Ants

Those little reddish brown ants bite. Ouch. My feet.

Hool Festivle

Yesterday was the Hool Festivle in Balipara. I'm not really sure what its about, but it is a big festivle in the Shantal villages. Mom set up portraits of people in Balipara that she took. In the morning, we set up the small, laminated photos, then Anapurna came with the big flex pictures. We had two pieces of wood put on the large ones, one at the top and one at the bottom, so it would hang right. Gunja and I bought bangles (12 bangles for 10Rs) and then we walked to her house to take a brake. We watched a movie, then had lunch. After, we took a rest- with her parents and Mom- in their AC room. Then we went back to Balipara and there was a big dance contest of all the villages in the area. Each had a different color sarrie and different decorations in their hair. There was also 2-4 drummers in each group. There were lots of girl dancers, then five dance groups of men. At the end, it started to rain, so Gunja, Barto, and I went back to their house with the cameras. Mom and Arpita took down most of the pictures, but Mom has to get some today. We got lots of pictures and videos of the dances, and so if we can get internet, we'll put them up.

-Celia

Nose Piercings

So: I GOT MY NOSED PIERCED! It hurts when you scratch it.... Our friend (and mom's inturpriter), Annapurna know a lady who dose piercings. So we went to her house and she had a start by using ice. Then we had to mark the spots we wanted the piercing in. Instead of using the nose ring (like how mom's was done last time) she used a needle (don't worry, it was new) and string. So we have to use hydrogen peroxide and cream and move the string a little bit at a time. Then, in about a week at least, we can put in the earring. :)

It didn't really hurt when the needle when in, but it hurt when she took it out because it gets thicker. I would've liked to have just the earring in, because then we don't have to change it, but this way we can clean the inside of the hole. My string came untied this morning, so I'll just have to be careful.

I'll try to get up the pictures later.

-Celia

How to Tell?

Stealing the idea from Mom's blog post, from being sick to school, this is what we did:

• Tried to sleep, didn't succeed (well I didn't) (1)
  
• Worked some
• Didn't blog

• Made batik (sp?) fabric for a bad (yet to be finished with boiling) (2)
  
• More aplicayed pillow covers
• watercolors
• sketches
  

• Inagurated a library (3)
  
• Made a speech (Mom)
• Took a video (me)
• Saw a temple (us)
• Met many nice people

• Organized Alcha's library
• Pined for egg rolls (Alcha was closed for 15 days)
• Tried to make egg rolls (mom)
• tested egg rolls (me)
  
• drank tea

• Had the rooms transformed
  
• Appeared in Shyamal's movie (4)
  
• wore incredibly hot clothing
• drank more tea
• Saw them retrasform the house

• Got mom's camera lense and (5)
  
• Got the comic and New Yorker cover Steve sent
• Recieved the other box
• Which includes Mom's stuff and 3rd Rock DVD's

And anything I missed from Tamil Nadu:

• Flew to Chennai
• Met Karuna (aka our angle)
• Drove to Tiru (I slept)
• Ate at Tasty Cafe for the fist time

• Went to villages (6)
  
• Took lots of pictures
• Printed pictures
• Showed pics on the viewer
• Printed more photos
• Retook pictures
• Printed more portraits
• And so on and so forth......

• Walked around the mountain (Mom)
  
• With 2.5 lock people (7)
• Got stomach sickness (8)

• Saw the biggest temple in India (possibly the biggest in the world)
• Gave puja (blessings) (9)
• Got hit in the head by an elephant (10)

• Went to Pondicherry
• Did shopping
• Bought cool shoes (Mom)
• More cheese
• Bagettes (sp?)
  

• Met Nan and
• Chandi Devi and
• Reshe and
• Karuna's wife and daughters and
• Plenty of other people

• Went home (More info)
  

Thats pretty much it. If you ask, I'd be happy to tell you more about anything. (But not by blog or email, that would take a really long time to type.)

Notes:

1. Mosquitoes + heat + no power = no sleep for me.
2. It has to be boiled because the beeswax has to be taken out and mom couldn't do it because we don't have a big enough pot. My teacher is going to do it, but she left for Kolkata today and is going to be there for 15 days, she's having surgery.
3. Mom was invited to inagurate a Tagor Reading Room at a ruarl library. She didn't get to cut the ribbon, but she got to hold the librarians arm while he did.
4. He's making a movie about war
5. Thank you Steve
6. We really were suposed to be there for work, but it was like a vacation a lot of the time.
7. I'm not sure how many people that is....
8. Yes, I have been sick more than once. Mom just forgets sometimes
9. For puja we left flowers and moth balls (well, they were like mothballs) and gave money.
10. Yes, I pet an elephant (Noah Whiteman). You give the elephant a donation by putting the money in its trunk then it hits you on the head. A very well behaved elephant.
11. Wow, I have alot of notes.

