is that your final answer?

Today's post isn't just filled with stories that make you say "aaahh" or pictures that make you say "oooh", and it won't have those hilarious captions either. Today's post is a competition, a contest, a bout!

However, before the games begin, Kate and I just want to express our sincerest thank you to all those who read our blog- all 53 of you listed in the sidebar as "followers", who read our posts and look at our pictures and make us laugh with your wonderful, hilarious and kind comments. Hum jeet gaye (Hindi for 'a special shoutout') to our frequent commenters, Miri and Amanda.

In an effort to express our thanks and appreciation...below are three questions that have been culled from our previous posts, captions and photos. The winner, to be announced in our next post, shall be the first person to correctly answer all three questions in the comments section below. No purchase necessary. A purchase will not increase your chance...we asked ePrize to draft the official rules, but having never run a promotion in India before, they are still working on it. And there is a prize! One lucky BP follower will receive a "super cool gift of indian origin". Best of luck to all!

1. Name the Bollywood film we saw here in Lucknow.
2. Who married whom at the wedding we attended?
3. Name the other AJWS volunteer corps participant from Michigan.

We are off to Vrindivan and Mathura for the weekend to celebrate Holi and can't wait to read your answers when we return!

Birthday Wishes

Just a quick post to wish one of BP's most loyal readers, Sam Langberg, a very happy birthday!

Love,

Kate and Dan

Varanasi

I have been meaning to write about our field visit to Varanasi for a while now, but have put if off because I knew it would be difficult to express. In a country where every routine task is an adventure, it was hard to believe how moving, inspiring and emotional the trip could have been.

Many Hindus believe the city is an auspicious place to die; they patiently wait for death attending prayer services and bathing in the holy Ganges. The belief is that dying in Varanasi enables one to break the cycle of rebirth and go straight to heaven.

While the mention of aid work recalls the image of feeding orphans or digging wells, if you’ve been following along, you know that the reality for us has been quite different. Feeling like a celebrity couple visiting the hunger and poverty-stricken villages of Africa (think Brangelina holding beautiful, snot-nosed babies), we sat with young girls and old women alike. Through our translator we discussed the challenges they face and the ways in which they benefit from our organization’s work. As I’ve mentioned, the conversations were very moving and at times Kate and I had to keep our emotions in check. As one group of girls, with whom we had stayed longer to play games and learn songs, ran out to the dirt road to wave goodbye, our hearts ached as they asked if they could return to America with us.

I’ll stop here as I think the pictures tell a better story…

Taj Ma HolyMoly!

Taking advantage of a long weekend from work, we took the train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Brief historical interlude: The Taj, completed in 1648, was built by Emperor Shah Jahan to memorialize his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during the birth of their fourteenth child. Dan promised that he will do something similar if I die during the birth of our fourteenth child.

The trip was great- a train ride through remote villages with great views, a hotel just a short walk from the east gate, an excursion to Fatipur Sikri, two delicious dinners with our new French friends, Jean-Yves and Anna, and five new pairs of shoes (Agra is known for their leather and the total for all of them was less than $25).

I really loved the Taj, the icon of India. There is so much beautiful marble and inlay work, and the colors change as the sun moves throughout the day. We spent a lot of time just staring at it, and a fair amount of time people watching as well. Fatipur Sikri was beautiful as well, though not as elaborate. We spent a lot of time walking through the well maintained palace imaging what it was like 500 years ago when it was filled with people and life.

We took a lot of photos- check out Dan's captions.

Lucky in Lucknow

Today marks six weeks in India; we are feeling settled in our home and in our volunteer work. We are friends with the two other AJWS volunteers here, and really like the people we work with. Our ob-gyn landlord takes care of us and let's me ask her questions about women's health in India. My next goal, though likely not attainable, is to attend a birth with her. We have had the opportunity to do some really wonderful things...here is a synopsis of some of the events in the past couple weeks...sorry for the length, so much to share!

Sanatkada, a craft store selling fair-trade goods, held a week long fair showcasing all of the vendors they carry in the store. In addition to the beautiful clothes, fabrics, and crafts, each night there was a musical performance and food. During the six day event I was there four days and Dan three...check out the pictures of the dancing, the demonstrations, and the goods. The schedule listed a Rhajisthani and UK fusion folk band for one of the nights. I saw folk and was thinking Arlo Guthrie...this was nothing of the sort...amazing sounds of the Rhajustani instruments, like the morchang, mixed with guitar and incredible beat-boxing from the UK. We will post a sound clip soon. The fair, where many souvenirs were purchased, was great and allowed us insight into all of the great art and culture in Lucknow.

