Hindi Class!

                So as of last week I’ve started taking Hindi classes! As part of that I have to get to class by myself by auto rickshaw… which has been a class in itself trying to negotiate directions and prices with my 5 handy words.. :/ The first day I went, I guess I got lucky because the rickshaw driver knew where this place was... of course when I got out of the rickshaw it was clear I had no idea where to go once I got dropped off at the building… I tried to walk around the building and kept ending up in different neighborhoods while the rickshaw driver stared at me… I finally called the woman working there and found out I needed to go in the building, not next to it (ah ha!)

I’m still not sure what he told me after I got out but I don’t think he liked how much I gave him. (I’d asked before how much it was and so I just gave him 30 rupees, because that’s what I knew the price was…) I gave him an extra 10 and he kept talking so I just shrugged and walked away (new bargaining tactic for when you have no idea what the other guy is saying!)

                Day 2 rickshaw driver crossed the main street and then looked at me like, “Ok, where to now?”  So I ended up telling him all the rest of the directions to get there (“Left! Right! Straight! Here!”) When I paid him the right price once we got there though, he did the Indian head bob. I decided that since I knew where I was at that point he assumed that I knew the right price. Either way, I was ready to do my shrug and run… :)

We went to the Zoo!

                Last Saturday morning I got up at 5am to go to the zoo! Yes, that is definitely what you do when the day’s high is 109 F. You get to the zoo at 5:45am. And, of course, the place was PACKED. People were everywhere… and may were exercising! It’s really the first time I’ve seen people jogging and stretching and what not. It was nice. :)

                In the zoo there is a “paid” area and a “free” area. The “paid” part opens at 8:30 so we weren’t allowed there anyway. However, all the signs were in Hindi… so… we did not understand them. And pretty soon we were all by ourselves with lots of fun animals around to look at.. Yay! All was exciting and fun until a guard came around and informed us it was CLOSED. Ok, he might have said more than that but the only thing our party caught was “BAND” (closed) so we said ok and walked back to the masses. I’m not quite sure how we got in there… Because on our way out there were barricades and signs in English saying, “NO ENTRY” everywhere. So I’m pretty sure we didn’t come in that way… :)

                  We left around 7:30am (it was getting hot!) and had breakfast (fruit! I had fruit!) and then on to the bird market (obviously). There we met lots of “talking” birds that didn’t like to talk and “non-flying” birds that could fly (or bird salesmen who bent the truth a little bit?). :)

                We ended up at a friend’s house for lunch and at the end of the day, it was 4pm! Doesn’t seem like a long day except for the fact that we were actually out for almost 12 hours!

A yellow cat (not sure if that's the official name but that's what was on the sign).

So this is the "Jungle Cat"... I though it looked like a big house cat, no?

These birds and cats were in the "paid" area... so we got to enjoy the peacocks all my ourselves.. :)

Who you lookin' at?

The golden pheasant (I think that's the name?) How cool are these colors??

So when we were going here, I thought we are just going to the Botanical Gardens, not the zoo. It turns out they are the same thing... And we had been there over an hour before we actually saw the plants and botanical section.. So I was excited and took a picture. :)

Baby giraffes!

After the zoo and bird market, we still had some time so we went back to the Ganges and it was laundry time! So we got to see all of the saris, blankets, and other assorted clothes drying in the sun.

Beating out the dirt on the rocks in Ganges river. 

A neat little door near the bird market.

A Ganesh collection! Blessing all beginnings.. :)

Rava Roti!

     Last week Meggha and I made it out to Rava Roti for a night of idly, vada, dosas, and uttapam. We decided that Rava Roti is now the best South Indian restaurant on Boring Road, outshining Varun Vihar… in case you were making a list.. :)

Work and Play: Photos!

View of the Ganga River and some boats, which later brought many people over from across the river near sunset.

Also used to bring materials for the expansion project going on. 

View of the river... using fun photo editing on upgraded Picassa... :)

Playing in the waters...

On the boat!

Views from the boat looking at the shore.

There were lots of places where families were playing by the water.

Bump!

Temple.. and remains of a castle?

Out on the water...

After lunch, these tables had been set up by the riverside.

There were three tables set up like this...

A river boat going out on the water. Next time I may do this. I guess it is usually crowded but when we saw it leave there weren't that many people aboard. 

Oh, did you catch the balloon thing in the water? You can jump in and run around on the Ganga River in your hamster ball/cylinder. Um, awesome?

This picture is from here. I forgot to take a picture when we got down off the oddly shaped structure of the Golghar (silo). 

The view from the top of the silo, looking over Patna.

Looking towards the river...

Upgraded Picassa is fun times. I made this from a blurry picture of an auto-rickshaw at night. 

