So I have been in Mussoorie for a little over a week now, and started the intensive Hindi program. And believe me, that is no exaggeration on the intensive part. I go from 8;20 to 12:10, and have at least an hour of homework every night. A lot of it is learning the script, and thus far I'm doing pretty well, it just takes me so long to formulate a sentence. Also, it's very humbling to try to read a completely new language with completely different letters, but it's kindof cool that the sign become less and less gibberish to me, and it actually makes a lot of sense to have 46 letters for phonetic purposes. I also enjoy the 45 minute chai break in between the 2nd and 3rd classes. This activity has introduced me to the bidi, which is tobacco rolled into a grape leaf for smoking purposes. So aromatic and light!
This past weekend I went to Jankichatti which is even closer to the Himalayas. From there our Hindi teachers led us on a hike up to a popular pilgrimage spot called Yamunotri, tracing the Yamuna River all the while. The path was rough and uphill and covered in horse and donkey shit, but the views were beyond beautiful, so rewarding. The temple at the top had a hot spring in which we had to bathe (semi-naked) before entering the actual temple. Never has my hair felt so nourished as it had by that hard mountain water! The temple had much to offer with its rites and rituals, and I got to help some Brahmins collect water from the river! Though I'm not one for religion, the sheer beauty and energy of my surroundings was enough to tap into the strings of my heart.
In Jankichatti a friend and I also visited a Krishna temple and got caught there by the rain. We played badminton with some kids until it passed and saw a butterfly whose wings had the markings of a yin-yang. Another day that weekend i and two others sought the serenity of the river to read, play flute, etc. Much to our dismay, we reached the water's edge only to find a very precarious path created by splats of human shit as far as the eye could see. We tried to scamper in and out of the water to find a safe spot, but all was lost after getting halfway across a deep river with a strong current and we began to turn back in discouragement. I had my new wool socks in my pocket to keep them from getting wet, and juuust as I set foot on a rock on the "safer" side of the river, the socks fell out and landed in the stagnant, green, bubbly, brown-and-yellow-crusted-over pool of steaming shit water. Regretfully I ditched them there.
The cab rides there and back were some 8 hours each, spent taking pictures and sleeping and trying to read, but mostly gawking at the rapidly changing vegetation and hillside terraces. On the way there we stopped at some random spot, which turned out to be glorious!! I had been dying to bathe in the water the whole ride, and when I leapt from the car to do so, I was pleasantly surprised to meet a bed of wild marijuana as I was running down to the river. Those who were awaiting me in the water and those who soon followed certainly passed the cool test in my book.
Last night was the 4th of July. We were able to get some fireworks and way too much whiskey and danced in the rain with some students from Brown University til the night just got way too out of hand. That's all I care to say about that, other than it wasn't quite as bad as it sounds.
I suppose that's enough for now. Apologies for re-routing you to facebook for photos, and for not uploading any videos at all yet, but I'm hoping all this nonsense will end once I get to Hyderabad... Will post again next week.
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