wordfalls and scatters

First, the lessons:
* It is probably not a good idea to carry home a roti soaked in ghee and sugar in adequate packaging in your backpack. At least, not if you would not like to find a thousand ants in your backpack in coming days. If you enjoy a thousand ants, feel free to ignore this advice.

* I was pretty sick on Saturday night and Sunday during the day. I mostly spent the day sleeping, and drinking lots of water, and not doing anything absurd like trying to work or sit up. Then slept for 10 hours straight last night. I have still been a bit sick today, but well enough to do some work. Lessons learned: having a day off sometimes is probably a good idea! Also, coconut juice is good for rehydration (I knew this one already)! Also, one day is enough to rest, now back to work! (I think at least two of these lessons are good lessons.)

* I haven't been cooking while I'm here, because I have been daunted by the different kitchen setup and by cooking for people and fretting that I will get it All Wrong. But I couldn't eat much at all yesterday, and definitely not anything spicy, so I made myself a little mashed potato. And today my eating is still a little shaky, although I've been wanting to eat EVERYTHING, so I made some mashed potato-with-green-beans, and some tomatoes-with-onions, and noone said: 'peh! worst ever! stupid Australians!' I went to the supermarket to get ingredients instead of one of the little vegetable sellers (and I felt bad about it, but I wanted tofu - or 'soya paneer', as it was labelled). And it wasn't too scary, although one woman did just walk in front of me because I was queuing insufficiently aggressively. The guy behind me showed me how it was done by standing about five centimetres away from me the whole time I was Buying Things. Lessons learned: cooking is not too scary! I should do it, sometimes! Also, it's okay to not be good at queuing as long as I'm not in a rush.

In other news, I was taking an auto home from an interview a couple of days ago, and another auto pulled up next to us at the lights. And sitting in the auto was a goat. I looked at the goat, which was looking quite unconcerned, and had holes drilled into its horns that had little clusters of bells threaded through them. And the goat didn't look at me, because it had some serious staring off into space to do, but the guy sitting in the auto with it did. I think his curious looks at me were very similar to my curious looks at the goat. And then the lights changed and that was the end of it.

I can't believe how quickly my time here has gone.( Work work work )

I should say exciting things about being in India.

Like, did you know that people mostly do not walk on the pavement here, and walk on the roads instead? It is not because they enjoy seeing me anxious, it is actually because the pavement is mostly not that pleasant - it is often slabs of rock laid over the drains, so it doesn't smell nice, and then there's rubbish and other unsavoury stuff. The roads have more cars, but apparently an Agreement is reached, and noone dies (mostly).

And, the other day I completely shocked my friend by handing him my plate as we were packing up the dinner things. Apparently that is Not Done. He recovered well and we had a nice chat about it, but I had a few moments feeling like an awfully rude foreigner. You know, just for a change.

And, today I was cycling to yoga and I stopped to let an old man on a scooter past, and he smiled at me, and it felt totally awesome. I don't get smiled at all that much here. I used to think it was because I was doing something wrong all the time, but now I think it is mostly because people here are just less smiley. Not that they're necessarily less happy, it's just a body language thing, I think. (Or maybe I am actually doing something so wrong all the time that I make everyone around me very serious, and then they start smiling once I leave?)

It feels odd sometimes to emphasise the foreignness of India, like I'm contributing to making it into a strange exotic other land. Many things are the same! Many of the subcultures (geek, activist, academic) that I move in here are pretty similar to (and overlap with) subcultures in Australialand! But then, perhaps it is more interesting to write about the things that are strange and new, given that most people who read this aren't in India? Or not?

Either way (or any other way) I should probably go sleep on my face now. Sorry for flooding you with words, internets! If you have read this far, I am surprised! Also, grateful! It was very nice of you, when I know you have so many other things to do.

I went to Hampi this weekend! We got to explore the Vijayanagara site a fair bit, which was awesome. I especially liked:
* A giant statue of Ganesha, tucked away inside a temple, looking very calm despite having been partially destroyed.
* Some of the temples have musical pillars! They're tuned to different pitches (?) so that people could play them. 
* A rocky outcrop where we sat and watched the sun set.
* A huge wall covered in reliefs of whales and fish and crocodiles. I stood and stared and pretended that I was underwater.
* Monkeys!

