Gitam Unviersity and Sand Crabs

So, yesterday there wasn't a blog post for two reasons:

1) It was a long and busy day

2) I don't really have an excuse other than we didn't make it to the cafe...

Anyway, my adventures yesterday dealt with tagging along with the public health students and the beach. We had a bit of a full day. We first went to Gitam University Hospital. One of their main sources, a man called Dr. Prabrakah (?) had invited us to come visit the hospital that he is helping with. It's still being built at the moment, but some of it is in operation already. They are also building a medical college to be right next to the hospital as well that will house 150 students and they'll be able to do their residency at the Gitam Hospital. That is impressive, as is the hospital itself. It's going to be 12 stories high, as well as have measures in place to move their patients from floor to floor in case the power goes out, which happens quite a lot here. It's already gone out twice today.

Anyway, after Gitam Hospital, we went to Gitam University to our translator, Suddha's, house for lunch. Her and her husband, Dr. Krishnayya's brother, had invited us to lunch with them, and boy, did they provide us a lunch of a life time. They literally fed us till we were stuffed and then some. We first had a really delicious vegetable soup, then these pieces of chicken. We then had a mutton and chicken roll-up. It resembled a burrito, other than the fact that it was Indian. After that came the main course of rice, always, and several sauces/meats that we mix into the rice to eat. It was delicious, but a lot of food. They take lunch here very seriously, it's their biggest meal of the day. And then we had fruit salad and ice cream for dessert. That was lunch!!! It seemed, quite literally, a feast! And it was delicious! I love the food here. It's cool though, you are expected to usually eat with your right hand here. Your left hand shouldn't touch your food, as your left hand is thought to be dirty, nor should it touch the serving bowl, spoon, or anything else for that matter really. So, Richard, you might have a little bit of trouble trying to eat here. ;)

After that delicious, delicious, lunch, we headed back to the apartments, took a shower, which felt great! Then we all headed to the beach. Funny story first though. On the way home from Suddha's we actually got a ride from the Gitam Hospital Ambulance. So image Sallaja and Gowri's worry when an ambulance pulls up in front of the house and we start piling out of it. Sallaja and Gowri are Durga's helpers, just so you know. But once we explained that we were just riding in it, that no one was actually hurt, they both started cracking up. I love it when they love, they just let it all out, it's just fun to laugh and get them to laugh. :) 

So, the beach. There's a beach within walking distance here, and everyone takes advantage of it. Now, let me tell you something. The first time we went, it was late in the afternoon of a very hot day and I was very cranky. So this time, I really didn't want to go, but I did so anyway. I am glad that I did. It was worth it this time. We left for the beach at about 4:00 4:30 yesterday afternoon and walked the beach. It's about a 15-20 minute walk, and we have to go through a beautiful park to do so. We ended up taking a lot of pictures, both in the park and at the beach. It's cool though, I told you that people here love taking pictures with us and shaking our hands, right? Well, in the park, a man pulled his two little boys up to us and asked us to shake their hands. We did so, then he asked if we could take a picture with them. It was kind of cute, as the littlest boy didn't want to shake our hands or take a picture with us. :) Then once we got down to the beach, Oliver was taking pictures of Lizzie, Kendra, and I and another family, a mother this time, brought up her two little girls to take pictures with us. Only this time, I took the pictures, as did Oliver, and we just showed her the pictures. So if you even just show them the pictures here, they're happy. It's pretty cool.

A really cool, old Lighthouse that they have
on the beach. It's not in use anymore, but it
looks awesome!

