So we are now in Jaipur!!

Finally unpacked and settled with our host family, I am excited to begin to get our bearings. Amber and I have the most incredible set up: our own “wing” of the house, each with our own room and bathroom. The whole bucket bath thing isn’t nearly as daunting as I thought it would be and we have a water heater which doesn’t make the whole thing that bad. Apparently there are gizillions of ways to shower, but as long as we get clean, I don’t think it matters. Our coordinator told us that daily showers were very important to Indians, so I’m sure over time I’ll figure it out so it doesn’t take 15 minutes. Haha. The beds are humongous and hard but good for the back. I sleep like a baby either way.
Speaking of babies…there are two children in the house: Anoosha, 5 ½ and Ahman, 4. The puzzle of the US I brought seemed to be a big hit until Ahman got tired then put all the pieces in his pocket and ran off. So, we shall see when we see that again. There is also a grandfather in the house, who we call papaji. I am kind of obsessed with the ji concept. Before coming, I thought ji was only given to saintly types as a term of love and respect like Mahatma Ghandiji, but here I am finding it for lots of people. All of our teachers have that as an ending…Rimaji, Rekahji when others introduced them. This morning Ahman came in and said to us “Good morning didi!!” as adding didi to the end of a name means older sister. Our dad explained that there is a great respect to those who are older than you. (Maybe possible addendum ideas for what Lucas can call me? I should look for the “cousin” version…) Then there is Niveeta and her husband Palkadesh. They both speak very good English and Niveeta really looks forward to helping us with our Hindi. So far we’ve got down water (pani) and thank you (shukriya). I think having young children in the house will be a great advantage. We also have a maid, Shoorbala and younger servant Galmesh, who watch after the children, cook and clean the house. This is a concept that we touched on a bit in class which I think has helped me think through the idea. Most middle class families have servants as a general means to give fewer chores to the woman of the household. As one of our teachers told us today, “there are no rights for woman in India, just duties.” Women when they are born are expected to do certain things throughout their lives without question. Rekahji had made a good point that while we may come with strong feminist leanings and look at the way women are treated with concern, we must understand that women have come a long way from independence. She sees this time as a transitional period, where women are finding new ways of dress, reinventing marriage symbols (the bindi or dying their hair part), time spent doing household chores or making more money than their husbands. While men do little, as we have seen with our “dad” and papji, just take meals and watch tv, “they have not grown” as she said. Women are taking quiet but marked strides in what their duties are for their lifetimes. I think watching how Niveeta interacts with other women, her husband and children will have a huge impact on how I understand this country’s attitudes and expectations of women. Then again, servant relationships are something I have great interest in understanding more. We have yet to delve too deep into castes (and skin tones) but these seem to be greatly at play in this household and on the street. Asking our host mom straight up, how old were you when married, was it arranged, what caste are you from, how did you feel about it, etc. may take some time (if ever) but she spends the most time with us and we learn more about her everyday. Today, we thought she said she had a driver but when we clarified, she was quick to correct us that she drives herself. Our dad isn’t outwardly anti-feminist but he does tend to have a lead in conversations and asked Amber what her father did and not her mother when we were talking about her growing up on a Minnesota farm- which was really strange as her father raises Angus cows. This family is strictly vegetarian!!
Today we ventured out to find some clothes and oh boy do we have some stuff to get used to. It sounds kind of crazy to keep bringing up traffic, but I feel that is one of the most stressful parts of trying to get acclimated here. Its so loud, fast and there are always autorickshaw drivers that are trying to give us rides that we have to shoo off. Looking confident while ignoring “eve teasing” (cat calls) is really taxing. We stay covered but the stares, shouts and sheer AMOUNT of men on streets is really exhausting and just getting to the mall and back seemed a small victory. Rekahji said that eve teasing doesn’t even exist in Gujarat- a neighboring state- as the children receive co-ed schooling which offered an insightful perspective. It is still a lot harder than I could have imagined even though I was warned. I don’t feel unsafe, just bothered and at one point when we were getting our pictures taken, I just felt silly. I’ve never been so aware of being female. I got pretty worked up but I think I realized today that even though we aren’t tourists, we are Americans, and we are American women, which will greatly affect our time here. I just want to promise myself that I won’t think of this as a burden because I have great pride in our country and what being a woman means. Amber added that it is a fine line of how much to respect another culture and how much to respect yourself. Deciding how much to give and take here I guess will be something to learn over time.

Tonight we will take it easy, reading and writing. I’m really looking forward to Gobi Aloo- my favorite Indian food at home and can’t wait to have the Indian version. Gosh, I really hope to learn to cook here. Tomorrow some of us will head over to the literature festival, which is apparently quite famous in Rajasthan and attracted Ian McClellan a few years back. We also want to find the Hindu Ganesh Temple that is pretty close to our house. Also, two of the girls in the program have a host mother who teaches yoga once a week from 5-6 am. I’m hoping to find some routine and calm in those.

Final thoughts:
Slumdog Millionaire just came out here on the 23rd and our host family is going to see it tomorrow. We may join them if it isn’t dubbed in Hindi, but I’m more interested to hear their reaction. They seemed very surprised that it was popular in the US. Our dad sounded very proud to announce that it had 10 oscar nominations. The soundtrack is huge here and its video for “Jai Ho” plays all the time…it’s kinda funny to have just gotten the soundtrack from Amber and to see it on TV.

By law foods must be labeled red if non-veg and green if veg in restaurants.

Exciting book I’m about to read: Hinduism and Ecology

Thing I have found I cannot live without: Dr. Bronner’s Soap, of which I have used for just about everything. A miracle really.