Translate

Total Pageviews

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Diwali and Thanksgiving


Here I am, thousands of miles away from home, and I can still feel the exasperation of my dad as I procrastinate packing for my upcoming trip.  “Make a list!” he says.  “You should have packed yesterday!”  Now, I have not discussed packing in any way, shape, or form since the day (ok, maybe the hours) before departing MSP what seems like a lifetime ago to begin my exchange here.  However, I have found that simply being on the other side of the world cannot make that little voice in your head go away.  You could hardly tell by looking, but I am currently in the midst of packing for my tour of South India beginning tomorrow and have not had a fit of madness which provoked me to violently throw my belongings around my room.  I like to think that I have made some progress and that there is indeed a method to my madness. 

Regardless, I seem to be getting ahead of myself.  Since I last blogged, I have experienced firsthand the relentless overstimulation and chaos that is Diwali.  It is difficult to describe Diwali but loud, crazy, and frightening come to mind.  Now I will not say that it is not an incredibly enjoyable festival, because that would be completely untrue.  It was immensely entertaining and a great deal of fun, and the enthusiasm and excitement was contagious.  Kids ran everywhere with sparklers, matches, and an alarming array of explosives.  I should mention that as far as I know, there are no restrictions on fireworks during Diwali in either size of the explosive or age of the buyer.  This, in addition to the ridiculously cheap prices, was enough to make me a little wary, but that uneasiness fell away quickly in the midst of all the fun.  Akash and I bought a small arsenal of fireworks which was enough to provide us a steady stream of sparks and explosions throughout the festival.

Now, before you complain that this blogger is a mighty poor photographer, take a look at one of the best turnouts of the pictures I took.  It may still be my fault, but I have searched my camera’s settings and tried nearly every possible combination, but without success.  Firecrackers are difficult to photograph, especially with an old point-and-shoot like mine.

Enough of my excuses.  On the day before Diwali, November 10th, I went shopping with my host mom and brother, because buying new clothes for the festival is just something you do.  I received an awesome new maroon kurta (light, long-sleeved shirt that goes down to your knees) and the accompanying white, poofy pyjamas (awesome pants that actually make sense to wear in the heat).  I wore this new outfit to all the formal events of the festival, and they fit really well.  I was pretty excited to have some Indian clothes other than the plain white ensemble I wore for the Ganpati celebrations.

One week later, full of lights and explosions far surpassing the 4th of July and Christmas combined, and here I am, packing for my trip.  Tomorrow morning I will wake bright and early and board a train which will take me (along with another nine exchange students) to Hyderabad, hometown of my host sister Rachael in Northfield, where we will check into our hotel and meet the other eight exchange students joining us on this trip.  The 18 of us will spend the next two and a half weeks traveling around southern India.  From what I have heard, this trip promises to be one of the highlights of my year and I cannot wait to begin!  We have quite the itinerary (including a stay in Kerala, where I will do my best to avoid all interaction with Orangedrink, Lemondrink men) and I am sure I will have multiple posts worth of experiences to share along with a ridiculous number of pictures.

Assuming I can pull myself together long enough to complete my packing, I will have an amazing trip filled with all manner of new experiences.  I am not bringing my laptop on the trip, so do not expect an update until I get back on December 5th.

Seeing as I will be gone for Thanksgiving, I would like to take a moment before I leave to share some things for which I am grateful.  Rotary said that this year would give us a new perspective of and appreciation for our home, and I have certainly experienced more than my fair share thus far.  Seeing all of the poverty that surrounds even the most luxurious lifestyle in India has made me aware of the very high standard of living that we demand and that our government provides for us.  There are so many things which I never gave a second thought, which I now appreciate so much more.  I find myself thankful for nearly every aspect of my American life: a fantastic school, caring teachers and neighbors, a hometown that smells like cereal, so many opportunities that I could never take advantage of them all, and a community of family and friends that I hardly feel I deserve.  I am also immensely grateful to Rotary for providing this inimitable opportunity to experience a new part of the world and understand an entirely different culture.  There is certainly no substitute, and I, along with all the other exchange students you support, owe a great deal of thanks to Rotary and all Rotarians who have helped me to be where I am. 

Now, I need to get back to packing.  I suppose the thought of my trip should be sufficient motivation.  To everyone back home, enjoy your turkeys and eat as much food as humanly possible for all of the exchange students wishing we could celebrate with you.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Diwali Approaches


It’s been a little longer than I anticipated, but life has been pretty quiet recently.  I have only a few things to talk about before I get to Diwali which is the main point of this post.  First, I went to see Skyfall (Bond 23) in theaters this week.  It wasn't the typical Bond film I anticipated, but it had a good plot and the experience was made all the sweeter by the fact that it comes out in the US tomorrow so I got to see it before everyone back home.  I recommend it to anyone who does not despise having a good time.

For the second thing, I’m going to go a little political on you.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I, along with most of the other Northfield outbounds, completed an absentee ballot in order to participate in politics back home despite being on the other side of the world.  Though there was not much coverage of the election until yesterday on Indian TV, I kept up to date by checking the polls online.  When the results came in, I could not have been more thrilled.  I was so proud to claim Minnesota and the US as my home because I believe we have kept our state constitution the way it should be, and our country is on track for the next four years.  Surprisingly, my excitement was nearly equaled by everyone around me.  Experiencing the election from outside the country is an interesting perspective, and I have learned that Obama is ridiculously popular internationally, and if the entire world had a say it would have been the biggest blowout of political history. 

Now for the festival.  According to the all-knowing Wikipedia (and confirmed by my host family), Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama after 14 years of exile and the vanquishing of the demon-king Ravana.  It is basically the Hindu equivalent of Christmas (at least in magnitude) and is celebrated like a five-day Fourth of July with about 100 times the fireworks.  In their excitement at all this great stuff happening, Rama's followers illuminated the entire kingdom in lights and set off about a billion firecrackers.  Diwali today, along with the traditional lights and explosions, signifies ridiculous sales so people buy a lot of new stuff, and you are supposed to wear new clothes for the festival.  What it really boils down to is nonstop noise and light for five days, and it is supposed to be one of the most enjoyable festivals.  At the very least I’m sure it will give me a lot to blog about!  I will make sure to update on Diwali before I leave for my tour of South India, so look for that in a week.