We then walked about the beach, taking pictures and being dorks. Just doing things that everyone does at the beach, and we finally found Weston and Jamie. We had gotten separated from them in the park, but we all ended up near the lighthouse that is one the beach there. So we took pictures of everyone and just enjoyed our time there. By the time we started heading back, it was getting dark and the crabs were coming out. There were sand crabs EVERYWHERE! They're the same colour as the sand, right? So you can just barely see

them, especially with the light leaving. But it was cool to just watch them scurry out of the way as we walked along to beach back to the park. There was a funny part though. The sand crabs are usually pretty good at moving out of the way so as not to get stepped on. But one moved in the exact wrong direction, and Jamie stepped on it! I have no idea why I thought that was funny, but it was! Jamie had stepped on crab. :)

I'm glad to tag along with the health students whenever possible, but I'm actually starting up on my own work now. I had my first interview today with a man named Dr. Sutta Paul. He's an anthropology professor at Andhra University and he's very interested in the caste system, and knows a lot about it, but he does not like it. he's very much against the caste system. But he is helping me understand how it works and what sorts of things happen in cross-caste marriage and what sorts of cross-caste marriages are allowed more often than others. He's going to be an excellent source for my project.

So that was a lot of adventures yesterday, and the beach was awesome!

Talk to you soon,

Ashley

Picture Time

I figured I should try and upload some pictures today. That way everyone can see what it is that I'm doing here. At least some of what I'm doing. And don't worry, I'll be adding more pictures as time goes on! :)

Talk to you soon,
Ashley :)

There are other girls that I am sharing an apartment with:
Kendra on the left, Lizzie in the center, and Jamie with
Momoksha on the right. They're all working on a diabetes
project with one of the guys, Oliver.

Temple at Momoksha's rice feeding ceremony

Durga, our cook, wearing her new apron that we gave
her as a gift.

This is Siddhu and he's Durga's oldest boy. 

Two skulls of an adult baleen whale and a baby baleen
whale that we saw that the department at Zoology at Andhra
University, where one of our translators, Suddha, works.

This is Oliver, the guy working on the diabetes project with
the girls that I share an apartment with. He's standing in
front of the Sai Baba temple. It's across the street from the
house of one of my informants.

CATTLE!!! There are literally cows, cattle, water buffalo, just
about everywhere here! It's kind of cool, you just have to watch
your step to make sure you don't step in a cow pie... O.o

Andhra University and FINALLY!!! a Rain Storm

So this was my adventure yesterday. Me and three of the other students here actually went to the local university here, Andhra University to meet some of the other public health and anthropology students that could help us with our research. It was really cool, as I was actually able to talk to college age students about cross-caste marriages. It's works a lot differently than I initially thought it would, but that's why I'm here, to learn what is actually happening. And I also got invited to an cross-caste marriage ceremony that will be happening later this month. I'm excited to go, as I'll be able to see an actual wedding ceremony and then ask is there are any differences compared to an endo-caste marriage, which is what our translators have. So this was excellent to do, make contacts with some of the local students as well as find out what it is that they are studying at the moment.

Me and some local boys after
the rainstorm

That was the main adventure, but what made yesterday really nice was that we actually had a rain storm roll into town. It was nice and cool for the rest of the day. It started at about mid-afternoon and only went for about half an hour, but it cooled off for the rest of the day. So much so that I wasn't sweating at all for the last few hours of the day, which is an amazing accomplishment here. And my shower, well, if you can call dumping water on yourself from a bucket a shower, was actually a little bit cold at first, but then I got used to the water again. The showers usually aren't bad, as we can't wait to just pour water on us as it's so hot, but last night I was a bit hesitant to do so at first but then I got over it. And I was able to go to sleep and stay asleep without feeling like I'm just laying there sweating through everything either. So it was a better night than most. I hope that it rains more often, which is will once monsoon season comes, but I would like for it to rain more before then.

Sorry for the short post today, not a lot going on. But some days will be like that, which is okay. Not everything in life has to be a race. Which is something that I can live with.

Talk to you soon,

Ashley

Money Changing and Driving Like an Indian

Yep, that was my adventure yesterday. I had to exchange some dollars for rupees so I went there Indian style. Hanging onto the back of a moped and lots of honking in traffic. It was really kind of fun actually. I was riding on the back of Dr. Nuckolls's moped and something that I noticed as we were driving to the bank was that people here honk differently. Let me explain. People in America honk to say "move out of the way moron!" whereas people here, for the most part, honk to say "I'm here, don't hit me." It's more of an alert system then a show people how pissed off you are system.

