Saturday, November 26, 2005

We all do it...

We were saddened by the news of the death of our family's matriarch. We found out in Sikkim and came back a couple of days early to be with the family and pay our respects (by nodding our heads and making sad faces because we can't speak the language). Boju, as she was called, lived to the over-ripe age of 98. She had 6 kids (one had passed away), 17 grandkids, and 3 great grandkids.
The two of us were fortunate to have met her and talk to her several times. She seemed like a great woman. She loved to smoke bidis (tobacco rolled in tobacco), and drink whisky according to the family, so I'll go out on a limb and say that she had a pretty good run. Both vices lead to early demises in the US (and everywhere for that matter), so Boju did alright.
We were privy to a "witch-doctor" or chakra as they call it, "talk" to her soul while he was pulsating to the beat of a drum and cymbals. It was wild, man! He was convulsing and jumping around a small shrine as the drum beats increased in intensity. Chanting and moving like a cheerleader (seriously, he had two batons), supposedly he contacted her spirit and acted as a "middle-man" for the 50 people in the room. It was powerful for the family, and they were really into it. I thought it would climax in some crazy revelation, or a ritual sacrifice, but apparently from beyond the grave Boju only wanted her nose-ring and some clothes. Easy enough, right?
The way the death is handled here is so different than back home. It's hard to put into words. Some of it is beautiful and some seems so archaic. It's never, ever, easy.

Sikkim recap



We're finally back from Sikkim, which proved to be a bittersweet visit after hearing the news about our family's grandmother. Despite the impending bummer of a return trip looming over our heads the entire time, it was really nice. Sikkim is easily the most beautiful place I've ever seen, and for someone who places mountains and "greenery" above all else in the pantheon of nature, it was pure bliss. Almost the entire state is far above a mile high, and the only parts that are less are some of the corridors between the steep peaks (and I mean steep) which two gorgeous rivers flow through. The northern half of the state houses the natural skyscrapers they call mountains, which are for lack of a better term, opressively large. On a clear day, practically any photo of the place would make a National Geographic photographer salivate. Unfortunately for us though, after a month and a half of crystal clear weather we witnesses mother nature at her least-sexiest. It rained each night, effectively soaking the ground enough to fog everything up when the hot noonday sun warmed it. We saw the mountains for about 15 minutes, at about 5:30 in the AM. Luckily our opportunity came at the right time. We were in West Sikkim about 20km from Mt. Pandim and Mt. Narsing (both much higher than 20,000 ft). In our travels we met so many wonderful people, most notably a couple from Switzerland who were super funny and very interesting. We tagged along with them for awhile in West Sikkim, and they didn't razz us too hard about being Americans (neither did the guys from Belgium that we ate dinner with. The Middle Eastern couple on the other hand....).

First we were in Gangtok, which could have doubled as a mountain town in Europe. It felt completely different than Darjeeling and Kalimpong. It was huge! The city spanned the entire ridge of a hill at about 2000km. It was much cleaner than the West Bengal hill towns due to vigilance on the part of the government (remember, Sikkim is a different state) and also was much less noisy. In short, it was city life. The people weren't as haggard looking as the K-pong folks, due to the fact that they've been educated and work in offices, not fields all the live-long day. It was a nice respite from the "minor" chaos of Kalimpong. West Sikkim was much more rural and undeveloped. There was hardly anything there, and minus the trekkers (and their cash) that flood the area to get closer to the massive peaks, it would be hard to imagine how poor the area would be. It was truly spectacular, though. God's country indeed. Maybe (s)he should shoulder the blame for the fog and clouds. Truth is, even clouds couldn't tarnish the natural mystique of this largely untouched land.

Anywoo, check out the pictures. One is me standing on the edge of a road that sits above a 1 mile plus drop-off. The one of the two of us is from Changu Lake, which is situated a head-spinning 12,500 ft+ above sea level. See the snow? It was bloody freezing up there.