School

So, I'm attending school now. Its different than back home. Almost all the classes are ouside and we have lots of different classes. There are modeling classes (working with mud(clay)) and drawing classes and singing classes and 2 different kinds of science, and instead of lunch we have tiffin. School starts at 6 am and goes till 11, except on days when you have 7 periods. I only have 7periods twice a week. I'm in class 8C. They're are a lot of students in each class.
We have uniforms too. the 1st-5th year students wear white button up shirts and yellow skirts or shorts. The 6th-8th year girls wear white salwar (baggie pants) and yellow kamise (long tops) and stripped doupatas (scarfs). The boys wear white pants and long, long-sleeve yellow shirts. The the 9th year and older girls wear really really pretty orange sarries. They're really nice.
Most of the classes are in Bengali, so I have some trouble, but it's not too hard. I understand English the most and the teacher even had kids ask me questions one day because I speak fluent English. It was interesting.
Today was my fourth day and I met some of the girls in my class who live in the hotels on campus. The principle said I should try to meet some of them because I live near the school and they sometimes have game nights and other things at the hostels.

All in all, its been pretty fun.

Sick

Mom got sick last Sunday. I got sick too, but I threw up, I didn't have her cold yet. Now she's feeling better, and I'm sick. I was really bad yesterday and the day before, but I feel better now. Hopefully I'll be completely better in a few days.

Tie-Dye

I did tie-dye in my art class last week. Or was it the week before? So I started by doing a little practice piece of cloth that has a few circles and is orange. I'll try to post a picture. Then I did one on a 2 meter long piece of fabric called mol mol. I had to draw out my design on paper, and copy it over. Then, for the little circles, I had to use string to tie them really tightly. When your done, it feels like there are a bunch of pebbles in them. For the big circles, you do the same kind of tieing but bugger in you want larger rings and further down on the fabric if you want bigger circles. I also have to fish on it, which I made by stitching the fish, then pulling on the strings so i could squish up the fabric and tie it up. First I dyed it light blue. Then, I had to take off some ties and tie some more, so when we died it yellow, I would get yellow in the white spaces and blue in the tied spaces and green in the spaces that were untied blue. Then I tyed and untyed more and more, and we dyed it red, so now it has white, yellow, light blue, green, light red, darker red, and maroon. Its really pretty. I'll try to put up a picture of it soon.

We are safe

Post from Margaret:

News is sketchy about yesterday's train crash and reports continue of possible sabotage by Maoist Rebels. Municipal elections take place on Sunday.  I have decided that we will hunker down until all results and any subsequent reactions are past.  I have plenty of work to do here, so it won't be a problem to stay put for a bit.  Celia will continue with art lessons, etc.

Though this is a tragedy and many are suffering as I write, I assure you that we are both fine though quite sad.

Mom's Birthday

Mom's birthday was yesterday, the 24th. Our friend Shamal brought us a cake, at midnight, in the morning. I was I gave mom a patch-bag from Alcha that I got her the day before (with her money), a keychain I made, and a patchwork I made that I'm going to make into a pillow. Shamal gave her a small 5 Star and a little baby bottle because she is a Bengali baby, meaning she talks like an infant. "Milk. Egg. Yes. My daughter." That's mainly what we can say in Bengali. Then we called Steve so he could wish her a happy birhtday. We went to bed around 2. At 8, we woke up, and we went to Alcha for breakfast. Mom had two egg rolls. Then we went to Kalah Bhavana to meet Sanchain (he didn't show up) and ended up talking to one of the photographers who had pictures in an exibit. We went back to Rotenpoly and did lots of shopping. We got yarn, knitting needles, a tape measure, a ruler, folders, and mugs. Mom's has a cow on it, and a cow handle, and mine has an elephant on the cup, and one on the handle. They're silly, but fun. Then we came home, and it started raining! It was mom's birthday rain. We stood outside, in our clothes, and got soaked. It was fun. We went to my art class after. Then later, we went out to dinner with Shamal in Boulpur. We had really good food. Then we came home and went to sleep. It was a fun birthday.

Radio Recording

Arpita was having kids read powems and sing songs for a holiday next week. She had me read one of the Tagor powems in the Easy Learning book. It was really wierd, I was the oldest one reading except Bebe, and I was reading the easiest powem. It was in Bengali though. We arrived late because it was raining (suprising, I know). When I got there, there were about 15 other kids too. We all practiced our powems, songs, and other things first, then we recorded them on a little machine with a microphone attached. It was fun. I think I did pretty well.