And changing money was really interesting. I had to fill out forms, show them my passport, give them my bills, they gave me a brass token, I then had to take the brass token to a teller and he would give me money. So a lot longer process to exchange money here than in the United States. But there was air conditioning in the bank, so I was okay with that. :)

I also met my first contact yesterday for my research project which is great! I was able to meet and talk to him as well as get a lot of information to start off. I'll be meeting with him later in the week in order to keep talking to him as well as others that he, and Krishnayya-garu, have thought of that I can talk to. So I'm off to a great start.

So yeah, that was my adventure yesterday. I'll have to see what today brings!

Talk to you soon,
Ashley

P.S. I'll upload pictures as soon as possible! Promise!

Momoksha's Rice Feeding Ceremony

Yes, that's right, a rice feeding ceremony!

So yesterday was interesting! We were able to go to an old Hindu temple for Momoksha's rice feeding ceremony. Momoksha is the baby of Durga, the cook, and Ranju, the laundry man. Momoksha is about 6 or 7 months old. Hindu's have this ceremony where they bless the baby and his family and this is where they set up objects that he will crawl to that will represent his life and they feed him his first rice. It's almost like a baby blessing in our religion. But before we got to all of that, we actually got to go inside the inner sanctum of the temple where the shrine of the god Krishna, I think, was. Not many people get to do that, and those that do either have to pay a lot of money to do so or have very influenctial friends. Which is what we had, a friend of Dr. Nuckolls was able to arrange it so that we could go in.

Once inside, we listened to a ceremony that I think had to do with the birthday of the god, so it was a longer ceremony than usual. We were also blessed by the temple priests.

When that was done, we headed outside to a pillar, that Dr. Nuckolls said that when you hug it, it's supposed to bless you with many pregnancies. That was interesting to participate in as well, as you have to hug the pillar, then they said that if you hold a wish in your hear when they bless you again, your wish will come true.

After the pillar hugging, we headed to the area where we could watch Momoksha's rice feeding ceremony. Now that was really cool! We all sat around as the temple priest went through the ritual, blessing Momoksha and his family, as well as Momoksha's future. When he was done with that, Sallaja, one of the servants that works for the house, set up a series of objects when Momoksha would crawl towards and pick. The first three that he picked would be what influenced his life. It was cool to see that he was actually looking at everything to see what they were before he chose them. The first three that he picked were money, a book and pen, and flowers. The money represents him going after money, or having money in his life. The book and pen represents knowledge, and the flowers represent the appreciation of beauty. So he did really well. And you could tell that everyone, even those just walking by, were really getting into the ceremony. When Momoksha chose the objects everyone was cheering. I think it scared him a little as he pouted when everyone started to cheer. But he's such a happy baby! And so cute!

We were also intereviewed by three journalists yesterday! Which was kind of cool. Well, not really interviewed, but we had our pictures taken and one of them showed up online. I hopefully will be able to get a hold of it so that you can see.

So yeah, that was my day! I hope that everything is going well with everyone else!

Talk to you soon,
Ashley

Holy Crap! Guess Where I Am????

Yes, if you guessed INDIA! then you are correct! I am officially in India and I have been for about two days now. And let's just say that a lot has happened in the past two days...well, five days, if you count the days that I traveled.

So on Thursday, May 8th I left Provo, UT and stated my journey that would eventually land me in here in Vizag, India. I first went to Chicago, where I would catch a 15 hour plane flight to Hyderabad, India. But I first had to spend the night in Chicago. Let's just say that I wish I had taken my husband's advice and stayed in a hotel for that night, but I am stubborn and didn't. I didn't sleep much that night and so was very tired. Once on the plane, I figured that I would sleep once I was on the plane....NOPE! I watched four movies, ate three airplane meals, read my book, napped some, and looked out the window. Not necessarily in that order either.

