Himalayas!

Going about your business in Dharamakot and Mcleod Ganj is really difficult what with all these beautiful snow-capped mountains as a backdrop. Since Kate was more into yoga than trekking for five days, I took to the streets to find other like-minded travellers. A few hours later, and without too much difficulty, the party was all set to go the following morning - 2 guides, 3 porters, 3 Germans, 1 Canadian, and a fellow from Portugal.

Everyone was really excited yet nervous because we would be the first group to be going through the mountain pass this year as their had been lots of snow.

The first two days of hiking were not too difficult and were meant mainly to acclimate to the elevation. The third day however, was the most difficult day of hiking that I have ever done. We broke camp at 5am to begin climbing towards the summit but were slowed by lots of snow, the elevation sickness, and the blinding sunlight reflecting off the snow. The warm sun turned the snow into mush, and handholds being few and far between, each step was a half step backward. Thankfully the weather was clear and the view from the summit was breathtaking.

inISRAELdia

Dharmsala is a nothing town; all of the action is four kilometers up the mountain in McLeod Ganj. Walking into McLeod Ganj is like walking into Tibet- curries and paranthas are replaced with Tibetan breads and cookies and theemptuk soup with lots of noodles, veggies, and tofu...oh how I have missed tofu!

Two kilometers farther up the mountain is Dharmakot, a small, quiet mountain town with fun cafes and cute shops. We moved up here after a couple nights in McLeod Ganj because it is closer to all of the things we are doing (yoga, hikes, etc) and has more spectacular views. If McLeod Ganj is little Tibet, Dharmkot is little Israel. Two out of every three people we meet are Israeli, the shop signs are in Hebrew, and all of the menus offer schnitzel and hummus.

We initially only planned to stay here for a couple days but we have been here almost two weeks are going to stay until we head to Delhi on Friday. I am taking another yoga course and Dan is on a five day trek in the mountains with some new friends and a guide. When he gets back on Wednesday we will post some pictures (yes, we got the camera charged!) from this beautiful part of our trip!

week one of our travels

We are in Dharmsala, home to his holiness, the fourteenth reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. We have not seen him or his house yet, but we plan to. We love it here- the incredible mountain views of the Himalayas, the people, our hotel room and its incredible balcony, and all of the yummy Tibetan food.

We arrived here Wednesday night and since then our days have been filled with wonderful things! We start each day with a two kilometer trek to the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Center where we are enrolled in a five-day course. Then we dine on delicious Tibetan foods, more hiking to explore the nearby mountain villages, naps, lots of reading, followed by another delicious meal. Have I mentioned that we really like it here?

Before arriving we spent a day exploring Delhi with our friend, Ben, and a couple of his friends. We saw the site of Gandhi's cremation and dined at the Sikkim Bhavan. Sikkim is near the Chinese border and each Indian state has its own building in Delhi, sort of like an embassy. Check out this NYT article for more info.

Then we took off for an overnight bus to Amritsar (oy, an experience) where we saw the sight of the Amritsar massacre, the Sikh Golden Temple, and visited the India/Pakistan border. Yes we went to the border...but it was a really interesting and safe experience. It is a very popular thing for Indians and travelers to do when visiting Amritsar. Each night the Indian and Pakistan border patrol do this fun but bizarre ritual where on their respective sides they march a hundred meters to the gate, open it, shake hands, and then slam the gate closed. The hour long event was a weird, but fascinating, display of Indian patriotism with singing, dancing, and chanting.

From Amritsar we took one of twenty trains in the world through the mountains to where we are now. The train itself was an adventure. Dan and I were in separate cars because each car was filled to double its capacity. I was befriended and fed by a group of Indians on their way to see their guru. It turns out there were over 100 of them on the train and Dan was befriended by members of the same group in his carriage.

So now we are in Dharmsala and really having an incredible time. It is still very much India but so different from all of the other places we have been, and the Tibet influence is incredible. As I write this Dan is across the road at a jewelry shop making me a ring we designed.

Our next planned stop is Rishikesh, though since it means leaving here, we may not go.

We have some photos from Delhi, Amritsar, and the train ride.

a typical day

When we first arrived in India and in spurts for a couple days after, I thought ‘what the fuck have we done?’ We left our wonderful and comfortable lives to come to a developing country where nothing is familiar or easy. We don’t understand the language, the food is spicy, and we only know each other. Then I reminded myself that my adventurous side needed to overrule my cautious, fearful side. Before we left I thought I would have a harder time adjusting here, but surprisingly it happened pretty fast. I credit that to having the AJWS orientation a day after arriving and knowing three other westerners in Lucknow. This place actually started to feel like home.

And as of today, the volunteer part of this adventure comes to an end. We finished our projects (success!) and are saying goodbye to wonderful co-workers who have been so kind and giving. It will be hard to say goodbye to Lucknow but we are excited to head north to explore the mountains and rituals...and we will get a break from these 100 plus temperatures! Although we are leaving, and today marks the last of the 'typical days' we experienced during the last three months, this is what our days looked like:

Morning: We wake up at 7am to our annoying, but able Target alarm clark. I go walk/jog in the park behind our house while Dan does chin-ups on the terrace and prepares breakfast. Breakfast was porridge with bananas and sultanas but since the weather has warmed up we switched to granola and warm milk with bananas and sultanas. We shower, clean-up the house and head out by 8:30am.