Day of Travel

We woke up at about 4am, and we left at 5:30. Karuna's driver drove us. It was about 3 and 1/2 hours car ride to Chennai. Then we had to wait for over an hour at the airport in Chennai becuase our plane was delayed. I really didn't want to fly becasue on our flight to Tamil Nadu, I got really sick on the plane. Ew. The flight was ok though. It took a few hours, I'm not sure exactly how long it was. Then we had to figure out luggage and a taxi in Kolkata. We offered to pay the driver extra to get us to the train station fast, but it still took 4o minutes. Mom refused to tip us though, because he dropped us at the opposite end of the train station from where we needed to be becasue he said that you can't drive up to the gate, which you can, we've done it before. Then, we were in the wrong area, so we ended up missing our train and had to get another one. Pooey. We finally got on the next train and tried to enjoy the AC. When we got to the train station in Boulpur, it was a total mob as usual. All the rickshaw drivers trying to get us to come with them because we're foreners. We finally got two rickshaws to take us and all our bags to the house. At that point, we were already melting. We had pasta for dinner, and had alot of trouble falling asleep because of the heat and the bug bites and the power going out. I miss AC.

Temple Walk

When we were in Tiruvanimali, we went on a walk around the mountain (well "hill") with a woman we met named Chandi Devi. We went to alot of the temples. We started at 5am, so we had go get up at 4:30. It was still dark. At the first temple, we had to eat chalk, it was gross. Blah! At one of the other temples, they had a tree where women hang up bags with rocks in them for fertility. It was really pretty to see all the different color bags hanging around the tree. One of the temples was really big, and it has lots of statues of the different gods. Chandi told us about Durga, a godess who cuts of the heads of ignorence. She has 12 arms and carries lots of different things, including war weapons. We got tired after a while and I was dehydrated, so we stopped to get water, sprite, and salty snacks. Later, we got chai. Apperantly we only walked about 2.5 kilometers. Then we took a rickshaw to downtown and went to a reastruant. I tried idilies for the first time, they're really good, and I had dosa. We ended up going shopping and I got really pretty white pants with embroidery and a white top too. We had lots of fun and took lots of pictures.

Blogging

Sorry I havn't blogged in so long. We've been having some internet trouble and we have been pretty busy too. Sorry. So I'll blog more now.

Tamil Nadu

Sorry I havn't blogged in so long. When we were in West Bengal, the internet kept getting messed up,  and mom had to use the computer to prepare for her class. The class went very well.

We are in Tamil Nadu. The town is called Tiruvanimalli (spelling?). It was suposed to be a work trip, but its turning out to be vacation too. Today, for the third time we went into the villages. We've taken lots of pictures, and given lots too. Since the sun and heat are bad for the printer, tomarrow we have to go back to two villages to give people their pictures. Some of the pictures didn't work well when we went to the first village, so we will have to go back there too. We have also been doing alot of listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and This American Life on mom's iPod and doing patchwork. Right before we left, my art teacher showed us how to do pachwork so I had a good project for while I'm gone. I'm almost finished with my peice. I also took some scraps so I can make another when I finish. We have an AC unit in our room, and it's spoiled us. Its hot here, but cooler than West 

Bengal, but I melt when I leave the house. It's made us soft. Oh well, we'll ajust when we get back. 

I should go because we're in an Internet cafe. I'll try to write more soon.

-Celia Echt

The evil step dad is foiled!

Hello all, Steve here. Celia gave me permission to post to her blog. What evil things can I say? MUA HAA HAAAA! (I better not - Jack might bite me.)

The girls are in Tiruvanamali (Tiru) now, but do not have Internet access. Reports from the field are that Tiru is nice, and the hotel has AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!!! WOO! So they are taking a bit of time to just relax, do some needle point, and bicker ... uh ... spend some quality time together. (Don't worry, I just made the "bicker" part up.)

I will give more updates as I learn more. GO CELIA!

New Year

Yesterday was the start of the Bengali new year. We spent the day with Anapuna and her family. Her sisters were both there, and her cousins and mother. We learned how to make these embroidered patterns from one of her cousins. It was really fun. We also had lunch. It was a really special lunch because of the new year. There was rice, greens, curry, fish, sweet curd, eggplant, lots of different kinds of green mango, dol (lentils), sweet rice, and all the dessert things we brought. It was really good. After lunch, we looked at the pictures from Wednesday. Mom went with Anapuna and her mother to a festival (I don’t remember the name) for the new year. It was apparently really hot and crowded. I didn’t go because they had animal sacrifices. Mom also had Punjab, which is blessed food. After we looked at the pictures, we went out to the garden. They have two love birds, one yellow, and one blue. The blue one likes baths, and the yellow is too stupid to figure out how to get out of the water. It was pretty funny to watch. The blue one raises itself to the water and just sits in it, perfectly happy. It was strange, but funny. Then we saw they’re garden. There were lots of different plants. They gave Mom two peppers and a papaya. I got cotton from a cotton plant. We were leaving, but then we started taking pictures, then we took pictures of the goats. There were about 17 goats, possibly more because they kept moving. There were 4 adults, a bunch of kids, and 2 babies. They kept rolling in the dirt, and head butting each other. There were two that kept climbing on chairs and benches together. They were very funny. It was a fun day.