Work and Play

Today is Day 2 of training for district officers to learn about maternal health. It’s actually quite a fun meeting to attend. I’ve learned most of this information through classes at Emory but definitely not all and it has been quite interesting to review the background information and think about how these different concepts and strategies are applied to the context of rural Bihar. The whole reason why I am hear is to tell them about a survey that I’m doing and will need their assistance so I hope they are not all tired out by the time it’s my turn!

In more interesting events, on Friday I was able to go Kapil’s Eleven. So far one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been to here. It’s owned by Kapil Dev, a famous Indian cricket player who was the captain of the national team when they won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. I got the honey crispy chicken which was delicious… In addition, there were no bones or gristle, which added to the deliciousness… :)

On Sunday, I got to explore the Ganges (Ganga) river. We went down to the banks and found a guy with a motorboat who took us on a 20 minute ride up and down the river (I promise it’s less sketchy than it sounds!) Afterwards, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant that overlooked the river. PS - Upon siting down, the waiters immediately attempted to block the river view with shades on the windows. I assume this was to block us from the sun but we managed to stop them before the whole view was obstructed.  I had a masala Uttapam which is sort of like a pancake with spicy potatoes/veggies in it. I also tried to order a sweet lassi but I got a Limca. Oh well, it was good too.

On the way back, we visited and climbed the Golghar, a grain silo near the Ganga River and Gandhi Maidan. In response to a great famine in 1770, Captain John Garstin (British) built a great silo (golghar) to store food grains for the British army. It also has two staircases that wind up to the top and it appears that on a Sunday, it is fun for the whole family to climb the 145 steps to the top and back down. (And it was fun for me too!) 

Resource for Kapil Dev Information

Resource for Patna Golghar Information

Random Pictures

  So, I know that you all look forward to reading my rambling stories with long, obnoxious blocks of text in your spare time... But today you will just have to suffice with various pictures of my week. :) Enjoy!

Nothing like some Veg Jambalaya in the Patna! 

Pilot testing small bowls so that health workers can show mothers that you need to feed your child THIS much.. :)

Views from the health center in Patna District.

Bottle gourd, anyone?

Would anyone like a small packet? Of.... anything?!?

As we were going back to the office, we passed a drainage ditch (and trash dump). It was rank and long and never really seemed to end. In some places they were covering it up so people could walk over it, etc. (see below) but in many other places kids were playing, business were nearby, and life went on. :(

Cycle rickshaws

Jaspreet and I! Tired after a long day... :)

Weekend Fun

This weekend I had TWO days of fun... It's like it was an actual weekend or something.. :)

Day 1:  I went to Maurya Lok with Jaspreet and we went to all the hot spots: Bihar Emporium (for madhubani!), Jaipur Emporium (for leggings!), 2 gift stores (for windchimes!), and various clothing stores with names I've forgotten (to look at fabrics!) At the end of the day we went to Mausam Munch.. which means Weather Munch... which means I'm probably translating something wrong... There we had ginger lemonade. I don't know why but I had visions of some Leon's concoction with fresh squeezed lemons and a touch of ginger. I was quite mistaken... It tasted like an entire piece of ginger had somehow made its way into my beverage, along with some salt, and other assorted mystery flavors. Now, I finished it... and enjoyed it... just a jolt at the beginning. Especially since it was brown. That’s another interesting fact.

Day 2: Meggha called me and asked if I wanted to go to a movie. I said yes. She said it's called, "Adventures" and I can look it up online. I thought, "I just want to do something... it really doesn't matter what the movie is about." Well, exciting times, it was AVENGERS in 3D. That's right ya'll before it came out in the states the Bihar population got to witness a 3D Hollywood fun fest for Rs. 210 ($4.20). Bam.

And it turns out there are no cameras allowed in the movie theater. This makes sense because of the whole rampant pirated movie thing in India (and much of the world) but I didn't know so I had a camera. I was told to put it at the baggage counter so Meggha ran off and checked it in there (hindi, hindi, hindi) and we sat. They even took our order in the theater which was cool, and flashed flashlights in everybody’s eyes while seating people and taking their orders until about 20 minutes into the movie and at various other times, which was less cool. I also learned that here it is A-OK to text your way through a movie. But aside from the little white lights around me, it was a pretty awesome time... :)

After the movie was done we were handing our 3D glasses back to the movie attendant (who I'd not seen before) he looked at me and enthusiastically said, "Camera hai?" Is your camera here? Why yes. I guess word travels fast at PM Mall Cineplex because now apparently all movie attendants had been notified that the blonde had brought a camera... even though only the lady checking my bag saw this ('cause Meggha turned it in to the counter.)

So anyway, fun weekend shopping, movie going, and watching people get excited / nervous about the escalator at the mall. All in all, a good time was had Patna mein.. :)

Playing with Picassa settings.. Picture of my kurta pattern

Two nights this week I've gotten serenaded by the nearest wedding band.. :)

Lizard on the ceiling!

Madhubani art from Bihar Emporium

More Madhubani.

Ok, last one.