Hampi-ing around...

I’ve only been in India for 3 weeks now, but it seemed weird that I hadn’t taken a weekend trip since I went on adventures literally every weekend in Ecuador. So my AIESEC friends and I planned an excursion to Hampi, India because we had heard great things about the little town. At first, there were 3 of us going on this trip, but when we arrived at the bus station, somehow our AIESEC Hampi group had grown to 13! All of my apartment mates and some of their project partners came along and we represented 7 different countries total… pretty cool, huh? There is no direct bus to Hampi so we took an 8-hour bus from Hyderabad to Bellary. After all my crazy South American overnight bus rides, this sleeper bus was a piece of cake – although all my inexperienced travel buddies thought the bus was too cold, too long, and too uncomfortable. They couldn’t even hold their bladders the entire 8 hours! Clearly not on my experience level… sorry guys. We arrived in Bellary at 6am and let me tell you, Bellary is the REAL India. Extremely dirty, extremely poor, and extremely sad. We met Sofia there, then piled 4 people in each auto, and drove 3 hours to Hampi for only 100 rupees per person (that’s just over $2)! The ride to Hampi was so uncomfortable, but it was beautiful – wide-open spaces, palm trees, quaint villages, and monkeys!

Once we got to Hampi, we were bombarded by men urging us to get in their taxis or buy their tour packages or stay at their hostels, which was all super annoying, but we found a great guest house off the main road for 100 rupees per person! Hampi is a small religious village located in the Vijayanagara ruins and it is filled with temples, markets, tons of creepy monkeys and amazing views! It has turned into a tourist site, but thankfully we went during down-season so we were some of the only white people there. After grabbing some lassis, we began exploring Hampi by climbing the ruins, seeing the Virupaksha Temple (Hampi’s main attraction), and enjoying the awesome weather. The views are hard to describe because I’m not sure what exactly I was looking at – a bunch of rocks spread over a massive palm tree-filled desert? Doesn’t sound too great, but the pictures are proof of how cool it was! After spending all day outside and getting the worst farmer’s tan possible, I got a 30-minute full body massage. It wasn’t the best massage ever, as I was laying on basically a tarp and I was so dirty from the day’s activities, but it was pretty darn relaxing nonetheless. After the massage and a quick shower, my friends and I went to Mango Tree for dinner. We got to walk along the river and into the jungle to the restaurant – it was so cool! – and then we sat on pillows on the ground, outside, under a gigantic mango tree and had a delicious meal. We were so tired from all the traveling, walking, and sun that we went to bed right after dinner and I had one of the best sleeps I’ve had in India!

Sunday morning we got up early and took a 4-hour bike tour in “Royal City” right outside of Hampi. We had neon colored bikes with bells and a personal guide named Jacques… it was so touristy and awesome. Four hours on a bike with a guide sounds awful, but it really was great because we got to ride through beautiful places and stopped at about 6 different temples or ruins along the way. Jacques did bore me sometimes but I learned that the reason Hampi has so many rocks is because, accordingly to legend, it was completely underwater 300 million years ago and the seafloor boulders still remain! We had a well-earned lunch after the long bike ride, shopped in the market, showered, and then headed back to Bellary to catch the bus home to Hyderabad. It was a quick trip (only about 36 hours in Hampi!), but I feel like we squeezed in everything important. A break from all the pollution and traffic of Hyderabad was fabulous and our first weekend trip was definitely a success!

Two more weeks in India then it’s on to Thailand to wreak havoc with my middle sis, can’t wait J  

laterzz, 

scm

auto ride from bellary to hampi ... beautiful! 

