We spent our last week as a
group at the wonderful resort Sona Pani. Transference, as Dragons calls it, was
full of group bonding time that included games, a movie night, a constructive
criticism session, a love fest, goal reflection and setting, feedback
one-on-ones, and general relaxation. We met some wonderful guests and got a
chance to really unwind after the whirlwind of Ladakh. As sad as I am to leave
my group, I have my family’s trip to India to look forward to and I cannot WAIT
to be back in the USA. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has
taken the time to read any or all of these blog posts and express my gratitude
to everyone who has made this experience possible for me. I am lucky to be able
to call India my second home and even luckier to have met so many amazing people
while I’ve been here. Here’s to a great year on BYP and 4 great years to come
at Princeton!
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Trekking – 5/10/17 through 5/19/15
After Domkhar, we embarked on a
nine day trek that would be a highlight of my time in India. Starry nights and
fresh (deoxygenated) air are just 2 of the many perks of being alone in the
Himalayas. Most days it snowed and we were hiking on ice-covered stream, but
wool socks and down jackets kept us plenty warm. To be perfectly honest, our
trek was nearer to glamping (glamour camping) than trekking. We had about 15 mules
and ponies to carry our big bags and tents and six Ladakhi guides to cook us
food and set up camp. Most days we hiked between three and five hours and
always had a scrumptious breakfast in our stomachs and a hot lunch to look
forward to. We crossed mountain passes taller than 16,000 ft. where we built a
snowman, went sledding, and hung 30 prayer flags with the names of people we
love in India and the U.S. After hiking, we normally had an hour or two of
individual R&R before reconvening for games like SET, telephone Pictionary,
thumper, and many more. We ended the trek at Hemis Gompa, the aforementioned
largest monastery in Ladakh where Jenny’s homestay family member was head lama.
He invited us to tea in his private quarters and gave us a personal tour of the
place. We even got to see the monks perform their morning chants (prayers) in
the main temple! The trek was exhausting and energizing all at the same time
and I think I might have even gained weight they fed us so well while we were
on it!
Domkhar – 5/5/15 through 5/9/15
After SECMOL we visited a
small village called Domkhar which is a little south and east of Leh (the
biggest city in Ladakh). We each stayed with host families there and split our
time with our homestays and the group. My homestay was the loneliest in that
there were no kids (at least before the last day). My host mom and host dad
were not actually a couple as I had originally thought, but rather sister and
brother-in-law. My host grandmother was my host mother’s biological mom, but
not my host father’s. Most days I came home and did work either in the fields,
with the livestock, or in the forest. We peeled off the bark of trees so that
the trees could be used in the construction of the second floor of my house and
the bark for fire kindling. Due to the Zanskar River flooding, the electricity
was out for three days. At night, we would all huddle around the solar lantern
and woodstove and chat in Hindi about the day’s events (well, me and my host mom
because my host dad had left to get his real wife and kids and my host grandma
only spoke Ladakhi).
In Domkhar our group did a
couple of hikes – one through a valley that reminded me of AZ and one to a
village across the river. Both were super fun and we took tons of pictures
(especially at the village where the lighting was good). At our homestays, we
all got to try yak butter tea (which is more like soup than tea), eat TONS of
dried apricots, try consuming straight barley flour (it’s not as bad as you
might expect), and expand our Ladakhi food vocabulary. On a rather unrelated
note, one of Jenny’s homestay residents was actually the head lama at the
largest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh!
SECMOL – 4/29/15 through 5/4/15
Our first stop in Ladakh was
a place called SECMOL that runs an alternative school for students who fail their
class 10 board examinations. The organization previously worked with the
government to create a Ladakh-specific curriculum for the schools in that area,
but due to a falling out between the local government and them, now just
focuses on the school. We arrived in the down-time between school sessions and
got to spend a ton of time relaxing and chilling with the Ladakhi students. We
played cricket, tried slacklining, played cards, sang, and danced with them
over the week. Not to mention helping out in the kitchen and volunteering some
hours to conversation classes. Caleb and I went swimming in the frigid Indus River
and the whole group followed an ex-student, Chamba, to the top of the SECMOL
Mountain. The food there was amazing and I probably could have stayed there for
months if we had the time.