Also, I got to take my first overnight train trip. D. and I caught the non-A/C sleeper out, which was just like Indian trains in the movies except that there weren't a thousand people with all of their livestock. It was actually very nice - I rather like the way each bunk feels like a little room, and everyone creates their own self-contained space. We got the airconditioned sleeper back, which I also liked, although you can't open the windows.


And today:
* Lots of teaching work and research work and feeling more on top of things, work-wise.
* Cycling to yoga and back!
* Yoga! My teacher calls me, "Eh, what's that girl's name? Graduated Bob! Graduated Bob, right leg straight!"
* PANI PURI!!! 
* Accidentally having icecream with TBD and D, who knows me too well... when I say, "Oh, I suppose I might have a bite of yours if you have one", she says, "I know what your bite is! Come on, let's get icecream!" (At the moment, I am known for my ability to eat huge amounts, and to fall asleep within a minute whenever I get a chance.)

This morning I went to yoga with my friend D, which was great - doable, but hard enough that it took all of my thinking, and left me nothing for Fretting. After breakfast (she made uppma for breakfast! I am so spoiled!) I cycled home on the awesome Indian bike D has acquired for his house/commune/office/activist centre. It is huge, and single-gear, and very solid. I am as high up as if I was standing on a chair!

Yoga + cycling + feeling a little better at Getting Around is helping me feel better about the world. And I know such lovely people here! Hangouts with D and TBD (usually when I have vowed to get an early night or spend the evening working) have been keeping me sane through my Frets, and tonight I'm going to go visit my friends R and J, who I haven't managed to see since I came here. And there are still two or three other friends (at least!) who I really want to catch up with...juggling full-time work in Australia and trying to find my feet with research here and also handling all the hassles of being in a new country* is proving challenging, but I think I'll manage it.

Plus also:
* Interesting talks (for different reasons) last night and today!
* I have so many people and organisations I want to talk to here! It is time to start organising interviews!
* I have so much stuff I want to write about!
* Bicyclesbicyclesbicyclesbicycles!


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* By this, I mostly mean: "being in a new country where your stupid bank has stopped your card, failed to communicate with you effectively about it, and then sent the new card to Australia without asking or telling you". It is turning into a hobby, in the realm of inevitably-fruitless pursuits like fly-fishing or golf or writing letters to local newspapers. The latest development is: I call Mastercard helpline to get an international emergency cash withdrawal. They say: yes! Of course! Right away! No return call. I call them back. They say: yes! Of course! Right away! Eventually they call me back with the name and address of the bank I need to go to. I go to the bank. The bank insists that not only have they not received any fax about this, but giving cash withdrawals without a card is not something they do. I call Mastercard and explain the situation, they ask to speak to the bank manager and then the line cuts out. Mastercard call me, but I can't hear them. I go home. Two hours later, Mastercard call me and say they have the name and address of the bank I need to go to. It is the same as the bank I have just gone to. I explain the situation. They say: we'll call right back.             Don't worry, though! D has said he can lend me money, and I'll transfer it to him from my account once I sort out this ridiculousness.

* The strangenesses and the people: last night we went to a photography exhibit, by surprise - I was all set to spend the evening working on an article submission. The woman we went with was kind enough to let me crash the post-exhibit drinks while my friend D. went to a family thing. We went to a jazz-themed bar, and I got an incredible sense of culture shock when I realised that despite all of the "no smoking" signs, people were smoking! inside! in a covered area! with food present! I had some lovely offers of further hangouts, including an invitation to meet a collective involved in setting up community radio stations. I might hang out with the woman we went with and D. for holi, which will be nice. I am really looking forward to some more people-time next week, including catching up with old friends, once the workshop is over. I feel very lucky to know Good People here who are helping to look after me.