HAMPI! virupaksha temple on the left. 

some of the girls

meditating in zen world. 

couldn't resist ...

bike ride: Ganesha statue

ruins

being tourists :)

the Indian tourists loved this so much that they kept asking me to do handstands so they could take pictures!

you know I LOVE MONKEYS! 

indian dress up

I should’ve written this blog on Tuesday or Wednesday because I literally did nothing for those 48 hours. See, there was a taxi strike because the drivers wanted to raise the rate per kilometer so they all refused to drive for two days and all the stores and shops were shut down because they were afraid people would rebel and wreak havoc all over the city. Thanks crazy Indians for two days in lockdown! I did get some well-needed sleep and went on some nice runs around the neighborhood and planned some trips, but I was quite antsy. So, this is a 3-day work week, which is bittersweet: work is hard and tiring, but I love the kids and I realize my time in the orphanage is going to be up before I know it!

I’ll start by telling you what we did this weekend…

Teresa has two Portuguese friends who work for AIESEC in India: Sofia who works in Bangalore and Ines who just arrived and is also working here in Hyderabad. Sofia came to visit this weekend and we rescued Ines for that disgusting cockroach-infested apartment to go on some Hyderabad adventures. On Saturday, we went to the Birla Mandir Temple, a Hindi temple completely made of white marble! We had to leave everything behind before entering the temple – shoes, cameras, phones, and underwear. Kidding about the underwear, but unfortunately, cameras seriously were not allowed so I have no pics. But google it! It was absolutely beautiful and the view of all of Hyderabad was amazing! Once again, WE were the tourist attractions, but I’ve really gotten used to it at this point. That night, I was feeling very tired and a little bit sick (some of you know the reason behind that one!), so I ate some food at the apartment and went to bed early.

On Sunday, I got up early and went for a run around the neighborhood, before Teresa, Sofia, Ines, and I headed out for Charminar. Charminar (means “four towers”) is this great little market centered around the Charminar, a beautiful building actually with 4 towers. After a great adventure getting to Charminar that included a broken taxi, some walking, a few failed attempts at negotiating with taxi drivers, and a few bus rides, we made it and climbed the curly stairs of the Charminar to see an amazing view of the city. See the pictures for proof! We bought some samosas for lunch, some scarves to cover our shoulders so we could go in the temple, and then spent the rest of the day in the market. Honestly, it was not as amazing as I had hoped or as great as everyone made it out to be. Yes, it was a huge market with everything, but everything was tacky and breakable and every store had the same crap! But still, it’s a must-see in India so I am glad we went.

On Monday, Teresa, Sofia, and I showed the kids the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”. The kids are still adorable and hilarious, but man, they can be annoying! It was nice to have Sofia there - one more person to draw little pictures in the children’s notebooks! After the taxi strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, we went back to work on Thursday and it was kinda a weird day. When we arrived, all the kids were sitting in perfect rows, perfectly quiet, in clean clothes with combed hair, and the orphanage looked like it had been swept and organized… definitely not a normal occurrence! We found out that the men who built the orphanage were coming to visit, so everything and everyone had to look their best. I asked the leaders if we could sing and dance while we waited for the builders to arrive, and they looked at me like that was the most absurd question ever. Yeah how dare I suggest the kids be having fun when the orphanage builders arrive?! So we waited for the men to get there and when their car pulled up, the leaders scrambled around the orphanage and started passing out chalkboards and new reading books to a couple children here and there. It was so…what’s the word… disgusting and awful? … to watch the orphanage put on this show for the builders. But the kids got some bananas and chocolates from them, so I guess it was kinda worth the fakeness? After the weird visit from the builders, we did are typical routine of stretching and dancing. For some reason, they love to stretch and think it’s the funniest thing when I make those “getting out of bed and stretching” noises. They also love dancing to Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. We have this funny dance and seeing Indian kids singing the lyrics to J.Biebs is awesome, in my opinion.

