Durga Puja Photos

I didn't get too many shots of Durga Puja this year but here are a few.

The fist two pictures are of the Bagh Bazaar Puja pandal, one of the larger pandals in North Kolkata. On the final day of the Puja the idols are taken from there places in the pandals and thrown into a body of water. Most idols are dropped into the Hooghly River, a distributary of the Ganges. In my community, the closest body of water was the local pond so that's where Durga and her consort were left with the fishes.



Kumatuli Park, also in Northern Kolkata, is the area that all the idols for the Puja are crafted. Needless to say, Kumatuli went all out with their pandal. It was packed and people pushed and elbowed to get inside. The exit of the pandal led to a carnival with food, games, and rides. Rajdeep and I were feeling brave so we took a ride on the fastest spinning Ferris Wheel I have ever been on! I was expecting a nice slow ride but the operator put it into high gear and, well, it was scary!

These last two pics are from the Kumatuli Park Puja. A view from the scary Ferris Wheel shows the park's gigantic pandal in the distance. Also, one of myself, looking like I'm about to be thrown from the ride!

A dollar goes a long way

Hello friends and family! (the recipes I promised are coming up soon)

I just stepped out to get some things at the local grocer's store. It's a small corner shop with windows in the walls that you communicate with the grocer through. He collects everything you want inside and you wait outside. That's how most of the grocery shops are here in Kolkata. Sure, big Western-style supermarkets exist but they tend to have slightly higher prices, plus you miss out on the shopkeeper-customer chitchat that you get at these little street-side grocery stores.

Anyway, I just got home and while I was unpacking everything that I bought I got to thinking "I can get a ridiculous amount of stuff for $1!" Of course this only holds true for a person with dollars in their bank account but, boy, my money sure goes a long way in this country!

Here is what I bought for $1:

• a loaf of bread
• a pack of cumin powder
  
• a pack of turmeric powder
• instant noodles
• half kg of potatoes
• a bag of chips
• half kg of onions

Doesn't a single loaf of bread in the States cost more than a buck? Well you'd think I would save money since I get so much more bang for the buck here but, no. I find I'm eating even more just knowing that I can afford to buy more!

For Foodies

One of my greatest passions is sampling various kinds of international cuisine. Ranking as my personal favorites are Indian and Chinese (authentic Chinese that is, not the "egg roll" and "chow mein" you find in the West). Especially since I've had the opportunity to live in both India and China for extended periods of time, I've realized that as exotic as these foods seem the first time you try them, that feeling of eating something that really excites the taste buds doesn't have to disappear when you eat that same food a second, tenth, or hundredth time.

I suppose my love for eating Indian food (and let's not forget the fact that my better half, Rajdeep, is an Indian Chef) has really motivated me to try my hand at learning to cook. He has taught me the basics and it seems that knowing just a few simple steps is enough to create a variety of dishes. It gives me such a great feeling of satisfaction and pride when I cook an Indian meal and Rajdeep says he likes it. If the chef approves, I must be doing it right!

I know a bunch of you would love to learn to cook Indian food and this is where my cooking lessons come in. I want to share with you, every now and then, some of the recipes I've been learning. They are, for the most part, quite easy to master but you'll need to first stalk your kitchen with a few key ingredients. Without these, it just won't taste right.

Key Ingredients for Indian Cooking:

• coriander powder
• cumin powder
• cumin seed
• red chili powder
• turmeric
• whole green cardamom seeds
• whole dried red chilies

Ingredients you probably already have, but if you don't you should have some handy:

• bay leaves
• cinnamon sticks
• salt
• oil (I use vegetable oil, you can also use soybean oil or mustard oil)
• most dishes will require tomato, onion, and green chili (if you like a little zing)
• potato (optional, but I use it in most of my dishes)

I'll leave you with that basic list of ingredients for now. Get to the store and get prepared! Next time we'll start with our first recipe: a simple, yet, delicious aloo (potato) curry.

Kali Puja and Diwali

This past weekend was Kali Puja and Diwali. Kali is a fearsome goddess but in Bengal especially she is viewed as a Mother goddess and protector. The term puja means prayer or religious ceremony.

Diwali is the festival of light. At dusk families place small candles called prodip in the windows and doorways. The lights are a symbol or good over evil, knowledge over ignorace. Every home and building is decorated with lights and it really is a beautiful sight. It reminds me of Christmas time in the West. Along with lighting the prodip, many set off firecrackers. My neighbors have been setting them off for a few days just behind my apartment. These sound like bombs and I have to say, my heart cannot handle too many more deafening blasts.

Both of these holidays fall at the same time and in many other parts of India I think Diwali is the one that gets more attentions. But here in West Bengal, Kali Puja takes the limelight. There are pandals set up all over the city. These are temporary shrines for the goddess Kali. Some communities spends thousands of dollars to build these and Indians have a tendency to go all out. So, you can imagine, these pandals are huge and beautiful.

Since Rajdeep is away visiting family, I celebrated the Puja by myself. Mostly I just lit some prodip in the evenings and stayed indoors to avoid getting blasted by these annoying firecrackers.

