Famindia

They came, they saw, they conquered, they left.

I was ecstatic to see them all when I picked them up at the airport. This was the second night in a row that I had taxi’ed myself to the airport to pick them up. Faulty information led me to believe that they were arriving the night before. After waiting for five hours I finally called my Dad to inform him that he could go ahead and start filling out the missing persons paperwork only to hear his unsympathetic response, “Lydia, I think you’re a day early.”

They of course were the last people out of the airport. And of course, it was because Grace, Niyema, and Mom’s bags never left Frankfurt. Grace wasn’t surprised. “This always happens to me.” She said.

I remained optimistic and countered in an angelic sort of way, “All that matters is that you all made it here, forget about the bags.” She shot me a glare of death and that was the end of that conversation.

We did not sleep at all that night. Although it was nice chatting, the next day was rough for everyone. Especially those who didn’t sleep AND had no clean clothes to change into.

Niyema spent the first few days in India wearing my
t-shirt as a dress because she had no clothes

The first days in India were spent at Vhistar, the place that I have stayed while being here. Everyone understood why I call it a paradise after taking a tour of the campus. Palm trees, bright pink flowers, warm weather, and to Niyema’s delight a cow.

Niyema got to milk 007 along with the girls and Rati

We took the bus to get into Bangalore the next day. Shopping is pretty similar to U.S. except that attendants dote on you and never leave you alone. Taking the bus there and back is the more interesting part. It is similar to city busses in Minneapolis except for a few minor differences

#1) There is no scheduled time that the bus comes, you just go to a bus stop and hope that the bus is on its way.

#2) Clearly marked bus stops are rare.

#3) Especially around rush hour times the busses fill up so much that there is barely standing room. This makes the conductors job a bit of an acrobatic feat. He squeezes, slithers, and tiptoes up and down the jam packed bus isle to collect the proper fair from every one who hops aboard.

(On the positive side) #4) The busses are a really economic way to travel. An hour bus ride to M.G. Road (Bangalore’s shopping central street) is a mere 8 ruppees (under 25 cents.)

One more slight difference, on the way home that night the bus driver pulled over to the side of the road and got off. We looked at the other passengers. They were as clueless as we were, but in a much more unsurprised and unconcerned sort of way. A half an hour later he emerges from a roadside Hindu temple where he had been praying and continues the route.

We quickly found that the best way to figure out the busses in India is to ask ask ask. Most Indians prove to be very helpful if not knowledgeable about where bus stops are and what bus number to take to get where you need to go.

Grace and Mom came to India with hats and mittens in their suitcases because they did not trust me when I told them they really do not need them. They also came with this phenomenal paranoia about germs and eating things that would make them sick.

Here are some Grace quotes that I particularly enjoyed:

(at a decent restaurant in Bangalore)

Lydia: “I ordered you my favorite beverage in India, sweet lassi.”

Grace: “That’s cold Lyd. You know I don’t eat anything cold!”

“Lydia! What do I do...! I just put unpurified water from the faucet on my toothbrush!!”

(There were some puppies at a place we stayed. Ni asked Grace if she could pet them.)

“Niyema, you can touch one puppy with one finger.”

And last but not least…

Grace: “Lyd, what do I do with the hair I pulled off my hairbrush?!!”

Lydia: “Ahh… the same thing that you do with it in the U.S.”

This paranoia started getting a bit tedious so in order to counter act it I decided to be living proof that you don’t get sick by doing all of these things that they had been warned not to do. I ate food off a street vendor, I drank a cup of fresh squeezed juice from a street vendor, I ate cold food, I drank lassi, and I ate ice cream. All the while they advised me not to, and all the while I kept reassuring them that I had eaten all of these things all semester long and have not gotten sick once.

Sure enough the following day we had to take a train to Chennai followed by a 4 hour bus to get to Pondicherry, I woke up at 5am throwing up. I threw up once in my room, once beside a palm tree, and once in the taxi on the way to the train station. Other than that I just had a miserable achy 8 hour ride on the train.

Serves me right I guess. It’s about time I had the sick traveler experience.

Niyema was either toted around in the "cow carrier" (this name was given because she could see cows better by being carried on someone's back and it gave her a reason to be excited to crawl into it) or she would grab onto my bag and we would roll her to our next destination.

As for our travels we first went to Pondicherry. We ate delicious French food in the French corridor, and visited the awesome or awful? Auroville community.

Behold.... Auroville

Next we bussed to Mahabalipuram and fulfilled Grace’s wish by visiting the historic Hindu temple as well as spent time on the beautiful sandy beach.

Grace was fascinated by the temple. It put Niyema and I asleep...

We packed up and headed to the city of Chennai for just long enough to visit a historic church found in St. Georges Fort and eat some of the best ice cream in India at Creamy and Spicy before catching a sleeper train to Mysore.

From Mysore we took a cab to Ooty and arrived at the Jungle. There we indulged ourselves in the inescapable beauty of the hill landscape around us. We went on a “trek.” (not quite, it was basically a simple hike up to some beautiful view points.)

We also went on an animal safari and after seeing captured elephants being bathed in a lake, we saw wild elephants walk directly in front of our jeep.

We also learned how to play carrum. A common game in India that is a mix between pool and checkers… use your imagination.

Besides all the animals of India, one of Ni's favorite things was doing laundry in a bucket

After de-stressing in the jungle for three nights, we packed up yet again and headed back to Mysore for the remainder of their stay and saw the palace and stayed for a night before heading back to Bangalore.

Overall it was an unforgettably swell trip.

"Little boy, I do not want to buy any of your stone charms, but I do want to teach you about this ancient Hindu temple built in 1700..."