Pictures

Ok, so the pictures won't work. I'll try again later.

Tailor

On the 9^th, we picked up the outfits we had made at the tailors. I meant to post the pictures earlier, but we couldn’t get them to work. Well, here they are:

 

Me in my salwar-kamiseMe in my saree

Mom in her sariMom in her salwar-kamise

Saree Dressing

After we got our tailored clothes back, Manju offered to teach us how to wear them. Here are the pictures.

 

Alcha

We really like the Alcha Café (owned by our friend Kaya), so we went for breakfast the other day. Every time we got there mom gets the egg rolls. They’re eggs cooked in roti with chillies. I’ve gotten egg rolls, crepes, pancakes, sandwiches, and French fries. They also have really good tea. When we were there, mom wanted to take pictures.

 

Me with French fryThe Alcha Café sign outside the gate

Language & Anapuna

This morning we went to our language lesion. It was really interesting. We learned how to say the different vowles and how to write them. We also learned a few words.

After we were done there, we ran into moms “village guide” (she takes mom into the villages), Anapuna. We went to her house and met her family. Her sister and cousin were doing embroidery, so Mom and I helped untangle some of the thread. Now mom says she’ll buy me thread and fabric and needles so we can learn how to embroider. I should have brought my box of embroidery thread. After we spent some time there, Anapuna showed us her studio. She makes ceramic murals. They’re really pretty and interesting. She also had these rocks that turned out to be pieces of clay that she made! It looks exactly like rocks. I liked one so much, she gave it to me. It was really nice. After seeing her studio, we went back to her house and had tea. Then we went home. Later, Mom is going to take me to the market so we can get some embroidery supplies. It should be fun!

-Celia Echt

The Saturday Market

Yesterday, we went to the Saturday Market. It was not what I was expecting. There were lots of little stands (well people with their things on blankets really) with lots of different things. There were wood things (keychains, boxes and lots of other stuff), musical instruments, food, fabrics, and paintings. Mom bought me and Gunja bracelets made from pieces of grass weaved together because she got a necklace when she was in the villages and visited the man’s house. She also bought a small painting and an embroidered wall hanging. I’ve already decided where it will go when we get home. It was fun to see all the peoples different crafts.

 

-Celia Echt

Embarrisment

You have never been really embarrassed until you are walking through a crowded street, and ten rickshaws start screaming “HELLO! RICKSHAW!” and honking their horns at you. Everybody stares. Although most people stare anyway.

The House

Everything is pretty good here. We have to get a new battery for the inverter because the one we have only lasts about an hour if we only have the fan on, and when the power on it gets low, it screams. The guy was suposed to come about 50 minutes ago, but still isn't here. The fridge is great, but we have to turn it off when the generator is running because it uses a lot of power. Today, I found out that the shower head in the bathroom works. That was really nice. We have two western toilets, and this giant fan thing that runs on water. It works really well. This morning for breakfast, mom used the stove and fried some patatoes, or aloo bhujia. It was really good. This afternoon, Gunja and her family might come over, so that will be fun. I'm really liking this house.

-Celia Echt

New House

We finally have a new house. We officially took it last Sunday, but I forgot to blog about it. We bought lots of stuff in Kolkata. We got knifes (very hard to find), forks, spoons, bowls, pots, washcloths, towels, sheets, bed covers (for dust), T-shirts (not for the house, for sleeping in), and lots of other stuff. We have been moving lots of stuff into it. We had an inverter installed for when the power goes out, and a fridge put in. We’re rearranging some of the furniture so in the bed room we can be under the fan and so there is a couch in the front room. We also have done a lot of cleaning. It was hard work! Tomorrow we move officially move in. It’s really pretty there. There is a huge garden with lots of fruit trees and a big veggie garden. Lots of pretty flowers too. The people who own it live in Kolkata and come here about once a month. But the caretaker lives on the property. Can’t wait to move in!

