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, going  to dinner, practicing (I will explain later), and having “tea” with the Vice-Chancellor. We can’t really call it tea since all of us Mormons drank soup, but it was in a tea cup so I think it counts… kinda. During tea the Vice-Chancellor mentioned a conference about “change in India” that he was leaving for the following evening. I really was interested and thought that it would be good for my research, so I ending up leaving the following evening with the Vice-Chancellor and his wife and attending the conference (which will be explained later).

            Practicing that evening was for a production that us students put on for the first year students at JNTUK. We sang and danced for about 30 minutes. It was a little bit crazy, but way fun! We were treated like Tollywood stars. We did a Bollywood dance to a Tollywood song from a recent hit movie. They went insane and it was way fun!

The next day as we were going to lunch one of the students in our program and Krishnayya Garu were getting into a little bit of a heated conversation. Just as both people’s tempers were about to explode, Krishnayya Garu spotted the missionaries on bikes. THE GOSEL IS TRUE! Haha! I stuck out my head from the car (a scary thing to do in Indian traffic) and yelled “Hi Elders! We’re from BYU!” Both person’s tempers were immediately diffused as we pulled over and spoke with the missionaries for a while. It was way fun to see missionaries on bikes here just as we do in the states. So fun!

We ended the night with dinner at the Vice-Chancellor’s Quarters on the campus. His wife made stuffed crab!!! So incredibly tasty! You can tell I’ve been here forever when the Vice-Chancellor warns me that the crab is spicy and I didn’t notice any heat at all! Haha! After dinner I left with the Vice-Chancellor and his wife in their car. After an hour of having a conversation with the VC about international education and international disaster psychology I fell asleep and then was at my front door.

            The following morning I was picked up by the VC’s driver. The conference ended up being the Indian version of TED talks! It was actually really fascinating though not as beneficial to my research as I would have hoped. I sat with the VC’s sisters and wife. They are so nice and intriguing!

I love the missionaries!

Ok so missionaries rock! We had this awesome activity hosted by the missionaries where the members were able to do role playing. The created scenarios that spoke to everyday cultural problems and had the members get into companionships and teach investigators (aka missionaries and BYU students). It was way fun! These pictures are all from that night.
(Elder Kumbakar, Elder Loomis, Elder Stephen, Elder Zafara)

Rajamundry

Rajamundry is the hometown (ancestral village) of our site director, Professor M.V. Krishnayya. It was our last excursion before the home stretch (now that I’m home I only have 43 days left). We were gone for 5 days and it was a pretty relaxing trip. 

We got to Rajamundry in the afternoon on Thursday and checked into our hotel we spent the rest of the day eating and walking around. Friday, we had the entire morning to ourselves after breakfast. We went on a brief walk, intended for the Godavari River, that ended up in a ship yard where workers were moving sand. We decided to go back after not finding the river. I then found an internet café and received an email from my mom telling me the wonderful news that Hannah (lifelong/ childhood friend) got into BYU! I’m so flipping happy it’s not even fetching funny ;) We then had lunch took a drive through Rajamundry and headed to a couple of places. We stopped at a renown nursery, then a kaja factory (Kaja = my favorite Indian sweet) where we were able to see how it’s all made, then we drove through a jungle and to the place where the Godavari River empties into the Bay of Bengal. I almost forgot to mention! We went to these cremation centers that were started by a very popular guy in Rajamundry (of course one of Krishnayya Garu's many infamous contacts). It was so colorful and interesting to learn about cremation rights in Hindu culture. We came back (about 6 hours in the car total) and ate … there is a definite pattern to what we do here: it’s eating.