Each night when we returned home from the craft fair we would see groups of men walking with festive carriers all headed in the same direction. Having no idea who they were, what they were doing, or where they were going, Trudi did some research. These men were making a pilgrimage to a 'nearby' shiva temple for Maha Shivarti, Shiva's birthday. The term 'nearby' is relative- the temple was in Barabanki, about 100 kilometers from Lucknow. Our guess is that some of these men could have walked as far as 200 kilometers carrying the traditional offerings of milk and ganga water without taking a break or setting down the offerings. We were told the harder the journey, the more likely the wishes will come true.

This is not something you will find in Lonely Planet or Rough Guide so we knew we had to check it out (though Dan stayed back to get our laptop fixed). Molly, Trudi, and I hired a driver for the two hour drive into the country, passing pilgrims the entire way. We arrived to a small village lined with small vendor stands and followed our driver to the gates of the temple...which were closed. He exchanged some hindi with the guards and the three of us, and only the three of us, were ushered through the door. We made our way the metal baricaded snaked line to the front and were greeted by officers holding bamboo sticks for crowd control. We waited a few minutes at the front of the line with no one behind us when suddenly a crowd lined up behind us.

At this point I felt guilty and uncomfortable- guilty because these men walked hundreds of kilometers to get here. They could only take short breaks and were not allowed to put down their offerings until they arrived. Lined up behind us they were so close, and so anxious to touch the Shiva lingum, give her the offerings, and make their wishes. We drove and weren't here for religious reasons or because we wanted to ask for a healthy harvest or a prosperous year for our poor families. Then I questioned what we were doing here and if we were safe- three western women, shoeless, standing in front of hundreds of charged, screaming men, anxious to give their offerings. I calmed my discomfort by reminding myself that these men were exhausted from their journey, and were all totally stoned from their thandai, a customary drink made with milk and weed.

The guards guided us into the temple and we were invited to touch the lingum (yup, three western Jewish women touching the Shiva lingum on Shabbat). We left the temple and watched the men throw their offerings onto the lingum, screaming 'bombole' with excitement. I bought a souvenir lingum and shiva and we made our way back to Lucknow. I hope this description does the experience justice...it was pretty incredible and unlike anything I have seen or done before. There are pictures of the journey, but out of respect, I did not take any in the temple.

The Papaji ashram is a short walk from our house and we have been spending a lot of time there doing yoga, eating yummy dinners, and sitting on the terrace...more on that in a later post. Papaji's ashram, because of his followers, is associated with Organic India and the company's tea farm is just a short drive from busy, honk-filled Lucknow through a beautiful lush forest to the tea farm. Dan stayed back to deal with the laptop (yes, again) and I went with Trudi and Molly, Molly's friend Kate (she speaks Hindi so we call her Hindi Kate), and my German colleagues, Gigi and Meran. We spent a lovely day sitting in the sun, exploring the farm, eating falaffel (!!!), and sipping tea. Check out the photos of the grounds, the tea, and the flowers. Raja, our host at the farm, told me "ah, I see heaven in your eyes since you arrived here." He was right!

One of the must-dos on my India list is to attend a wedding...time to check that one off! Dr. Neelam's colleague's son was married on Tuesday night and she got us an invite. If we were Indian, no one would have noticed us there amongst the hundreds of guests, but as Westerners, it was hard to miss us. My perception, based on very short exchange with the bride and groom, is that they were excited to have us there, and even more excited when they learned it was the first time I had worn a sari.

Dr. Neelam's assistant helped dress me in the sari I got from Dan my birthday. Bangles and a bejeweled bindi complimented the sari perfectly.We missed the wedding ceremony, and when we arrived at 9:30pm, we greeted the bride and groom and their families, gave them the flower bouquet gift we brought them, and took a photo together...this is the tradition. Then we ate- delicious gourmet versions of typical streetfood like pani puri and aloo chat, Chinese food, Italian food, a spread of traditional Indian dishes and breads, and desserts. We were introduced to many of Dr. Neelam's doctor friends and I received many compliments of my sari and Dan on his traditional Indian vest. The venue with the lights and flowers was really beautiful- here are some photos.