Kolkata

Kolkata was good. We took the train there on Monday. It was a long ride, but had good scenery. When we got there, we checked into the hotel, then went shopping for some household things. After we shopped, we went to Ed's goodbye party. It was fun. We met some new people. It turned out Ed had an extra phone SIM card though, so, since he's leaving, he gave it to us. We said our goodbyes, and went to the hotel. It wasn't the best hotel, but not the worst either. It had running water, a western toilet, and a television. It was pretty dirty though. Oh well. On Tuesday, we went to the American Center (of course we got lost, very lost) and met with Sohini. Mom is working on getting the class she is doing on April 23rd ready. Then, Sohini was supposed to help us shop, but she had lost of work to do. Instead, a man who works at her office (we can't remember his name, how embarrassing?) showed us different good places to shop. We bought some books. I got Sense and Sensibility and Tale of Two Cities. We also bought spoons, knifes, sheets, bed covers (for dust) night-gowns, doupatas, and I got salwar/kamise/doupata fabric, that I have to get made at the tailors. When we were all done shopping (and sick of getting harassed at the market) we went back to the hotel to rest. We didn't know what to do for dinner, so we went out to find a place a man at the hotel suggested, but we ended up going to a different restaurant. It was very good, and fancy. I got prawn fried rice and mom got prawn curry. They even had little fingerbowls to wash our hands in. After dinner, mom bought me a phone to put the SIM card Ed gave us in. It's really cool. It doesn't have color or a camera, but it does know where I am at all times and has a flashlight! Wednesday, we got up and made sure everything was packed. Then we went to check out and ended up playing with one guys pet monkey. He was so cute! Very small though, he was just a baby. The train back was cold, and nice people we met that live just outside of Santiniketan told us when the stop at Boulpur was because we weren't paying attention. We had to take two rickshaws home with all our bags.

-Celia Echt

New Friends

Mom has been meeting lots of new people. She met lots of the faculty at Kala Bhavana. When she was at the Central Library on Wednesday, she met a lady named Arpita is a librarian there. She is a photographer too, and has a daughter named Gunja who is nine. She invited us to go to her house that night so we did. It was very fun. We looked at houses and talked and then went to a music concert. The next night, we looked at more houses, but Gunja had to go to bed because she had school. On Friday, we spent some time together and did lots of drawing. Then we hung out on the roof. After that, we went to a traditional Indian dance concert. It was really good. Last night, we hung out for a little while, then Arpita helped me ride a bike. Mom say's I'm getting better, but I don't think so. Today, at 4:30, Gunja and I have painting lessons. I'm really looking forward to it.

On Thursday, we also me the Auntie of one of Mom's Indian friends back home. She owns a cafe called Alcha Cafe. We went there and had these things called egg rolls that are eggs rolled in a rotie with chillies and onions. I also had some of their crepes, they were delicious! The lady's name is Kaya. She is very nice. After we finished eating, we saw the store that she also owns. It is very nice. They have all these beautiful hand-made bags and clothes and pilliows. There are embroidered boxes, kamises, and doupatas, tyedied fabrics, leater bags, and they make some things from old sariees woven together. It's all very beautiful. On Friday, we went to her house for breakfast. It was very nice. They live right across the street from where we are now. Then after breakfast, mom went to an exibit at on of the museums and I went to the workshop where they make all the things for the store with Kaya. It was lots of fun. I got to watch how they get all the fabric together for the bags, how they do the embroidery, and I got to make some petique key chains. It was lots of fun.

Critters

The place we are staying is really nice. The only problem is the critters.

On Monday or Teusday, we descovered the lizards. On Sunday, we saw two lizzards between one of the screen. Mom was going to try and free them, but it turned out they were in there because it was cooler than outside. They could leave easily. I saw the fist one (insiede) in the bathroom only becasue it ran up the wall. We tryed to trap it, but it hid behind the water tank, so we couldn't get it. The next time I went in the bathroom, it was right by the light. We left it alone. Then, mom was in the bathroom trying to makesure it didn't escape, but it was behind the door and ran out when she moved them. It then hid in the cabnets in the hall. Later, when we were going out, I saw one crawl under the couch. Apperently, they're always sneaking in. They're not even scary, it just startles me. Like a few minutes before I started typing this, I opened a cabnet to turn on the fan, and one was running around inside. We'll just have to get used to them.

Mosquitos are evil! All bugs are. Every time I see one, mom has to come and kill it for me. Except these little ant-like things I keep finding on the sink. I drown those in water. The bugs really just freak me out though. We have these plug in things that have chemicles that keep the bugs away, but when the power goes out, they don't work. Mom bought this coil thing that burns and gives off chemicles. It's suposed to keep them away, and it's working so far.

The birds aren't really a problem, or even a critter, but they're loud. There are birds calling all day long. There are ones that chirp, like back home, but there are some really strange ones too. There is one that sounds a little like a scream and it'll call about 5 times in a row, getting louder and louder with everyone. But there are some birds that keep flying by the bathroom window and startle me when they hit against it. They're not that bad though.

We'll just have to adjust to all the creatures.

-Celia Echt

Yummy Food

We have been waking up around 7:30ish every morning to have tea. It's really good. I like to put sugar and milk in mine, but mom likes her tea plain. We also have tea in the afternoons.

After our tea, we have breakfast. We usually have eggs and toast and bananas.