How We Almost Screwed Up – 4/28/15
Our transition to Ladakh was
very stressful. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong, and I am convinced
the universe was conspiring against us to miss our flight. We woke up at 2:30
AM so that we could store the luggage that we didn’t want to take with us to
Ladakh at 3:00 AM in the hotel. At 3:00, however, we were informed that there did
not actually exist such a place for our luggage. After a good bit of confusion
and wasted time, we dumped our stuff in the basement and covered it with a bed
sheet. Now the time was close to 4:00 AM. We left the hotel in 2 taxis to the airport,
one of which arrived at the correct terminal, one of which did not. Alex,
Jenny, Chase, and I were at Terminal 1 (the wrong terminal) and waited for the
others for a good while before calling them to see where they were. Upon doing
so, we discovered our driver’s mistake and hailed another taxi to take us to
the correct terminal (another 15 minute drive away). We arrived at the correct
terminal close to 5:00 AM where there was slight delay in getting all of our
bags checked (we almost forgot to put the med bag – which has needles in it –
into a backpack for checking). Next, we headed off to security where some group
members got stopped for items in their carry-ons. Among these people, Alex is
the most notable. You see, he had forgotten to take out his survival kit from
his backpack and had accidentally brought with him 2 Swiss army knives, 3 boxes
of waterproof matches, and a length of rope. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been
surprised if he had had a machete with him, too. Time approximately 5:30 AM,
Ben P and I decide to go to the bathroom (I had chugged 2 liters of water that
morning to avoid being stopped at security). Ben, on the other hand, needed to
do a number 2. I came out of the bathroom speed walking (our flight was supposed
to leave at 6:00 AM and board at 5:15 AM). That speed walk turned into a run as
I approached the gate and saw Caleb flailing his arms at me. Ben came a few
minutes later and we all hurried onto the plane: dead last with hearts pounding
uncontrollably. And that is how we almost didn’t make our flight to Ladakh.
Agra and Delhi – 4/25/15 through 4/27/15
After an overnight train to
Delhi, we transformed from residents of Banaras into tourists of India. We
spent a few days seeing all the sights from the Red Fort to a Jain bird
hospital to Raj Ghat (The Gandhi memorial) to the Lotus Temple (and many other
things in between). We also took a train to Agra to see the stunning Taj Mahal
and Agra Fort. We got up at the break of dawn to see the sunrise over the Taj
and got great pictures before too huge of a crowd showed up. Our time in Delhi
and Agra was short, but we packed our time with monument visiting before our
flight to Ladakh.
Bye-Bye Banaras! – 4/24/17
After 7 long months of
inhabiting a place, it’s hard to say goodbye. At first, I was displeased that
most of my “loose ends” had been left untied. My host family left Banaras the
week before and I was living at Dolly-ji’s house, my last day at NIRMAN had
been what I thought was going to be my 2nd to last day, I hadn’t
said goodbye to my kathak teacher, and I hadn’t gotten a chance to get pakora (my
favorite deep fried Indian snack) in over a week. That being said, my last day
in Banaras could not have been more perfect.
The day started with a long ghat
walk with Ben P. We explored a Tibetan temple that we had somehow missed before
and took a rickshaw through Godolia (the main shopping area) back to Assi
(where we lived). We ate breakfast with the group at the Program House before
cleaning it and preparing it for BYP 7.0 and then we biked back to NIRMAN for
our final goodbyes. I talked to students, took pictures, and even got to see my
graduated seniors (they came back to school that day to say goodbye). Then, I
got a text message from my host sister, Madhu, telling me that they had
returned to Banaras from the wedding. On the way home I saw my kathak (traditional
Indian dance) guru-ji on the street, said bye to him, and then got to eat one
final lunch with my host family. Madhu, Deep, and I played Go Fish and BS one
last time before I said goodbye to them to get my last food in Banaras – pakora.
Over the months in Banaras, I befriended the pakora-wallah (man who makes
pakora) who lives near my Hindi class. I would sit and chat with him before
class and much on his delicious fried treats. I wanted to pay him one last
visit before departing and he even gave me all my pakora free! After getting
pakora, I made my last stop at Dolly-ji’s house before heading to the train
station to travel to Delhi! In the end, I felt completely satisfied with my
time in Banaras, incredibly grateful for all the people there, and super
excited for our last month in India.
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