After we landed in Hyderabad, I again had to wait over night in an airport for the plane that would take me to Vizag. That wait wasn't as bad, as it was only for a few hours, but I had a desperate need for sleep...I really needed sleep, but I didn't. I stayed up and finished my second book, The Book Thief. Now that was a good book. And the plane ride to Vizag from Hyderabad was only about an hour, so not too bad at all. But my first day in India was May 11th. It took me three days to get to India, but I got here safe and sound. And once I got over the fact that I was in India, it was pretty great actually. I think I'm going to love it here, but when the time comes, I'll be excited to go back home.

But my first day in India was May 11th, Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day Momma!!!

I was able to borrow Dr. Krishnayya's, the professor here that helps with the India Study Abroad program, phone and call home. As I didn't want to use all of his minutes, I just called to say hi and that I had made it to India and to wish my mom a happy Mother's Day. I really hope that she did have a good one. After that, we had lunch and while the others went to church, I went back to the apartment and slept. I slept for about 5 hours as when I woke up, it was time for dinner. As the staff that helps out with the program doesn't work on Sundays, Dr. Nuckolls took all of us out to eat at a nearby restaurant.

But before we went out to eat, we actually went and participated in a Krishna temple ceremony that was happening down the street. That was interesting actually, there was a lot of singing by the men, we walked in a circle around the shrine, we then drank holy water and had some sort of rice pudding and a type of rice called Tiger's Food. The last part was my favorite, but that was because I was hungry.

Now the food at the temple and the restaurant was excellent! I love the food here, it's spicy and it's also healthy. I'm pretty sure that this will most likely be the time when I'll eat the healthiest food. After we ate we headed back to the apartment and I promptly feel back asleep. Didn't wake up till about 6:30 this morning.

Now today, we had our first Telugu class. What struck me as most interesting about that was that it behaves a lot like Navajo. Just let me explain, and you'll understand. Navajo is a tonal language; Telugu is a tonal language. Navajo uses a single word to describe something, like "younger brother" for example; Telugu also uses a single word to say "younger brother." I think I'll have an easier time with Telugu that I thought I would.

We also went out shopping as I needed native clothes and it just gives us a chance to get to know our translators. As soon as I learn to spell their names correctly, I'll tell you. I also got some really pretty clothes. Once I have pictures, I promise to upload them so that you can see how beautiful they are. If that's one thing a fashionista would like about India, they have wonderful and admirable clothes here.

And now I'm in an Internet cafe writing this blog entry up. I hope this gives you a slight idea of my life here.

Talk to you soon,
Ashley :)

Easter Morning

Today was Easter Sunday, and while my husband and I didn't do eggs, or a big fancy dinner or anything like that, it was still a beautiful day. This morning as I walked to church, the sun was still behind the mountains, so it wasn't supper warm yet, there were clouds in the sky that looked like they had rain in them, the birds were chirping and saying hello, and it was just so calm and peaceful. It's mornings like this that I think are like the morning when Christ was resurrected. While the sunny, beautiful spring mornings are wonderful for Easter Sunday, it's the mornings that are little bit covered in clouds, the sun barely rising, that reminds me more of Easter than anything else really.

Easter Morning

The most wonderful thing to me about Easter is that it was the day that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, was resurrected after three days in the tomb. He had died to pay for our sins, and he did so through the Atonement. I think this is part of the reason I like mornings like this. While it's not all bright and sunshiney, it is still a calm morning, a peaceful morning. I know I've said this a lot, but this, to me, is a morning where it doesn't seem like a lot has happened, something has. The day is new, the sun is rising, and there hasn't been a lot to show the world that something spectacular has happened, that's the beauty of it; something spectacular has happened. The Lord is risen, and he has broken the bands of death. We will be able to live again, and be able to live with him and our Heavenly Father again. All of this because of what he did for us, dying for our sins, and then rising again the third day. I do believe this to be true!

So...yeah, that is my Easter Sunday. I hope that everyone had a great day and that your Easter Sunday was an enjoyable one where ever you live!

Talk to you soon,
Ashley