For lunch, we have been having toast, curd (yogurt), bananas, and potatoes. I love the potatoes. They're like little square hash-browns with really good seasoning.

At dinner, we always have rice, curd, and chipate or rotie. Then, we also have some kind of veggie dish. We have had different ochre dishes, potato dishes, squash, eggplant and ones with lots of other veggies. We also had a chicken one at one point (I had that, mom didn't) and we had fish once. We also have salad, cucumbers, oranges, and bananas.

The sugar here is really good. Instead of being little tiny specks like in the States, it's like little pieces of rock candy. I like it a lot. It's very sweet, but it's not like overly sweet like sugar back home.

The milk is amazing! It's way better than back home. My theory is that back home, the cows are tied up and kept in fenced areas, so they don't like the people who own them. Because they don't like the people who own them, they give them bad milk. But here, the cows love their owners because they get to be free and they are highly respected. So, because they like all the people for letting them roam around and respecting them, they give them yummy milk. Just a theory :). Mom is in love with the curd, and I think it's pretty good too. The cheese and butter is a lot better too.

The bananas are delicious! Back home, mom and I don't like bananas (I'll eat them sometimes, but they're not my favorite) but we eat at least one each at every meal. They are way better than back home. It's amazing. Yesterday, mom bought a really big bunch of them because we have eaten almost all the ones in the house.

All the food here seems to be better. The milk, the sugar, and the bananas are all better. I haven’t had them yet, but the mangos are supposed to be better too. What good food we have!

-Celia Echt

Catching Up- March 9th-March 13th

Tuesday, March 9th- I spent most of the day sleeping, reading and watching TV. I was really tired. In the afternoon, we went to town with some other women to go shopping. We got these pretty, hand-dyed saris. Mom also bought me a multicolored doupata. When we got back, there was a concert before dinner. It was really long. There was lots of singing, Indian dances, and music.

Wednesday, March 10th- Mom went to meetings and I hung out in the room. After lunch, we went on a tour. We got to drive around town, then see the City Palace. It was really beautiful. Mom has lots of pictures. Then we went to a puppet show. It was... interesting. The puppets were pretty.

After that, we went to a garden. It was really nice there. Me and lots of other kids got our pictures taken in old fashion Indian clothing. It was fun. At dinner, there was a dance party. It was so loud, but very fun. We said most of our goodbyes because we were on the early flight to Delhi the next morning.

Thursday, March 10th- Mom and I got up really early for our flight. We had a small breakfast in a special room they had set up for the Fulbrighters. A few other people were there too. After breakfast, we all met and took a bus to the airport. The flight was nice. Short. This time we flew through Jaipur. On the first flight, they served us muffins and croissants with filling. I had a muffin on the first one and a croissant on the second. When we landed, we had to wait to get our luggage. Then, we ran into Adam and got a ride with him to the Fulbright House, then the car took us to our hotel. It took a long time, but would have taken much longer if we had to get our own taxi. At the hotel, we relaxed and mom tried to use the computer to print out our tickets. We went shopping at Fab India and we both got two outfits. Around 6, we met Phyllis and went to dinner at the United Cafe. It was fun.

Friday, March 11th- Mom and I had to get up early to go to the airport. We ended up getting there really early so we bought food. The flight was really nice. I got a food box because it turned out they had paid extra for my ticket for me to get food. It was really yummy. When we landed, we had a car waiting to take us to our hotel. We saw lots and lots of cows on the way there. It was a nice hotel. We had an air-conditioned, a television, a fan, and a western bucket toilet. We both took naps, then I slept while mom went out. She bout Indian chips, cookies and cereal.

Saturday, March 12th- We had breakfast at the hotel. It was really good. We had eggs, toast, bananas, tea, and cereal. After a little while, we went out in search of a internet cafe and a copying place. We got all of moms papers copied, but couldn’t find an internet cafe. We went to an air-conditioned grocery store and had lunch. Then we bought groceries. Mom got me an ice cream, but it was really different than back home. They added chocolate chips, what we think was cookies and chocolate sauce. It was really tasty. For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant with Ed. It was fun.

Sunday, March 13th- The car was over an hour late coming to pick us up. We drove with mom's adviser, Sanchien, to Santiniketan. The car kept breaking down, so we stopped a lot. It took about 4 hours. When we got here, he showed us the University campus. Then, we went to the house. It's very nice. We have a western toilet, a shower, lots of fans, and a nice view of the garden. It's very big. The family who rents it to us is very nice. We got settled a little then had lunch. It was really good. It was a little weird being served though. We unpacked our bags, then went to the University to use the computer labs. Mom couldn't get her computer to connect, so she had to use the only working one. I read my book (again). We went back to the house really late. I showered while mom finished unpacking. Then we had dinner. I went to bed after.