I wish I had some photos of the pandals to show you. I'll try to get out and take some so you can have a better idea of what I'm talking about.

the long overdue update

ohhhh I was going to start off by apologizing about how long it's been since I gave any sort of update on this blog but, let's face it, if you've followed the blog in the past you should already know that I'm not the most consistent poster. After months with no or very very slow internet connection, I am finally reconnected to the world and will try my best to blog more often.

There really are so many interesting things that I see or that happen to me here everyday and it is a shame that I'm not sharing these stories. ... maybe I should back up and first explain my situation.

I had been studying Bengali (the language of some parts of Northeast India and Bangladesh) from last September 08 until June 09. I completed my course at my school, Ramakrishna Mission in Kolkata and at the end of June I went back to the states for my brother's wedding in July and a good friend's wedding in August.

I finally made my way back to Kolkata September 3. So yes, I'm back in Kolkata again. Rajdeep had been working in China and staying with his family in his hometown until June so I spent the greater part of last year surviving Kolkata by myself. But this time Rajdeep is here in Kolkata with me!

I had a job teaching English lined up before I returned here but, unfortunately, it has not worked out. ..something about not enough students lined up for the courses. Anyways, that was a big disappointment but I'm trying to find some other sort of opportunity to volunteer and make use of my time.

Rajdeep is visiting his family in Assam for two weeks. That means I will have infinitely more free time and I plan to use at least some of that time to write a few updates here. Don't hold me to it, but I will try.

Coming up next.... photos from Durga Puja, are real stories of my everyday experiences here in the wonderful, yet at times daunting, city of Kolkata.

My speech at Ramakrishna Mission went alright. I was pretty nervous but apparantely everyone could understand my Bengali which was the most important thing. Not much else to tell though besides that the weather is quickly killing me. It has been + 41C lately (I think that's around 105F) and the humidity is above 90%. I've been using the AC and I'm a little afraid to see my electricity bill when it comes. But I suppose I'd rather shell out a little more cash than be uncomfortable all summer.

In other news, Rajdeep was supposed to come to Calcutta to visit in April but he won't be coming til the end of May now. His sister's wedding was scheduled for May 10 so he's had a lot of preparations to take care of. His family wants to meet me too and that should happen around the end of May/early June.

Speech Date

Well the date has been set to April 11 for my big speech. The icing on the cake is that it will be broadcast not on the local news channel as I originally assumed, no, its on the national channel all over the country. ughhh the embarrassment

Hi everyone! Long time, no post. I'm fine and well except the climbing temperatures in Calcutta are begining to get to me. Tomorrow is Holi, the festival of color. Vendors are selling colored powders on the streets now and tomorrow all of India will be out on the streets attacking friends and even strangers with these colors. People also fill waterballoons and water guns with colored water. 

My tutor arranged for me to have class tomorrow afternoon and she assured me nobody will attack me. I plan to wear old clothing and we'll just see if I can get to class without getting attacked!

Rajdeep has finished his job in China and he returned to his hometown in India a few days ago. Hopefully, I will soon be able to go to Assam, where his family is from, and meet them.

In other new, Ramakrishna Mission, the language school where I study, has asked me to give a short speech in Bengali for their end of the year ceremony. The ceremony will most likely be some weekend in March or early April and I will have to talk in front of 1500 people and on TV! I'm terrified. Plus there are to be dignitaries there too. Great, no pressure. 

A few photos

I'm adding a few photos for you. I took these when I was visiting in China last month.

These are a bunch of our Indian friends in China. The guy on the left and the girl sitting beside me are Chinese friends.

My apologies for not posting in ages. I finally got internet in my apartment. I also went to China to visit Rajdeep and friends from December 10 to January9. Thank you so much to all of you family and friends who sent me letters and Christmas cards there! It was so great to get mail.

I will write more shortly, but just wanted to let you all know that I'm alive, back in Kolkata and doing great!

Getting settled in Calcutta

I was only home to visit in the US for about a month. I came to Calcutta on September 16th and I'm slowly adjusting to a new city and a new way of life. After a few days in a bad housing situation (I was living as a paying guest in a family's home) I now a nice little studio apartment in a good location. My apartment was literally a studio. The owner is a photographer and there's still some photography equipment in the corner and the backgrounds are rolled up and hung at the ceiling.

I'm taking Bengali classes twice a week at a cultural institute called Ramakrishna Mission. Classes are good but I need to find a tutor and another job or volunteer op in my free time. I've got way to much free time now.

The best part about being in Calcutta is Bengali food. It's supposedly the best food in India. And I loved Indian food to begin with. I'm hoping to learn to cook some Indian dishes myself but I haven't had a chance to go to the market yet or find a good teacher.

I will update more as I get a chance and once I get internet access in my apartment I plan to write much more. In the meantime know that I'm safe and sound here and slowly getting settled into life in Calcutta.

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've updated. I'm back in the US now. I've been here for the past few weeks and it is really nice to see family and friends again. Plus, I got here just in time to experience the famous Grange Fair. It was the height of my excitement as a child but now its just a place to run into people I used to know and eat lots of fried foods.

