Snip Snip...

In preparation for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which is akin to their "high holidays", I decided to get my mop of a head trimmed. I'm starting to look like a hobo with the 3 changes of clothes that i brought with me, so a nice new shirt and a haircut did me well. It turns out an "Indian Haircut" is not all that different from a "Chinese Massage", albeit with a much less happy ending. After getting a straight edge shave on my neck, the barber proceeded to closed-fist punch me on the head for about a minute and a half. My guess is that it is considered a pleasant massage type motion, but it hurt like hell. Also, I didn't see any of the other Indian guys getting their hair cut get pounded in the dome after their trims. Maybe it was in retaliation for those stupid Ice Cube movies about barbershops. Anyhooo, Happy Halloween.

I'll let everyone know how Diwali goes. Should be interesting. Last Hindu festival found us getting milk curd and rice plastered on our heads for about 8 hours. This sounds like it should be fun though. Singing and dancing and the like...

Mediocrity knows no borders....

It's sort of funny to see Yankees gear in the far reaches of the world. Especially a part of the world that hardly knows what baseball is. I guess the logo itself has reached a sort of "iconic" status by now. This poor fellow says that he, "hasn't had a good night's sleep since Steinbrenner failed to ink Chuck Knoblauch in 2001". You can tell. Not all fans are as die hard as he is though. The only reason the "NY" is one of the hottest American imports since Nirvana (which seemed to arrive here last month), is because 50 Cent dons one on the T-shirt that is worn by 80 percent of males ages 13-28 here. Yes, the G-Unit crew is represented to the fullest in Kalimpong.

Fear not Bostonians. I've spotted a few BoSox hats around town and in Darjeeling proving that "Cultural Imperialism" isn't as unethical as everyone thinks it is.

1 month and counting

It's been a month, and I think that due to the nature of the trip and the relative "newness" everyday seems to bring, I feel like I've almost forgotten about the first couple of weeks. I failed to take many pictures of Delhi, for fear of being "stared to death". Also, we were running around trying to avoid being hit by cars and robbed, most of the time. Come to think of it, we only saw one thing that was picture worthy anyway (which I got a few of, but won't post).For a huge city, the locals did not seem all that warm to tourists. I should be fair. We didn't really give it a chance. We only really spent 2 days there and were so encumbered by jet lag, we didn't really "tourist" as much as we should. Part of the reason why we went there was to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal (the wonder of the world, not casino). It turns out that it's closed to foreigners on Fridays, which our sleazy train ticket attendant neglected to mention. Luckily we caught it in one of our books and had time to change the ticket to go to Chandigarh, which was about 4 hours north.
Chandigarh was the first planned city in India and was designed by Le Corbusier, who, if you took Art History classes in college, should recognize designed those structurally awkward churches in the French countryside that looked like sailboats and some monolithic government buildings around the world. Being a planned city, all of the streets followed the same layout and the entire city was divided into sectors. I thought that it was horribly monotonous, and felt like I was traveling in circles the whole time, but it was nice. It was actually considered to be one of the wealthier cities in the country. The people were ok, and I met my first Indian friend named Deepanshu. He studies there.
While there we went to a famous Rock Garden that, surprisingly seemed more of a Tim Burton prop-lot than anything. The man who built it was a city worker cum artist who did it secretly for like 10 years. It was so much fun. There were thousands and thousands of little rock creatures and people and the layout was sprnikled with giant man made waterfalls, streams and cliffs. It was enormous too. Way bigger than I expected. The website for it, which surely does it more justice than I could, is www.nekchand.com
These are just 2 of the pics I got.

P.S. So, did Karl Rove get thrown out on his rear yet? I think I heard something of the sort during my 3 minutes of news watching a week.

From Saltzberg...

File this one under, "I Hope No Republicans Read My Blog". This has absolutely nothing to do with me being in India, but was sent to me and made me laugh. Hard.

Think this one through very carefully. Please search your soul before answering this. This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation inwhich you will have to make a decision. Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. Please scroll down slowly and give due consideration to each line.
THE SITUATION
You are in New Orleans to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are photo journalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.You're trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.
THE TEST
Suddenly you see a man in the water. He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer. Somehow the man looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is. It's the President, George W. Bush. At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him under forever.You have two options- you can save the life of the President,or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting thedeath of one of the world's most famous men.
THE QUESTION
Here's the question, and please give an honest answer.......Would you select high contrast colour film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

Back to K-pong...