-Celia Echt

Catching Up- March 7th-8th

Sorry I haven't written in so long. We had bad internet in Udaipur and none in Kolkata.

March 7th- After I wrote on Sunday, Mom and I finished packing and getting everything ready for the trip. We left the house early, so we could drop our bags at the Fulbright House. When we got there, it took a while for the guards to make sure we had permission to drop our bags there. After we dropped them, we went to the airport. We checked our bags and went through sucurity really fast. I think it was the cane :). After we went through sucerity, we sat with Carol, Megan, Phyllis, and Cari. We met them at the hotel at breakfast that day. I got french-fries from McDonald's.

When we boarded the plane, we had to take a bus to get there. It was my first time at an airport like this. It was cool. The plane was small, but comphy. We had a connection in Jodhpur, but only had to wait about 20 minutes. The flight from Jodhpur to Udaipur was only half an hour. I spent both flights reading. They gave us really yummy food. We had containers with rice, palak paneer with kofta (excuse my spelling), and another spicy saucy thing. I had fruit and mom had veggies. For desert, there were these sweet dough balls. Yummy!

When we got to Udaipur, everyone got their checked baggage, and we had a bus to take us to the hotel. It was a nice drive with lots of interesting things to look at. We saw lots and lots of cows!

The hotel, as I described it, was "like the white house but bigger." It was huge and white with big pillars. There were fountains with elephants spouting the water. It was so cool. Our room was really big! We had two beds, a western toilet, a shower that didn't spill, a television, and a beautiful view. Mom read some of the book about the confrence while I relaxed and watched t.v.

We found out that there is this really good bug stuff that is a cream called Odomos. It works great! Dinner was really good and we met lots of new people. After dinner, we went upstairs and I fell asleep really fast.

March 8th- I woke up around 5, and we went to breakfast around 7ish. I had lots of good juices, eggs, smiley face potatos, and these little pastries with jelly. The meetings started late. First, all the Fulbrights and other people there introdced themselves. Then there was another presentation, but I just read. After, we took the confrence picture. During tea time, I left and took a walk around and took lots of pictures. Then, I went to the pool and met some of the kids. We swam for a while, then played capture the flag. Lunch was really good, but they didn't have any chairs to sit in. It was very irritating. After lunch, I read by the pool, then me and some of the other kids swam until we were too cold. The water was freezing!

Mom and I took naps during her break and ended up being late to the concert before dinner. It was old fashion India singing. During dinner, we met new people and made plans to go into town and shop the next day. I got tired and went to bed early.

Early Start

Today, I woke up at 5ish in the morning our time. At about 6 AM, I started checking my email on my iTouch. Mom woke up at 6:30, and got on the computer because she couldn't sleep. Now she's resting. The breakfast here opens around 7:30, so we'll probably go eat then.

Mom finished the packing last night, but I have to repack my backpack. We are planing to be at the airport at noon, but before that, we have to drop off some of our bags at the Fulbright House. Our flight is at 1:30. It's about 3 hours and we thought we were going through Judhpur, but it doesn't say anything about it in the new itinerary.

Beginning our 4th day in India

-Celia Echt

Preperations For Next Week

Today, I woke up at 3:30 AM and stayed up until 8:30. Then we got ready and went to breakfast. I had chocolate cereal that was like Coco Puffs. We sat around while mom drank her coffee, and I got hungry and got an omelet. After we finished, we went for a walk around the block. We saw more construction and other things. But the most interesting was a dog. That was purple. Probably left over from Holi.

We went to the hotel and watched some t.v. while mom tryed to get the computer to work. The internet didn't work properly, so we went downstairs while they were fixing it. I fell asleep while mom was working on the changing plans for Kolkata.

She woke me around 12:30. We went out for a walk, and ended up in a furniture market. We went to the Mall. We got a "demonstration" of the fancy hand-made rugs. It was kinda interesting. Then we looked at the clothes for me. There were lots of pretty salwar chamise. But they were expensive and not good for going into the towns. We ended up buying a pretty top. We headed for the hotel, but lots of people stopped us, giving directions to stores. When we got near the Connaught Place, there were lots of people saying to go to the Cottage Emporium.

By the time we got back to the hotel, I was really tired and hot. I was a little dehydrated too. I drank lots of water and then fell asleep. Mom couldn't get the t.v. to work though.

She woke me up at 5:30ish. There is a concert sort of thing going on outside. I'm not completely sure what it is.

Day 3 in India

-Celia Echt

A Nice End to Our 2nd Day

We just got back from dinner at the Bonsai Restraunt downstairs. But earlier, we had our meetings. Mom met with Dr. Kaul (program officer), then with Dr. Grodsky (director of Fulbright India). Then we had to wait because we are changing flights so we can leave our bags in Delhi while we are in Udaipur, and get them on the way to Kolkata.

