Last Days at Landour Language School-Week Four

Landour Language School graduating class :)

Out to dinner with our friend Bir

The last days at Landour Language School flew by quickly, as we were rapidly cramming for our Hindi test. Thankfully, we became very distracted from studying because Alexander had mercifully sent over all 7 Harry Potter movies so that my friends and I could re-watch them in preparation for the best day of our lives…the day we would finally get to see Harry Potter 7 part 2. We went out to dinner one night at Rokeby with our friend Bir and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. Nick and I got chocolate shakes, and we were very happy :) The next few days were not as happy, as the cramming got even more intense. The test on Friday felt like giving the SAT to an infant, but I feel like I did alright, with only 14 days of ever using Hindi under my belt. It was a little sad saying goodbye to all the teachers and staff at Ivy Bank, but I got over it pretty quick, because we were next headed for 3 days in the Taj Mahal Hotel, which means hot showers, delicious breakfasts, beds that feel like soft clouds of love, and working toilets.

Jumping for joy because Hindi school is over! 

Rishikesh and Team Orange-Week Four

Although we loved Mussoorie, the majority of us were tired of being cold and wet all the time (I mean, come on, we chose to go to India…the cold and wet was not what we signed up for!).  After the first two weeks of language school were over, we decided to take a break from the foothills of the Himalayas and come back down to the hotter parts of India. We chose the destination of Rishikesh, a holy city on the Ganga.

The captain of Team Orange,
 Lord Shiva

We had been thoroughly warned to not go to Rishikesh (a holy city on the Ganges), as it was pilgrimage season, but alas, we are American, and obstinate. So off we went into the great dirty yonder. We didn’t realize how good we had it in Mussorie until we arrived in Rishikesh. In Mussoorie, tourists are common and generally ignored-the staring is less obnoxious, and there are trash bins everywhere. People generally try to keep their town clean. In Rishikesh, every single follower of Lord Shiva decided to come out for the weekend, and the presence of 8 Americans was incredibly entertaining for all of them. Also, there were no trash cans. Or bathrooms. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely adore stepping in human excrement ;)

Team Orange bathing and
defecating in the Ganga 

As we arrived in Rishikesh, the first thing we noticed was the abundance of teenage to middle aged men dressed in a fashionable, retina scarring orange. Lord Shiva’s followers (we called them Team Orange) were in Rishikesh and Haridwar to collect water from the Ganga, bath in the Ganga, potentially eliminate waste in the Ganga, brush their teeth in the Ganga, and then take the water they collected away with them.  Team Orange was everywhere. Team Orange also had a fascination for foreigners, especially those of the fairer skinned variety. While walking, people attempted to take our pictures from over their shoulders; when we stopped, we would suddenly develop a crowd gathering around us, as if we were Shiva himself.

Us halfway to the waterfall!

Even though Team Orange was omnipresent and entirely inescapable, Rishikesh was awesome. It was neat to be in a place not during tourist season (usually Rishikesh is a hotbed of hippies, looking to yoga themselves into enlightenment, smoke a little bit o’hash, and find the ashram where the Beatles had a good time while writing the White Album) because we got to see what the city meant to Indian citizens, not just people with dreadlocks looking to get their “Om” on.

Besides constantly running interference with Team Orange, we managed to navigate, discover, climb, and conquer the Neer Waterfall using only handrawn maps and a compass. We’ve slowly discovered that when asked a question about direction or distance, a typical Indian man will either:

a)      tell you that “It’s nearby and an easy walk, no problem ma’am”.

b)      make up how far it is because he does not know and really wants to give you an answer

c)       giggle like a school girl with his friends and gesture randomly to multiple different paths

d)      draw you a map and label completely inaccurate distances and times

Map 1-From hotel to "waterfall location"

Map 2-From "waterfall location" to
actual waterfall

But we made it! It took from breakfast until dinner to do a supposed “1.5 hour walk”, but it was nice to be away from Team Orange. We then proceeded to climb the waterfall, and took many pictures. When we got back to Rishikesh, we attended a pooja at a temple on the Ganga. It was interesting to see how devoted people were to Lord Shiva, and the ceremony itself was beautiful. I made sure to purchase a miniature Lord Shiva, and after a bit more shopping, we left to go back to Mussoorie for our last week of language school.

Mussoorie-Weeks Two and Three

Well, the overnight train was quite interesting, as I slept surrounded by men who just unabashedly stared at me. No biggie. It also was interesting, as “Delhi Belly” struck whilst on the moving train, causing me to become quite familiar with a squatting pit toilet. NOT the most joyful occasion on a rickety train.

Welcome to the switchbacks in
Mussoorie and Landour

We arrived in Dehradun, and we ferried up in the foothills of the Himalayas by trusty cab drivers, who artfully navigated the steep hills, switchbacks, and one lane roads. It was an incredible sight to see, how people have managed to adapt to the mountains and build throughout them. The only scary part was when our car started rolling backwards.