All of the photos referenced in this post are in this album.

today's lunch

We have a lunch routine. Everyday at 1:30 I turn around in my chair and ask my office-mates if it is time for lunch. Tanvi, a self-proclaimed chatterbox with pretty good English, checks the clock and says 'yes!' I walk downstairs and grab my tifin from the reception desk.

A tifin is a container made of metal used to store food. The trend in India is to either bring your own tiffin from home filled with food made that morning, or to order tifin at work, which gets delivered. I usually do the latter, but today I did both. Everyday my tiffin is the same- the top compartment has once warm chippati, sliced red onions and a green chili pepper, the middle compartment is filled with yellow dal, and the third changes daily, but always has potato. Today was potato and capsicum (green pepper).

So I grab my tiffin, Dan grabs lunch from the messhall (it is a long and uninteresting story of why we both don't get tiffin), and we sit at the table in my office with the four to six others. Tanvi gets half my onions and Anita gets my chili pepper- she hates when any food is thrown away. Everyone makes a little dish with the lid of their tiffin and scoops a bit of whatever they brought onto each person's plate. Its perfect- instead of only eating the (boring) food in my tiffin, I get to try the homemade food of my coworkers- various vegetable dishes, partathas stuffed with aloo (potato), mattar (peas), or spices, and noodle or rice dishes....always something different, and usually something delicious.

Today, like everyday we gathered around the table. Dan wasn't with us today because he went into town to get our laptop fixed (sigh..sorta a mess). The conversation started in English as everyone talked about what they did for the three day weekend. As everyone shared, I grabbed my tiffin container I brought from home filled with steamed, unseasoned, gobi (cauliflower). As I opened it, the conversation about our weekends stopped and they all stared at my steamed, unsalted, unseasoned gobi. There were a lot of questions about what it was and why I brought it. After explaining that I was on rice and chippati overload and needed something bland to eat with my spiced foods, they exchanged words in hindi and stared at my gobi some more. They didn't know what to say - spices are the essence of Indian cooking so the idea of me purposely cooking something bland was a foreign idea to them. My love for gobi- steamed, raw, sauteed, seasoned- is unconditional. The gobi was a great addition to my dal and I am going to do the same tomorrow.

The conversation switched to the bombing in Pune. Though there had been warnings of an attack on Valentine's Day, I am still shocked that it happened. Perhaps it is naive of me, but I really didn't think an attack happen while I am here. Dan and I are fine, our friend in Pune is fine, and we don't know anyone who knows anyone who was in the attack. We then started talking about the Mumbai attack and somehow ended up talking about my sari for tomorrow's wedding.

Then lunch ended. Like everyday, we all reassembled our tiffins, cleaned off the table, and returned to our desks for the afternoon.

Once our laptop is fixed we will be able to post the blogs and pictures from our trips to Agra and Varanasi, last weekend's pilgrimage, and everything else that has been keeping us busy. Crossing our fingers that the only Apple tech in Lucknow can fix it!

many posts to come...

There is so much to share from the past week- the Sanatkada craft fair, a pilgrimage to the Shiva Temple is Barabanki, our first attempt at Indian cooking, and our trip to Varanasi for a field visit of my project...but the blog posts, pictures, and video will have to wait until next week. In just a couple hours we are off to Agra for the weekend to see the Taj Mahal!

Until we can post more, here is one photo from our trip to the Cholapur Village in Varanasi.





Unrelated, we were told there were 3,000 weddings in Lucknow last night. It is auspicious to have your wedding during this time- we are going to our first one on Tuesday!

cows playing chicken

On the way to work today I saw a cow and a bull, or maybe it was a bull and a bull, race towards each other in a game of chicken. The cow/bull that won got to eat the pile of greens and garbage on the ground. This scene shocked me, but not as much as it would have four weeks ago. I am telling you, there is always something to look at here.

I decided that I have not been doing enough Indian cooking, in fact, the only Indian cooking I am doing is making porridge and I can only consider it Indian cooking because I am using a pressure cooker. Today at lunch I announced that I would like my co-workers to share a recipe a day; they love this idea. Tanvi was up first- she gave me the recipe for Allo KiSabzi (potatoes with spices) and was amazed that we haven't bought any spices, or oil for that matter, yet. That will change with my next visit to the market. I have a full list: jeera (cumin), haldi (turmeric), dhania (cilantro)...and the list goes on. I will work hard to perfect this recipe and all of the others that I gather so I can make them for all of you when I return.

Here are some photos from the last couple weeks!