Wasn't that the name of a lousy Kevin Spacey movie about an alien kid? If not, I'm sure it's the name of radio station west of the Mississippi. Anyway, we're back in Kalimpong after our brief sojourn to the one of India's most popular vacation spots, Darjeeling. Gone are the luxuries of hot water, constant electricity, tasty food joints, thousands of tourists (thank God) and perhaps most difficult to bid adieu to, broadband . After about a month of living off the fat of the land, I've realized to what extent I am a product of the information age. I can't live without broadband. I'm going crazy. I don't need hot water, television, a cell phone or anything like that. Dial up sucks.
Kalimpong is similar to Darjeeling in terms of the landscape and the makeup of the population. It's a hill station that overlooks gorgeous valleys on the cusp of the Himalayas. The majority of inhabitants are Nepali, Tibetan and Indian. The striking difference is the lack of tourism revenue, which makes Darjeeling feel like Aspen, Colorado and Kalimpong more like Rutland, Vermont. There is a constant water shortage for those that live in the city itself, and the water is piped down the hills through ancient rubber hosing. The way people line up for water must be earily similar to the bread lines of the USSR. It's a reality that is tough for us to grasp. Even tougher though, would be to actually drink the water, which would almost certainly lay us out for several days with debilitating stomach ailments (you can use your imagination). The nectar of the gods is truly a forbidden fruit.
Our water situation on the hill is much better. It all comes flowing in from a stream, and seems pretty clean. We still boil it before we drink it, but I've started to brush my teeth with it with no ill side effects. The way that the families have rigged hoses down the hills to every house is pretty cool. I took a walk with Dinesh to see where the source was the other day. It seems like it would be excuciatingly tedious to find where any leaks spring (and they do often).
The electricity problem blankets the entire area equally. We've been without it for about 24 hours, which is normal. It seems to go out every night. I don't know if it is a wiring problem, or if the problem lies at the source, but whatever it is, it makes for some pitch black nights.
I guess the most evident of problems is the garbage strewn all over the streets. There is no "waste station" or "dump" here. There is kerosene and a match. Sometimes the stray dogs seem to cart off chunks of it out of sight, but it's more or less omnipresent. It's really gross, but there is nothing that we can do about it, besides be extra wary of what we use.
All of these externalities are tough to swallow, but the people here seem healthy and happy for the most part. Poor, yes. But not despondant. They clearly would rather have Nike sweatshirts and cell phones than hot water (which is very cheap comparatively). There has to be some sociological explanation for this material obsession, so if anyone knows it, please let me know.

This Fall on Fox!!!!

The battle for mammal supremacy! Canine vs. Simian: First Blood! It's paws vs. opposable thumbs! Brought to you by Kentucky Fried Chicken and GlaxoSmithKline (who, it turns out is preventing malaria from wrecking havoc inside my body.)

And on the fourth day...

We woke up at 3:00 AM to jeep it out to the top of a hill along with upwards of 2000 rabid natives to see the sunrise over the Himalaya. I'm typically not one to gush over scenery, but this was probably as close to heaven as I'm likely to get (I have a few good deeds left in the hopper). The big mountain is Mt. Kanchengdzonga, which is enormous. From where we were, we could see Everest in the distance, which is amazing considering how far it is. We truly were blessed with the perfect weather and visibility. I'm still coming down from how gorgeous the views are on a good day near where we are staying. Check it out...

More Darjeeling pics

You can vaguely make out the peaks of the mountains at the top. They're there...

Darjeeling

We're in Darjeeling, which is due west of Kalimpong about 70km. The roads en route were treacherous and make Smugglers Notch look like Easy St. (Some of you know what I'm talking about). Darjeeling is supposed to be one of the Indian vacation hotspots and is considered a resort town by the nationals. Back in the day during the Raj (British Occupation) the Brits used it as thier Shangri-la and the colonial architecture is still around in some parts today. Easily the biggest draw for tourists (in my opinion) are the vistas on a good day. The picture I took above was taken around 7 in the morning from my hotel room window. The big mass of white looming in the background is Mt. Kangchengdzonga, the 3rd tallest on earth. We haven't exactly been in Mother Earth's good graces, because it has been foggy and overcast everyday we've been here so far. This was probably the best view I've had. The fog can roll in as quickly as the time it takes you to pull out your camera around here, so I'm considering myself fortunate. So far, we've gone to a zoo which had tigers, snow leopards, red pandas (the cutest animal in the world) and other crazy stuff. There are monkeys running around in the street where we are staying.
Tonight we're waking up at 3:30 to catch a jeep to this place called Tiger Hill where folks catch the sunrise over the Himalayas. On a good day, it would be heavenly, but I have a hunch we won't be able to see anything besides alot of orange clouds.
Darjeeling is much different than Kalimpong. The tourist draw means that the locals are more accustomed to seeing "us" around, and most people are fairly welcoming. I think I've finally figured out the staring phenomenon, and it can be widdled down to 2 distinct reasons. Reason one is the "Western culture fascination" which is ubiquitous. Everyone around is all about American music, movies, brands (especially) and WWF wrestling (big time). Come to think of it, the culture is one of the most materialistic I've ever seen, which is almost the opposite of what I expected. The only difference is the poverty factor. Reason number two for staring is a more unnerving cause, but one that is justified I guess. Some people just don't like foreigners. Especially of the light skinned variety. I've learned to cope with the staring and gawking, but it ain't easy. Yesterday at the Peace Pagoda a family from Calcutta made us take like 10 pictures with them, so not all natives want us out.
Alright, this is long...
peace

Jenna ma'am

Jenna can be kind of authoritarian with the kids and is no stranger to the bamboo stick-whip. You'd never be able to tell though with all those ear to ear grins. Just kidding, they probably like her way better than me. This is one of the classes that we teach.

My surrogate Nepali family

This is the family I am staying with, who threw me a quasi-surprise birthday party. Certainly a 25th I won't forget. That creamy colored robe has some sort of cultural significance, but to me it just smelled funny. And they gave me dragons...