Our commute consists of a ten minute walk down A-Block road to Ring Road where we catch an auto or tempo (auto preferred, but we take whichever comes first). At Mahiyov, pronounced Mariyon and we can't figure out why) we switch a tempo that takes us down Sitapur Road to Cheeta Meel. Cheeta Meel means six mile; at home we live off seven mile. Weird. From Cheeta Meel we walk another ten minutes to the office. Our commute costs 12 rupees for each of us, each way. That is a total of 48 rupees, about $1. It is much longer and riskier than my four mile commute down Woodward at home, but it is when we really get to experience the sights and sounds of India.

Day: We sit in separate offices and work on our projects. The first cup of chai is delivered like clockwork at 10:30am. I sit in an office with four other women , all of whom who work on the Governance Resource Team. At least one team member is always in the field so our office is pretty quiet. I sit next to the administrative assistant, Anita, who says she doesn't speak a word of English but I am suspicious. Anyway, she is really nice and always gives me snacks. By 11:30, we are both in need of a snack so we usually bring in veggies or nuts or a cheese sandwich (a new addition since we discovered real bread and cheese here). Lunch is at 1:30 and my office is the place to be. See here for more info about lunch. I do the Times of India Sodoku puzzle after lunch and before it got so hot, we would take a walk around the beautiful grounds here. We work through the afternoon and the second round of chai comes at 3:30.

Evening: At 5:30 we head out and either go to the lovely market behind our house to buy ingredients to experiment with Indian cooking, go to yoga with Molly (and Trudi, but she left), or head into the city center for dinner or shopping. We head home, sometimes Skype, read and head to bed for our next day in India.

The work week is six days here, with the second Saturday and every Sunday off. With all of the holidays and festivals, we rarely actually work a six day week. On Sundays I usually go to the Kerela Ayruvedic Spa to get pampered and Dan finds a soccer/tennis/basketball game to join. We explore the sights and markets of Lucknow. Our lives were really full here. We were lucky to be placed in a city that has a lot to offer, but is not overwhelming in size.

And now I can’t believe that the volunteer portion of our journey has come to an end and in three short weeks we will be home. But first we have some traveling to do. We are off to Uttarkhand to hang out in Haridwar and Rishikesh for some yoga and hiking and to Dharmsala in Himachal Pradesh to hopefully hang out with the Dalai Lama. We will post stories and pictures from our travels as much as we can but in the meantime here are some pictures of the things we see everyday!

Transportation

Getting around Lucknow is always an adventure. This album contains all kinds of photos that relate to transportation around Lucknow. It includes a few of my favorites like the 'Spice Caravan', the elusive four-on-a-motorcycle photo, and one that captures the essence of being packed into a Tempo (van-ricksaw)

Enjoy!
Dan

You went to a deli for Passover?

My dad and I have the same sense of humor....and the same nose. When saying goodbye on gchat last week he said "wait, you're going to a deli for Passover?" I had made the same joke weeks before. Oy.

So yes, we went to Delhi for Passover. Not the corned beef type, the capital of India type. A city with more green open space that I have seen anywhere else in India, cleaner, more expensive, sometimes with a feel of a cosmopolitan European city, not the developing world. We had a great time sightseeing and shopping with Molly and Orna, a fellow AJWS volunteer who joined us from Mumbai. The highlight of the trip was the seders, and the seder preparations. We had plans to cook at a friends house but when he fell ill, we went to Plan B. While eating breakfast in our hotel's restaurant, I had a thought...and the hotel kitchen staff were glad to have us! Dan, Molly, and Orna bought all of the ingredients from the nearby produce market and we were off. Orna made a delicious mango charoset and when the rest of us started preparations for salad, lentils, and curried eggplant, the chef took over with his professional chopping skills. The whole restaurant staff watched the action. Holidays and traditions are a big deal here so when they learned it was a holy time for us, they were incredibly welcoming and helpful.

Our fellow volunteer and friend Abby, who is based in Delhi, arranged seder at her friends home for all of us. We had all the essentials, including matzoh that Abby and her friend Noah procured from a synagogue in Mumbai. The seder was a mix of the traditional elements and contemporary readings including the story of Susannah Heschel's orange on the seder plate and AJWS'version of dayenu. We sang funny well known songs with Passover lyrics that Noah's dad wrote and talked about our own family seder traditions. Oh, and I found the afikoman.
Fot the second seder Molly, Dan, and I hosted at our hotel's rooftop restaurant. Abby and our new friends Rachel and Kyle came and instead of doing the seder we talked about concepts that Elie Wiesel raises in his hagaddah and how they impact the work and life we are experiencing in India. Nice food, nice discussions, nice people.

I took time during the seders appreciating where I was and the people I was with- such a a unique and wonderful experience! For me Passover is a holiday full of tradition. I have spent almost all of my Passovers with my New York family and every year I cherish the laughter, the spilt wine, the tambourines, and finding the afikoman. But part of what comes with being away on this adventure, is missing those things at home. I missed my family a lot and I know that Dan and I were missed as well, but as they say, next year in New York.
Here are the photos!

...and now, the debrief

Last week, after lots of research, design, and interviewing, I finally delivered the workshop that has been the central focus of my work here. The two-day workshop, given to 20 of my co-workers, was a mix of blank language-barrier-induced stares, and the rewarding moments for which all experiential/participatory facilitators dream of.

Professionally, this has been an incredible journey for me. Marked with indecisiveness, uncertainty and unproductivity for a few weeks in February and culminating with incredible days that whizzed by full of inspiration, creativity and bouts of non-stop feverish writing.

As great as it was, I am glad that it is over. I will spend my last days here at work making revisions and additions to the Facilitator’s Handbook that I will be passing on to our organization. My hope, and that of the Executive Director, is that this workshop will be adapted for other local organizations.


Enjoy the pics.