 I know I was nervous when Alexander and I were driving on switchbacks in the Rockies, but I would willingly do that now that drive up the Himalayas again. He could be blindfolded and driving with his toes, and I would still feel safer than I felt driving up to Landour.

The lovely Mussoorie

We spent the weekend in Mussoorie just getting used to the time change, attempting to sleep, and adventuring through the markets. The view from our guesthouse, Ivy Bank, is lovely. On a clear day (which seldom occurs, since it is monsoon season and we are 7000 feet above sea level) you can see towns in valleys for miles. Other days, you can’t see more than 20 feet in front of you because of the fog.

Ivy Bank is a small guesthouse with a wonderful host, Manoj, and the best Auntieji around. Everyone is so friendly, and that in itself makes up for the lack of consistent water, internet, and power.

Our first week was spent attending Hindi school in the mornings, studying Hindi in the afternoons (and by studying, I mean, attempting to study and then watching movies), and in the evenings, studying Hindi again…hahahaHAHAHAHAHA. Who am I kidding? Most evenings were spent attempting to connect to the internet :) 

My cousin sister Aileen and I in our backyard,
which overlooks the mountains :)

We spent the next weekend trolling the Mall Road Market for fabric in order to get clothes tailored. Much shopping ensued. We ate lunch at the most American place we could find, and I astonished the group by finishing a large pizza on my own. I’m disgusting, but at least I’ve accepted that fact J

Mussoorie at sunset from my door
at the guest house

I then spent the rest of the weekend recovering from feeling sick, as I had spent part of the first week caring for the two guys in our group who had fallen ill.

The next week looks to be similar to this one…lots of Hindi school, avoiding studying Hindi, and wandering down to the internet café in town, run by an awesome guy named Bir (yes, BEER is the correct pronunciation). Our group plans to go to Rishikesh next weekend, so much planning will occur over the next few days. 

Welcome to the Taj Mahal Hotel-Week One

After leaving O’Hare 2 hours later than my ticket promised me I would, I was on my way to New Delhi. For the next 14 hours, I entertained myself by watching movies, eating way too much paneer, and tooting up a storm with my neighbour in seat A (who, as it turns out, also ate way too much paneer)!

We arrived in New Delhi (12 of my fellow cohorts and I), exchanged our cash money into INR (Rupees), and walked into the sweltering, omnipresent heat. It didn’t matter that it was fully dark outside and almost 9 in the evening, 97 degrees was the perfect temperature ;) After jam-packing all 12 of us (plus our guide, one girl’s dad, two drivers, and enough luggage to supply a small country) in a van meant for 10, we slowly, and joltingly, meandered our way through the streets of New Delhi. People who complain about traffic in the US need to just imagine driving in a place where all street lanes are ignored, motorcyclists weave in and out with anywhere from one to four passengers riding astride, small auto rickshaws dart every which way, pedestrians cross at whatever time tickles their fancy, and traffic lights are a rarity, and when found, often ignored.

Nevertheless, we made it to the Taj Mahal Hotel, only the nicest place to stay in New Delhi. We were greeted by immaculately dressed men and women, who quickly watered us and showered us with jasmine flower necklaces. We made it upstairs to our lavishly prepared rooms, and attempted to sleep.

Too bad we all slept on the plane. After much tossing and turning, everyone was downstairs early for (a crazy, exorbitant, and scrumdiddlyumptious) breakfast, and with the opportunity to wander around New Delhi for two hours before massive amounts of sitting in meetings began, we took off. We headed to the Lodhi Gardens (even after a rickshaw driver tried to convince us that the garden didn’t open until 1030, and that he had much better places to take us for “only ten rupees!!”) and wandered around ancient ruins built by the Moghals and Lodhis.

Ruins in the Lodhi Gardens

The next two days were spent in rooms at the Taj, sitting in meetings about safety, security, living in Delhi, health, and many other topics that we all found incredibly useful, as well as eating as much food as possible. During that time, we registered as residents in the country (an incredibly long process), purchased Indian Sim Cards (WHAT NOW DAD! MY IPHONE 4 TOTALLY WORKS!) and adventured around two major markets in Delhi, Khan Market and Connaught Place.

I went to my school, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Masjid Moth, Sadiq Nagar, to meet my principal and learn more about my purpose as an ETA (English teaching assistant). My principal operates on IST (Indian Standard Time) and was an hour and a half late. In our quick 10 minutes of chatting, I discovered that their school had been assigned to represent Spain in competition, and my knowledge of Spanish quickly made me quite popular.

We leave tonight for Mussoorie on an overnight train, which will be quite interesting. I am on a bottom bunk across from 4 men who keep staring…yeehaw ;)