I have a bunch of pictures that I think are cool that you may or may not also enjoy. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the connections here are dreadfully slow. When I get home, I'll empty out my memory cards onto flicker or one of those online photo album dealies and I'll list the url here.

12 days left in K-pong! Then onto Phase Two in the South. Then Boston. See you on Xmas Eve?

Friday, November 18, 2005

Road Trip

The kids have exams next week so we're taking off for 7 days to Sikkim to pursue the Sikkimese Dream and hopefully avoid getting Acute Mountain Sickness. It just occurred to me that we'll be on the road for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, not for the commemoration of the raping and pillaging of indigenous people, but because so many people often come home and meet up. So in my absence, I hope everyone is doing well. How is the weather in Boston nowadays (or wherever you may be)?

I'll try to post some pictures of Sikkim if I have time. If not, I certainly will when I get back to K-pong.
Much love,
Matt and Jenna

Monday, November 14, 2005

Gompas






























We've had the opportunity to hang out in quite a few gompas, or Buddhist temples, in the area. While we were in Darjeeling, we visited one the 70 Japanese Peace Pagodas strewn about around the world. *Funny* When we walked into the temple, the first thing I noticed was a picture of the Peace Pagoda in Leverett, MA near Northampton. There was a poster commemorating the inauguration of it, and it adorned the wall of the Darjeeling one. Which was gorgeous by the way. Oh yeah, we got to play drums with the monks during a prayer in the temple which was something you don't get to do everyday.
The 2 other pics are of gompas in Kalimpong, our homebase. Both of them are way up in the hills and have a sense of serenity and beauty that is quite unmatched and tangible. There is not an overwhelming Buddhist presence in K-pong, but my favorite spots are without a doubt the Buddhist temples. I'm not about to get religious, but the Eastern faiths are definitely the way to go (not just because of the pretty buildings).

(l to r) the inside of the Tripai gompa in K-pong, the Japanese Peace Pagoda in Darjeeling, and the Durpin Gompa in Kalimpong

Impromptu Hindu

Our fam threw us a curveball this weekend and sprung an all day God-fest on us this past Sunday. Normally these Hindu holidays, or Hindlidays, are fine and dandy. This time we had one day's notice and absolutely zero explanation of what was expected of us and what we were doing. The past two religious affairs we've been able to enjoy from the comforts of home, leaving little room for embarrassment. This time it was very public. It's pretty obvious that we're outsiders, and Jenna and I have grown to stomach the stares somewhat, but this time it was really bothering us. We were really irked by our family's negligence of instruction. Neither of us knew why we were there or what to do while there. It turns out that, we also had to prepare food for upwards of 400 people (we think, we dipped out very early) after the pomp and circumstance of the prayers and tika procession (which is when a mark is put on the forehead).
Long story short, people laughed at us constantly, I burned my fingertips on 700 pieces of fried dough, there was no drinkable water, and, well...whatever. It was crappy. Even the people who we know are nothing but nice seemed to get under our skin.
Jenna thinks it's a language thing, and she's probably right. We both took it a little too personally, but all in all it was a crappy day. It's too bad too, because all of our students were there and we didn't even get to say "hey". Later in the day we found out it was all for world peace, which is a cause worthy of a few charred fingertips.

Friday, November 11, 2005

I heart Avril

Being the music freak that I am, I came here with a sponge like mind hoping to scoop up some Eastern tunes that I'd otherwise never hear. I really enjoy sitar and tablas (which are Indian instruments, you ignorant Americans) and already own some albums with fine representations of both. Thank god I brought my Ipod, because there is little to no evidence of either in the music that is popular up where we are. First, I think that the breed of people up here have a collective disdain for all things "Indian". As I have said before, the majority are Nepalis and have been actively pursuing secession from West Bengal for years (a la Quebec and as many of you may have not known, Vermont). With this sense of nationalism comes a culture that is much more noticable than most. Unfortunately, with this pride comes crappy pop music that is played virtually everywhere you go. I even saw a "rap" video of some Nepali dude beboppin' and scattin' in front of a Kawasaki Ninja (which I guess is as close to Lincoln Navigators as they got during the video shoot). It was very derivative of any American rap video you're likely to see on MTV, except anything by Juvenile which is pure genious.
Everything else is some watered down rendition of top 40 stuff you'd hear on any radio station in the US.