When we got back to the hotel, we had to get the safe fixed. Mom accedently got the code wrong, so we had to get it opened. Then, mom went out to the balcony and I tried to read my English book, but ended up falling asleep.

Mom didn't want me to get no sleep tonight, so she woke me around 8:30 our time. We got dressed and went to dinner in the restaurant downstairs. It was peaceful, and the food was yummy. (There was some bad techno music though.) I had meso soup and stemed rice. Mom had tempora, spring rolls, and spicy shrimp. We talked lots about India and home.

End of Day 2 in India!

-Celia Echt

Waiting For Mom's Meetings

We are at the Fulbright House, in the student computer lab. Mom's meetings start at 3, but we arrived at 1. Mom wanted to get here early so she could intruduce herself to people and we could use the computer lab. It's pretty boring. And really hot and humid. I think a window is open. Mom's computer has a bad keyboard, her s, w, and @ keys. Now the controle isn't working either. So, we might go do something else.

Day 2.5 in India

-Celia Echt

A Good Start To Our Secound Day

2nd day in INDIA! Last night I slept for about 7 hours. I woke up at 6, and couldn't sleep, so I listened to podcasts on my iPod for 3ish hours. We had a really yummy breakfast this morning. Mom was right, the dairy products are amazing! The milk was great and the yogurt (technically called curd) was delicious! Then we went for a nice walk around the block, it was warm and very sunny, but not to hot or humid. There were lots of people with suggestions/requests for places to shop and visit. When we got back to the hotel, I showered and now we're getting ready to go to mom's conferences and meetings today.

Day 2!

-Celia Echt

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

I'M IN INDIA!!!!!! It's awsome to finally be here. The flight went by fast. we upgraded to bisness class because of mom's foot, and it was so cool! Big seats, movies and t.v. shows when we want, an food! I slept lots (but wasn't very rested). Immigration and costoms were slow, but didn't take forever. The drive was amazing! We saw the India Arch and lots of embassies and tons of hotels. We're staying at the Corus Hotel, and it's very nice. When we arrived, it looked kinda bad, but inside, it's amazing. We have a t.v, a shower, hot water 24/7, a balcony (that we share with two other rooms) with a nice view and lots of comfy chairs, and a WESTERN TOILET! It's been so nice so far. :)

Day 1 of our adventure.

-Celia Echt

More Changes

So, we're not leaving Tuesday. It might be next week. If it is, we might go to New York, Iowa, or just stay home and relax or clean the house. I'm not going to school though. Also, we might not go to Deli and then go to Kolkata. We might go to Udaipur. (We don't even know where it is.) Why couldn't we have just left Saturday!

I don't even know how long.

-Celia Echt

Changes?

It's now possible that we will be leaving at a different time. But if we left a week late, I would have to come back with Steve for school, and mom would have to stay longer and might not be able to work at the college. I hope we leave on time!

I started my malaria medicine, and am continuing use of the vitamin B. It tastes HORRIBLE! But it might help with the mosquitos, so it's worth a try.

Getting everything prepared incase we do leave Saturday. Got all my clothes and most of my other stuff ready.

3 days! (maybe)

-Celia echt

Getting Ready

We're getting ready! Everything is getting put together downstairs. I have a backpack now and so dose mom. We both have rain coats, pants, belts, long skirts, inflatable pillows, flashlights and headlights. I also have almost all my school books and my clothes. At school, I'm getting pictures of all my friends and classes so I can have them to remember.

1 week 5 days! *faints*

-Celia Echt

Goodbyes

Mom and I leave New York in a few hours. We said our tearful goodbyes to Becky, Aunt Jane and Henry yesterday. This morning, Pipa (Lloyd Frank, my grandpa) had to go to work pretty early so Mom and I woke up and talked to him until he had to leave. Today we went to breakfast with Liz Okin and talked lots with her about the trip. Then, we said goodbye to her too. It's been a sad two days of goodbyes to family. (But we did get a bunch of bagels from H&H. YUM! No you can't have any!)

2 weeks and 4 days. Mom is freaking out!

-Celia Echt

Hair and More Plans

Mom and I just finished getting our hair cut. We got lots of info on taking care of our hair in India. Paul also told us about Tamil Nadu. NEW CONTACT!
If we can't do project stuff in Orissa ... maybe Tamil Nadu?

2 weeks and 5 days! Can't wait!

-Celia Echt

In New York

I am currently in New York. On Saturday, Mom and I both bought sandals for India, and Mom got sneakers. I also got a long skirt which was advised for open bathrooms (gross!). Today, we spent some time with Becky and talked lots about plans for the trip. She gave us lots of advice on traveling, weather, hospitals and water.

2 weeks and 6 days. Wow!

-Celia Echt