* Moments in which I feel competent: I spend a lot of time in India feeling kind of useless. Everything is difficult, including carrying out research. I have a few moments, now and then, when I see how it all fits together, and how I'm doing something useful, and I carry them around with me like a security blanket.

* OMG the snacks: you guys. I get to eat masala dosa for breakfast every morning. (I'm not, though. I'm mixing it up with idlis and rava dosas and maybe some other things?) Pretty much every single thing I eat here is the Most Delicious Ever.

* Squirrels! I had forgotten there were squirrels.

...but still rather busy. I'll be back in regular communication (with those of you who I regularly communicate with) aroundthe 18th.

Family: No need to pick me up from the airport, I've arranged something. Will call the next day and tell you that I got in safely, and will see you all as soon as I've had time to catch my breath, find my feet, and wash my clothes.

all the best to everyone!

So it turns out Kale and I are not, in fact, going to Kumta (or wherever it was we were going to go), which is fine. So we can relax in Bangalore until the 8th, when we leave for Kabini. Yesterday we went to Raj and Jyothi's to say hello, which was a ridiculously pleasant way to start the day. And then got lost around Cubbon Park for a bit (my bright idea that we would walk through the park to get to MG road was undermined by my complete lack of directional sense). We played Bangalore's most popular death-defying sport for a while: trying to cross roads.

A burst of luck - we found both a cinema and a show starting in ten minutes, so we watched Om Shanti Om. I'm sure we missed some of the complexities of it - it was in Hindi without subtitles - but we managed to pick up the general thread and enjoy it.

Dinner at a lovely restaurant with live music and banana-leaf plates, and then we wandered around the Peanut Festival. Streets and streets and streets of peanuts, fortune-telling robots (photos to follow!), and random Plastic Stuff for sale.

And now time for work + breakfast + exploring!

I spent most of yesterday helping Jinen (who I'd just met) clean up his proposal for the Echoing Green fellowship, getting very enthusiastic about the whole idea in the process. The pottery that his group makes at Kumbham is absolutely wonderful. Possibly because of the sleeplessness or trying to work out the project or fun new people wandering in it ended up taking us all day to finish, so I didn't get a chance to go into Green and finish off my Stuff there.

Evening had already been booked by Akshay and Aaliyeh, which was lucky since if I hadn't already said I'd go I would have stayed at home and worked or slept. Lovely dinner at Aaliyeh's house, babbled incomprehensibly to A, A, Suresh, and some of Aaliyeh's friends who were visiting from Tamil Nadu.

My current Favourite Thing is all the little language-bits I hear. Like people from Tamil Nadu and Kerala saying "sheri" for ok, and "na?" at the end of sentences.

And now I should be working!

Checked out an article in the Economic Times about Barcamp. It's a bit weird to see myself quoted like that - "Ms C..." doesn't feel much like me.

Being white gets you a heap of privileges in most societies (including Australian society), but usually it's almost invisible (one theorist called it something like 'the invisible backpack' of Stuff you carry around with you because you're white). Here it's so blatant. It means I spend a lot of my time here feeling like a jerk, and terribly awkward.

So, I'm in Kerala right now, which is far less 'developed' than Bangalore and has more trees, more humidity, plus paintings/flagpoles etc around the place for the Communist Party that has been voted in consistently since 1957 (?). It turns out I'm staying with some friends of Kavita and Dinesh, and Dinesh is here but not the Tall Girl or Renee. And it is very barcamp-like - a spare guest house for visitors/meetings/children's playhouses, wifi, lots of conversations all at once.

And last night was Kavita's talk (which has started me off on a few parallel tracks for my thesis), and chats with Tim and a young mathematician studying at NIAS (and anyone else going), and some Bill Bailey standup for Kavita and I since we couldn't find anyone to take us out for a late movie (there are posters around Bangalore for some Kannada movie with a young women in a police uniform - I've decided that I *need* to watch it). Then up at 4 to get here! I'm sure I'm going to fall asleep in a corner sometime soon, but it looks like a good place to do it.

But I guess I should save some blogging for later, since Dinesh found this blog and is now making numerous requests for blogposts (which I will do my best to honour).

*waves*