As for the rest of the subcontinent, it don't get much better. (OK, I should be fair. All of this ballyhoo is based on the 30 minutes of TV I watch per day and whatever music that the jeep driver that is driving us into town is listening to at the time). The song of the year by far has a chorus that rings "Just Chill Chill" for like 6 minutes. I guess this has had a long shelflife too, says Dinesh. It's been around for a year.
I've heard that Calcutta is really the place to be for live music and music in general, and we'll be there in a month for several days. As for the American music that has made landfall, well, let's just say that if Avril Lavigne ever performed here it would be like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan for the first time. Her mug is on posters aplenty. She doesn't get the t-shirt representation that rappers get though. 50 Cent is everywhere. So much so that one would be lead to believe that the shirts were issued by the government as some sort of cross culturalization experiment. What crosses borders from American shouldn't really come as a surprise to me considering all the money that goes into popular artists nowadays, but it's disconcerting nonetheless. There is so much other music that I'd like to share with these people that only know America as the place that spawned the G-Unit.

Not all hope is lost from my end. There has been a "80's metal renaissance" which is totally awesome. I feel like I'm 9 years old again. One of the cousins in my family tossed in "Be Quick or Be Dead" by Iron Maiden at our family function on one of the holiest days of the year!!! It didn't last long as the elders quickly nixed it, but that "metal attitude" is still alive and well in the Far East.
Rock on.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

getaway



After Diwali, we needed a break and took off to the other side of the enormous valley we overlook to a place called Kaffer. It was nice to get away from home for a night and the town itself was really quiet and cute. It sits atop a 6000' ridge and has gorgeous views of the mountains to the north.
The hill we live on is in the forefront of the picture. We're smack dab in the middle (well, slightly to the left of center) of it. The mountains are in Sikkim, the tiny Indian state about 40 minutes to the north of us, and Tibet, which still needs to be freed I've heard.

This Week in God




For three wonderfully loud days this past week, we were lucky enough to be considered Hindus and join in on the fun of Diwali, the "other" festival of lights. It really is quite the production. Dinesh and I spent about 8 hours preparing the house with lavish decorations, and we made a makeshift railing out of bamboo spanning the length of the front patio to put oil lamps on. Jenna was on marigold duty (she strung about 2 million of them onto long strings which lined all of the doorways of the house.) Lots of flowers, loads of lights (which were beautiful at night), deafening fireworks, too much food, funny hats, and singing and dancing all were incorporated over the course of the festival. I truly feel fortunate to have been able to play along with my family, because the Hindus do festivals the right way. It's all about family and fun (and celebrating the triumph of good over evil; click here if you really want to know what it's all about). None of the nonsense that is inherent in exchanging gifts. It was very ceremonial and proper. That's not to say that I wasn't glad it was over. Every night we had to suffer through the Hindu version of Christmas carols which kept us up real late. It was funny at first, but after 5 hours each evening I'd had enough. On the last night, it was my turn to go house to house and sing. I accompanied a rag-tag group of guys, young and old, and we tore it up. People seemed to enjoy the idea of a goofy American guy trying to sing in Nepali, and trying even harder to dance. At least there are no incriminating photos. All in all, it was like nothing I've ever taken part in. It sure beats Christmas. But be sure to have the gifts ready when I get back. ;)

Oh yeah, in the tradition on Christmas, and Festivus there was a Diwali miracle. The lights stayed on everynight with the exception of one minor 10 minute outage even though each house was using 4 times the electricity as it would normally.