27 December 2010
Kutch nahi dekha, kuch nahi dekha.
I came home from Kutch just a couple of days ago. Another amazing trip with rotary and the other exchangestudents. As the title sayd (in hindi) kutch nahi dekha, kuch nahi dekha - if you havent seen kutch, you havent seen anything (their motto). And after our visit to the area i really think that it is true!
We were there for only 4 days and in so little time we managed to see everything from deserts to beaches and mountains. Mandirs (temples), palaces and carnivals. And we even met the Chief minister of Gujarat and we were in the local newspaper.
The same evening as we arrived we went to downtown-Bhuj to see the opening of the Rann Utsav (known as the kutchfestival). It wasa first a bunch of speeches by important people (the CM of Gujarat too) and then, when the sun had set, a carnival/parade began.
Though it was rather long, it was still fun, we managed to push our way into the parade and went dancing in front of the cm along with an ethnic dancegroup (the one with the lion-mask)! Some of the exchangestudents even got themselves onto one of the floats/carts/whatever its called! All in all a great evening.
Our second day there was very busy and we did a million things, and i could write page after page about it, ill just stick to a few highlights and try to get most of it in there.
First we went to this market/bazaar place where we did a bit of shopping, there was also a lot of nicely decorated camels and we spent a lot of time clicking photos with those... Then after a while there was some traditional "wrestling" and that was very amusing - the two guys would stand in front of each other holding on to each others pant or belts (?) and try to throw the opponent down on the sand...
Then we quickly moved on to the next place we had to visit - a temple on a mountain. The bus took us up a little more than halfway, and then we had to walk for a while, but that was only nice! It was an amazing experience because of the fantastic view from up there! We could see the geographic border between India and Pakistan. And we had a clear view of what it is that makes kutch so special - all the different types of landscapes
And then(...) drove to the desert and drove on camel-carts out to the "white-desert" a phenomena that only exists in Kutch. It occurs when the sea level falls at the end of the monsoon season and a huge area of sand is laid to dry in the hot Indian sun. then all the salt from the ocean crystallizes and creates a white cover on the desert sand. We went out there in the evening time, and while we were watching a cultural show (a dance performance illustrating the Ramayana)the sun set and the temperature dropped - I dont exactly know how low, but to us, practically, mumbaikars it sure felt freezing. The combination of a huge area coveres by a perfect white blanket and the low temperatures almost made me feel like home (its snowing in Denmark i hear) and Riina (Finland) and I both started singing christmas songs in our native languages - A lot of Indians stared and some even pointed at us ;D but it was fun, and probably the most christmas-like evening I've had this year...
Here we also met with the chief minister, but unluckily my camera ran out of battery :(
The third day we started out by going to this Palace that is actually still in use :D It was fun walking aroung inside and there was a bunch of stuffed animals (tigers leopards and such) and a lot of really old furniture and a lot of photos hanging around... On the terrace (or rooftop as the rest of the world, except for India, would call it) again we had an almost magical view of the woods and Mandvi beach. The beautiful surroundings set by the old palace (which btw has been used as settings for several Bollywood movies)laid the base for what was to turn into hundreds and hundreds of photos on my camera...
After seeing the palace Chetan bought a round of coconut water for everyone, and we just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, the lovely weather and the natural cold drink under the trees outside the palace...
In the afternoon/evening we went to Mandvi and everyone had a lovely camel ride on the (very clean!!!) beach... It was very bumpy, and when the camel started running Ale(Mixico) and I (we were sharing a camel) were screaming like crazy people along with Beatriz and Leticia (both from Brasil) who were running next to us on their own camel... Ont the beach there were also an exhibition of sandsculptures, some more succesfull than others, and just before the sun was setting 3 people decided to go for this ride where you were strapped into a parachute and dragged by a car along the beach, it looked very fun, but I was too scared to do it :S
After that we went out for the local roadside speciality - kutchi dabeli which is basically a pav with a very spicy potato/masala mix put inside... a Gujarati veg-burger , or something like that...
Then we went home to the Yoga ashram in which we were staying, had dinner and had fun plying games and singing songs around the campfire until late at night.
18 December 2010
Marwadi wedding - my first view of an Indian marriage ceremony
So last wednesday I attended my first indian wedding! the son of one of the rotarians in my club was getting married. Its a giant affair when someone is getting married in India. At this wedding there was around 1600 guests (if i got it right?). The buffet offered all you could ever wish for - there is one photo of the giant food area (INSANE!!!)... First I went to the smaller procession in the afternoon, the was a big band playing and a small wagon with giant loudspeaker spitting out hindi songs non-stop! Everyone was decked up and dancing on the street. The bridesgrooms family was handing out money too everyone while dancing (think that it is supposed to be propherous for the newlyweds). The groom himself was placed on a horse in the back, far away from all the fun, and the bride wasnt even here (she was at the actual venue getting ready)
Then we went home and picked up Kalpana, the wife of the president of my rotaryclub -they were the ones who took me there. and went straight to the giant hotel in Juhu where the actual wedding were to take place.
The sun was setting and still people were dancing. When it had darkened sufficiently, about 30 indian came with beautiful lamps/lanterns that they kept on their heads forming a human streetlighting as the frame of the party. It took us 3 hours too walk 150 meter to the entrance of the actual marriagehall(or actually it was outside). A giant area with red carpets on the ground a big beautifully decorated stage, white chair, tables and sofas nicely spread over the area, a big buffet and hundreds of servants and waiters walking around taking care of everything. After a while the bride and groom arrived and they walked to the stage with each their families and exchanges a long necklace made from flowers (this is the symbol that you're married - like exchanging rings in cristianity). Then the couple had to stand on the stage for hours posing for photos with more than one and a half thousand guests...