Friday was a special day. After working at the orphanage, Teresa and I went over to Rada’s house – she is one of the women who works downstairs and calls India all day asking for donations for the orphanage, and she loves us. She took us to her house where her daughter was waiting… she didn’t go to school because we were coming over! Then Rada tried to kill us by way of over consumption: first, it was oranges, apples, and other fruits, then vegetables, then a massive pile of noodles and veggies, then a hunkin portion of rice and sauce, then more fruit. She had noticed that I didn’t finish my lunch the day before at the orphanage and made a comment that I don’t eat a lot, but I guess she didn’t get the picture, because when I said I was extremely full before I finished the pasta AND rice, she seemed surprised. Indians eat A LOT. And they serve their guests EVEN more. And they get offended when you don’t finish your meal. That was bad news for me and I apologized numerous times for physically not being able to fit more food in my stomach. After the feast, she took us to a little market store where she insisted on buying us earrings and bindis (little forehead dots), and then dressed us up in her sarees! It was fun to play dress up, but at the same time I was a little uncomfortable. Not only because her saree was cutting of the circulation in my muscular man arms, but also because I just felt too too pampered and waited on hand and foot for the entire day. Two hours after the time we said we had to leave, we finally left. It was such a nice day with Rada, but we had to run home, quickly pack our bags, and by 9:45 pm we were on the bus on our way to Hampi – my first weekend excursion in India!  

 teresa, nilu's cousin, nilu, and me at the orphanage!

 charminar.

 view from the charminar!

 in the charminar

 little kiddies

 this is what you get when you give a 5-yr old a camera...

playing indian dress up! 

All Work & Some Play

I am beat. Seriously. Mentally, physically, and emotionally I am drained. Maybe it’s because Teresa and I have been teaching and playing with and trying to control over 50 children for 5 to 6 hours everyday by ourselves, maybe its because AIESEC Hyderabad continually tries to push my buttons, or maybe its because I’ve only been sleeping a few hours a night in 90+ degree weather on a piece of wood. I guess it’s a combination of all three. At times this week I have been in the best of spirits, at other times I’ve wanted to cry, at other times I’ve wanted to punch people, and at other times I’ve been laughing at how many things have gone wrong… an emotional roller coaster to say the least.

I’ll give you the low down on work at the orphanage:

Remember how I said I didn’t think I could make much of a difference by simply playing with the kids and teaching them a few new words here and there for 6 weeks? Well, I was wrong. I feel like I have already made a huge difference in these kids’ lives. Teresa and I usually start the class by having the kids stretch and touch their toes and clap their hands, simple exercise like that, but man do they think it is the best thing in the world (that’s probably why I love working with kids – anything I do, they think is so cool or smart or funny; a total ego booster). Then we dance around the orphanage to Justin Bieber or Britney Spears or the Macarena or all 3, and then follow up the dance sesh with some “Itsy Bitsy Spider” action. After we get some of their energy out, we do some real teaching. From world geography, to English to math – we teach it all – and we have learned that using the laptop and blackboard together is the best plan. The kids think the laptop is the coolest thing ever, so, for example, Teresa will pull up a picture of a basketball and hoop on the laptop and the kids yell out what sport they think it is as I write on the board and they write it in their notebooks. After lunch and some more dancing and games, we do individual teaching, which means the children bring up their notebooks and we write exercises in whatever subject they want to work on. “Madam, drawings drawings!” is the most popular request I get, so I spend a lot of the day drawing pictures of cars, houses, animals, fruits and the children write the word in English. I’m out of ideas so if you have any more ideas of little pictures I could draw, please send them my way!

