The Next Chapter ~ Shimla!

The view of Shimla from my new home.

    As a part of my program, the last month is spent doing a Independent Study Project (ISP). For the ISP, we have to submit field work proposals, budgets, and itineraries, and after review and approval from the Academic Director, we are sent out into the vast country of India for a month of being independent field workers. We can't call ourselves researchers because of visa limitations ... but we really are conducting research in the field.

    Some people have gone way to the South (Kerala), and some have gone SouthWest (Mumbai, Jaipur, Jamkhed), and some went East (into Uttar Pradesh), but those people are crazy. Its in the 40s there (aka 100 degrees Fahrenheit!) I was smart and sought the cooler weather, and went North ... to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh!

   

    It was quite the journey to get up north. I said goodbye to my host family on a Friday night and thanked them with a long card and yummy cupcakes.

SIDE NOTE: Cupcakes vs India sweets. Indian sweets are very hard to describe to an American. Most of the sweets have different textures - some are liquidy, some are mushy, some are grainy, some are hard, some are soft, ect. - but the thing that ALL Indian sweets have in common is that they are too sweet. As an American, I can't take more than a bite or two before I can't eat anymore. All the sweets taste as though they are made of pure sugar and oil. Indians however, can eat and eat and eat and eat. They love the stuff. My family always made fun of me for not liking/eating the sweets, because they just couldn't understand not liking or craving it. I told them they were probably the same way about American deserts, but they disagreed, "Sometimes we just want some chocolate cake!" Well, when I brought cupcakes home for my last dinner, the entire family was excited and wanted to try each of the flavors. Noel (my family-mate for the time in Delhi) and I inhaled the cake - we were so happy to taste something yummy and familiar. My family however only ate about half of each of their plates. They said that it was yummy, but it was "too rich" and "too sweet." It was so interesting to see a blatant difference between the sweet tooths of the two cultures.

    So, once I said goodnight, and was all packed, Noel and I were hanging out in our room. Now, let me set the scene for you: it was about 85-90 degrees at this point, there were a bazillion flying/biting things everywhere, and our room didn't have AC but did have a fan, which helped with both the heat and bugs.

    At about 11:30pm the power went out. This is not an abnormal occurrence in India, especially when it gets hot, because everyone is trying to use electricity. Normally, the power comes back quickly or the inverter (battery/generator) kicks in. Well, this was no ordinary night. The backup inverter was broken. It was working enough to keep the refrigerator and three small air conditioning units running at the highest temperature, but it couldn't keep the fans on.

    You might be saying, "Claire, whats the big deal? The AC was working!" Well, you'd be wrong. Because the fans weren't working there was nothing to help protect us from the mosquitoes and other flying/biting insects. If I went to the TV room with the AC, I had to create a cave out of a blanket to protect from the bugs, but it wasn't cool enough in the room to allow such a set-up, so I was sweated out of the room. Back in my room, it was big enough / I had sprayed enough bug spray that I could semi-fend off the bugs and lay sprawled out on the bed with ice packs and wet towels. Despite these measures, I slept maybe an hour that night. Oye. Vey.

    Saturday morning, in the dark, I made a quick parantha breakfast and left the house. Mimi (another girl who lived in my neighborhood and was also going to Shimla) and I got into our taxi and were off to the train station. We met up with the third girl of our Shimla party, Sophie, and after they gave their bags to a porter to carry, we loaded onto the train.

    We slept and ate on the train and then arrived in Kalka. We were supposed to then get onto the "Toy Train" which is a tiny train that winds through the hills, but we missed it because our first train was late. We then adventured through the city of Kalka with our bags, looking for the bus station. We found it ... but it looked pretty darn sketchy. We ended up deciding to take a taxi, and after paying about 6USD, we were off on our 3.5 hour journey to Shimla.

Our cab driver navigating at a rip-roaring pace through the Himalayan Hills.
Eye-spy: see the dash? Its a little Hindu shrine complete with marigolds.

    When we arrived in Shimla, we were greeted by porters. Because Sophie and Mimi couldn't easily carry their bags, they immediately opted to have the little men carry their bags to their hostel. I have the mindset that I should always be able to carry my own bag when I'm traveling, especially when alone, so I was hesitant to hire the porter. However, when he said that the my hostel (which will be my home for the next month) was about a 30 minute hike, I opted for the porter. And thank god I did.

     When I say hike I mean hike. We took a few breaks so the porters could catch their breath, and after paying my porter way too much, I was all settled into my new home.

A tiny portion of Shimla.
Eye-spy: See that little orange statue at the top of the mountain on the right? That is at a temple at the top, which is the highest peak in town.

We have settled into Shimla very well and pretty quickly. It has been a little hard getting used to being cold, as that hasn't been a feeling any of us have experienced for months, and its also strange to have zero schedule, but besides that its been great. We even can navigate pretty effortlessly in the main town area.

A sample view as you walk along the Mall. This is the "tourist" area, where Indians and some other white people come to escape the heat. Shimla was actually where the British royalty came in the summers to cool down. Its a beautiful little town
Eye-spy: See those little creatures scurrying across the walk? MONKEYS!!! They are everywhere, and you have to be careful not to make them mad or entice them. They can steal your food, you bags, and even your sunglasses. You just can't make eye contact and try to keep your distance ...

The first Monday we were here was State Founder's Day, so there was a festival in town, and we couldn't start our ISP; so we just enjoyed the festivities and the sunny weather.

The crowd at the main square watching the festival. The tent is for the important government officials.
Eye-spy: See the building to the far left? That is the public library. I have yet to be in it, but it is on the vast list of things to do.

We are technically here to work ...

I am doing my field work on health education in elementary schools.

My view from the Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) where I have been doing my work. Not a bad view from a "desk."

One of the first steps of my field work was to get a letter from the Education Director to give me permission to go into schools to conduct interviews. Yesterday, a worker with the NGO I'm working with escorted me to the Education Board. Today I had to go back by myself to collect it. The Joint Director said the Director would be in by 11am, and I could collect it then.

The view on my walk to the Education Board.

Some of the Education buildings. They are far down the hill; some of the paths are at about 50degree angles.
Shimla = lots of hills.
The Education Board where I went was a little to the left (and farther down) then what this picture shows.

    I got there on Indian time (so I arrived around 11:30am). The director hadn't arrived yet, so I sat with the Joint Director. We chatted about America, and the bombings, and education, and he introduced me to all of the people that came into his office. Some of the people I was introduced to may end up helping me with my field work; making connections in India is super easy because everyone is so friendly and willing to help.

    While I waited we had a cup of chai. And as I waited longer, we had another cup of chai. At 1:45pm the director came to the office. The Joint Director mentioned something about him being at a meeting somewhere else, but he didn't sound very convincing. By 2pm I had my signed and stamped official letter and was outta there! Everything takes a long time in India, but the over two hour wait was actually pretty enjoyable.

    Its nice to have the first of a million steps complete. I now feel like my ISP is finally real!