Late at night 3-4 o'clock they will sit for the pooja (religious ceremony) and not long before the sun rises they will officially be declared married by the hindu priest.
Pictures from Diwali (better late than never)
So for Diwali I was with my new family. I had a lot of fun with my host mom and host sister making different sweets and special Indian dishes because all of my host moms family was coming to stay at our place during the holidays. We made laddu's and Chakli's, the Chakli's I really enjoyed (though they don't really qualify as sweets since they are more spicy than sweet.
It is custom to wear new clothes for the main evening of Diwali so my hostfamily had gotten me this amazing turqoise and Ivory coloured saree. This is a picture of me, my youngest host sister Juili and my host dad :)
17 December 2010
Status
162 days spent in India so far.
201 days to go.
5 trips out of Mumbai(Safala, Lonavala, RYLA, South tour and Bordi + Kutch and Pune coming up).
3 hostfamilies.
52 hindi letters - 10 vowels, 2 modifiers (?) and 40 consonants i had to learn by heart.
Uncountable numbers of mango juice.
Insane amounts of hours spent in Mumbai's local trains...
1 big fat indian wedding - soon to be two :D
5 major religious festivals celebrated (Ganpati, Janmashtami, Nav raatri, Diwali and Rakhsha bandhan)
14 letters and packages from home (friends and family together)
5 letters sent back home + 6 packages
waaaayyy too many rupees spent
7 times did I bake danish pastries - alt fra Kringle og brunsviger til hinbaersnitter og kanelsnegle altid vellykket og vellidt - Selvfoelgelig!
4 yogaclasses per week! lately they have been done along with Janina (USA) <3
15 other exchangestudent-friends + many many many indians!
4 danish dinners cooked (f.eks. lammefrikadeller med remoulade og kartoffelsalat eller vegetarlasagne med raakost, groen salat, og floede kartofler)
very few times have I been up before 7.30 in the past 5 1/2 months :P
1 run after I stepped unto the scale the first month and realised I had put on two kg's in 30 days.
3 kg's gained since my arrival (a number I'm rather proud of! for other inbounds it has been as high as 10 !!! )
16 degrees is the coldest i have experienced in the past 5 1/2 months
100000000 ... new dishes tasted (or at least that is how it feels)
1 birthday with 3 birthday cakes and tiramisu-cake in my face and my hair (det lignede til forveksling at nogen havde knaekket sig direkte i frisuren :S )!
3 saris!
7 indian outfits, punjabi suits, salwar kameez or whatever you choose to call it.
3746 photos
and
infinite numbers of priceless experiences that i wouldnt have missed for the world! I love India, I love Mumbai and I love life as an exchangestudent!
201 days to go.
5 trips out of Mumbai(Safala, Lonavala, RYLA, South tour and Bordi + Kutch and Pune coming up).
3 hostfamilies.
52 hindi letters - 10 vowels, 2 modifiers (?) and 40 consonants i had to learn by heart.
Uncountable numbers of mango juice.
Insane amounts of hours spent in Mumbai's local trains...
1 big fat indian wedding - soon to be two :D
5 major religious festivals celebrated (Ganpati, Janmashtami, Nav raatri, Diwali and Rakhsha bandhan)
14 letters and packages from home (friends and family together)
5 letters sent back home + 6 packages
waaaayyy too many rupees spent
7 times did I bake danish pastries - alt fra Kringle og brunsviger til hinbaersnitter og kanelsnegle altid vellykket og vellidt - Selvfoelgelig!
4 yogaclasses per week! lately they have been done along with Janina (USA) <3
15 other exchangestudent-friends + many many many indians!
4 danish dinners cooked (f.eks. lammefrikadeller med remoulade og kartoffelsalat eller vegetarlasagne med raakost, groen salat, og floede kartofler)
very few times have I been up before 7.30 in the past 5 1/2 months :P
1 run after I stepped unto the scale the first month and realised I had put on two kg's in 30 days.
3 kg's gained since my arrival (a number I'm rather proud of! for other inbounds it has been as high as 10 !!! )
16 degrees is the coldest i have experienced in the past 5 1/2 months
100000000 ... new dishes tasted (or at least that is how it feels)
1 birthday with 3 birthday cakes and tiramisu-cake in my face and my hair (det lignede til forveksling at nogen havde knaekket sig direkte i frisuren :S )!
3 saris!
7 indian outfits, punjabi suits, salwar kameez or whatever you choose to call it.
3746 photos
and
infinite numbers of priceless experiences that i wouldnt have missed for the world! I love India, I love Mumbai and I love life as an exchangestudent!
8 December 2010
Photos from south trip
Me and Riina (Finland) with the kathakali dancers in Thekkady.
A view of KAnyakumari from the island. You can see the mountains.
Me and some other exchangestudents at the temple island out of KAnyakumari
The beatiful temple in Munnar
Exchangestudents riding an elephant (I did it too!!!)
Alejandra (Mexico) and I on one of our many many busrides!
Me in the boat on the backwaters in Allepey (before we jumped in the water!)
Beatiful view of the tea plantations in the mountains in Munnar
One of the many churches in Goa
The beatiful Goan Sunset
Goa
PS: these are all Cameron's(USA) photos since i cannot get online with my laptop (with my own photos - 1700 of them)
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