The most difficult thing about work is trying to keep the attention of all 50+ kids, ranging from age 3 to 12. Really is there an activity that 3 year olds up to 12 year olds would all enjoy? It’s hard, especially since we have very little help from the orphanage workers, but at the same time, it’s awesome, because Teresa and I are in charge when we are there. Another task we are still trying to deal with is the beatings and physical punishment by the adults. The adults beat the kids with sticks and because of this, the kids think it is okay to beat each other. It’s not the kids’ faults, they do not know better, and they simply see the beating sticks as a sign of power and control. I got in a fight with the Founder this week because I saw him pulling the ears of a 3-year old because the kid licked his chalkboard instead of cleaning it with his hand. I told the Founder he was fat, stupid, ignorant, abusive, and did not deserve to run an orphanage. No no no I didn’t really say that but I sure was thinking it! We have come to an agreement: they will try not to beat the kids when we are there, and in return we will teach the kids discipline and morals. I just agreed to this because I could not stand to talk to this awful human being anymore, but really, who does he think he is telling me I need to teach the kids morals? He is the one showing the kids that hitting is the only way to solve problems. Ugh I could go on and on all day, but I wont. All I will say is this issue will continue to bother me every day, but hey, at least when we are there, the abuse is not. 

So not only do I feel like I have taught the kids A LOT, but I feel like I have become one of the first adults in their lives that they love, trust, can count on, and look up to – and that makes me feel very good.

Teresa and I have fallen into a pretty nice routine. After working at the orphanage, we usually walk over to the local market, pose with Indians who are amazed at the paleness of our skin, and buy some tea and fruit or samosas for under 20 rupees (that’s like 50 cents for delicious food)! On Tuesday, after work and the market, Teresa and I went to Golconda Fort (it means “Shepherd’s Hill” in Telugu)– a touristy place that was mentioned in the top 10 things to see in Hyderabad. The 13th century Golconda Fort was built by the Kakatiya kings and then was later made into a massive fort with granite walls by Qutub Shahi Kings. It has 8 gates, 87 bastions, and this really cool acoustics / sound transference thing that allows claps heard at the entry gate to be heard clearly at the top of the hill! We posed with more Indians and got to see an amazing sunset over all of Hyderabad. On Wednesday night, we got in touch with our sensitive sides. The lady who lives downstairs is kinda like a minister and leads meditation every morning and night. So from 6 to 7:30 we sat in a calm room, staring at a red light, and listening to soothing music and sometimes I have difficulty focusing (or not focusing) on my thoughts, but this time, I felt fabulous! Mediation was followed by a super delicious Indian meal made by the minister and then some skype dates with friends and fam. After work and the market on Thursday, we went into the City Centre to see an Indian band called Phoenix perform. They did covers of songs that I love – including Bob Marley and The Cranberries – they were very good and had probably one of the best guitarists I’ve heard in a while! We also met some really cool people from AIESEC there and got our picture taken for the newspaper, so it was a pretty successful night. But Friday was a pretty tough day. Not only was it sooooo hot, all the kids wanted to do was hang on me and touch me and hit each other and wipe their grimy hands on the computer, but on top of that, it started monsooning while Teresa and I were in the auto with no windows so we got absolutely stoked! And all I wanted to when I got home was take a shower and relax and go to sleep early, but no. Instead, the AIESEC boys gave us a little surprise by telling us we were moving to a new apartment at 8pm THAT night. He said it would be nicer living conditions and closer to our place of work. So we packed up, headed out, and 300 rupees/ 45 minutes later, we were at our new house. AND SURPRISE: it was worse than we imagined! The girls living there said they hadn’t had running water in 7 days, there was so kitchen / refrigerator and the closets place to eat was 15 minutes down a dangerous road, there were no beds for us, and there were cockroaches everywhere! This is when I started laughing because there was absolutely no way this could be real life, like why would AIESEC ever let their interns live in a place like this? We told AIESEC we would stay the night there, but in the morning – adios awful apartment – we were going back to our original apartment, where we had showers and beds and food.

That’s the weekly update! It’s been a rollercoaster ride thus far, but AIESEC promised an unforgettable experience filled with leadership opportunities and excitement so at least they are following through with that part of the deal.

Peace, love, and roaches,

Shannon  

 soni, rhani, and me

 view from golconda fort

 madam and the boys

 birthday surprise at the orphanage

 the phoenix performing at hard rock

 peace & love baby

riding in the auto in the flood