We are fed like kings here. It’s ridiculous. I might as well say this now so everyone can getting their laughing over with by time I get back – I have gained weight in India. Yes, you heard right. I am over fed and under worked and, heck, I kinda like it! Except for when I look in the mirror (and think about what I’m doing to my body). When I get back to the states I’m going to need a major detox. Everything here is either fried or made with copious amounts of ghee (clarified butter) and oil. We try so hard to request other foods, but that means we’re eating fruits and veggies only. I’ve decided that when in India I will do as the Indians. There’s no way I’m going to look back on this adventure and say, “Gee, I wish I would have ate less kaja, or masala dosa, or coconut fried rice, or brinjole curry.” I’m probably going to say I wish I had eaten more! So start laughing because this “third world” country isn’t as starving as I thought it was going to be.

On Saturday we went to Krishnayya’s village. This weekend was a very huge festival that only happens once every two or three years. The village Goddess was being moved from her mother-in-law’s house (in the outskirts/ farm land) to her house in the village. There was lights, festivities, and of course religious ceremonies that we were privileged to be a part of. When it got dark and the main ceremony with the Goddess had been performed we left the village by auto rickshaw.

I love autos! Seriously, rickshaws are the most authentic and exciting way to see India. Haggling for decent prices is half the fun and the other half is riding in Indian traffic. We fit 6 Mormons and a Hindu into a smaller rickshaw that night. It was rad! I got to sit up in the front with the driver and my legs were hanging out for most of the drive. It was a blast, however, I could barely get a picture of it because we were all so close together.

On Sunday we took a boat up the Godavari River and back, through restricted tribal lands and polluted waters. In the morning we were up at 4am in order to be at the dock on time. We boarded the boat at about 5am. IT WAS FREEZING! None of us had sweaters of any kind there is normally no need. However, we learned that no sun + the river breeze = very cold foreigners. We cuddled together and used our pathetically thin chunnis for warmth. Once the sun came up life was good again.

The ride was beautiful and the food (again with food, I know) was very good. I felt so relaxed the whole trip. Mom and I concurred that it was probably the water that brought me peace. “You’re a water baby,” Mom said. The scenery was magnificent and the tribes looked like they remained untouched, hidden from an industrial world which so much invades everyday life. I envied them as we passed by, wishing that I would be able to have that peace and innocence too. Vizag is entirely the opposite and I’m jealous of their tranquil homes and land.

Once we arrived back in Rajamundry and got off the boat we went to eat, but I quickly lost my appetite after smelling the glass I was about to drink out of: wet cat. The glass smelled like wet cat! I almost lost my cookies and decided to eat some nan (bread) and walk back to the hotel. We left the next morning (today, Monday) and arrived back home in Vizag by lunch.

It was a very fun trip and I hope that now I’m ready for the home stretch. I told my roommate Kelly today at the train station, “43 days left!” Krishnayya Garu turned to me and said, “Someone is Provo hungry,” and I nearly fell over with shock! He must have heard me say that before. It’s true though, I am home sick, but I am determined to remember that I am on an adventure and if I don’t make the most of it I will kick myself in the butt later. It’s going to be great because in the words of Maren Thomas, a beloved roommate and friend, “I can do hard things!”

Until next time.

With love from India,

Jaci

Moral of the story: God answers prayers

Last night I was talking with my Dad on  the phone. My parents took the weekend to see my sister Jen and her family while my sister is having some medical issues (here's the plug to please keep her in your prayers). Anywho, it happened to be drizzling and back home I had been seeing facebook reports of rain. All things considered I was getting rain hungry. I said a little prayer in my heart for rain in India. I knew it wasn't rainy season yet, but I could always make God laugh right?

3:34 AM Water?? Do I hear water? Oh no! Did we forget to turn off the water pump?! I run to the front room and the water pump is off. My heart jumps and I look outside... RAIN! Wake up, Wake up!!! My roomies and I danced in the rain for about 10 minutes. I spent the rest of the night listening to the rain as it slowly winds down and I drifted off to sleep.

9:41 AM Happy, but I smell like Indian rain... not very pleasant, but happy and grateful.

This is the expression of pure joy!

With love from India,

Jaci