In one week a new era for my little blog is about to begin. I'm moving to Calcutta, India to study Bengali! It will be quite an experience I' sure and I'll try my best to update this blog with stories about what I'm up to and what I've seen and experienced.

Return to PA

My job finished July 16 so I will be returning to PA August 19. I just wanted to update all of you.

I'll be home at least a month before I head off to Calcutta, India to study Bengali. That's the language my boyfriend and his family speak.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Did you know you MAKE it rain?

Well, apparently in China the gov. can make it rain! Or at least that's what everybody's been saying. Apparently they've been spraying some sort of chemicals into the air above the city to make it rain on appointed days. Creepy huh?

Looking at the weather forecast for Tianjin you'll see that it is to be 0% chance of rain all week then 100% chance on some random day. That's the chosen day!

I guess the purpose is to clear the dust out of the city and help with pollution before the Olympics. And the closer we get to the start of the Olympics, the more often it rains. I sure don't remember it raining this much last year.... I hope these crazy rain stories are just some big conspiracy theory but who knows. In this country, anything could happen.

Gymnastics World Cup

I went to see the gymnastics World Cup last week. Tianjin hosted it and I've wanted to see a big gymnastics meet like this since I was little. The even ran into the director of the whole thing at Rajdeep's restaurant during the 3 hour break between finals. He said the US wasn't there because they were too busy preparing for the Olympics. China cleaned up on most of the events. Especially Chang Fei. I bet she'll win a few medals at the Olympics this August. The North Korean gymnasts were especially small. I wonder if that is because of hard living conditions or genetics.

I made signs to cheer on China. The other side says 加油！(go!)

Cheng Fei on beam. She looks 10 years old but she's probably 20.

Earthquake

Hi everyone. Just to let you know, the big earthquake that hit southcentral China did not really affect where I am. I'm hearing that thousands are dead and the shocks of the earthquake were felt all over the country and bordering countries. But there was no damage. I didn't even realize anything happened until I saw it on the news.

So no worries, all is fine!

My Grade 3 Students

I took my camera to school to get a few pics of my classes. I actually forgot to take it to all my classes but I did take it along to my grade 3 class. These are my cutest kids too and they are by no means camera-shy!

This is my grade 3 class. Can you guess which group are the little angels and which ones are the trouble makers?

Well, Jimmy was camera shy.

A few of the girls. Babara (no, not Barbara) the one in pink, wears those pearls every day. She's so cute but oh so temperamental.

Jerry is my favorite! I love his rosy cheeks.

And these three are the biggest mischiefs in the class.

If you crash, they will come

Chinese people are the most curious people I have ever encountered. That's not curious in the sense of interesting (although they surely are), I mean they are snoopy. They like to have their noses in everything, especially if it doesn't concern them. Let's take a car crash as an example.

I've had the opportunity many times to witness how passersby react at the scene of a car crash. They flock towards the action. You could have a crash in the middle of nowhere and within an instant you'd have a herd of spectators crowding around to assess the damage for themselves. I just happened to be walking by this quiet intersection in Tianjin the other day and I saw a car bump into a motorcart. There are three rules in China when you have an accident:

1. Do not move your vehicles from the crime scene. Not even a foot to let other traffic by. - I once saw a bus knock a bicycle over. The bus had been crossing 3 lanes of traffic at a diagonal and would not move, therefore blocking 3 lanes of rush hour traffic. genius

2. Shout loudly and insist that the accident was the other driver's fault (even if it was yours)

3. Always call the police. (you're supposed to) unless it is clearly your fault then haggle with the other driver about compensation, shell out some cash, and rush off.

So this car/motorcart accident I saw amounted to no more than a small scratch on the van and it could have been dealt with in a few minutes but...

The police and some curious onlookers arrive.


Then there were more. I don't even know where the guy with the hard hat came from.

Anyway, I think its interesting that so many people are interested in other people's affairs. In the end, I'm just like them though. After all, I was standing there watching and taking photos too!

Sunday Out

Hi everyone. Keep commenting, I really enjoy hearing from all of you. Problem is I (yet again) can't access the page where I can reply to your comments. That doesn't mean I'm not seeing what you write though!
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Today was a beautiful Sunday in Tianjin so I got off my lazy butt and took the bus to a coffee shop where I studied Bengali for a while and then met up with a few friends and walked to a big book store. It's really big - 6 floors. But only 1/4 of one floor has English books. Anyway, here are a few photos from my day.

The first one here is my apartment area. Lovely little yu shui yuan (jade water garden). Lots of Koreans and some Japanese live here. Still, I feel like the only foreigner.


Below here is the canal that separates my housing area from downtown Tianjin. The air is noticeably cleaner where I live. Don't judge by the picture - I changed the colors on the photo. This city does have a little color :)


The third photo here is quite random really. As I was walking to the bus stop I passed a group of workers who were digging up trees and replanting them along the sidewalk. I don't know what was wrong with the original trees but I guess it gives these guys work. They're probably getting paid about 600yuan a month (around $90 a month).

Last is the cover of a Chinese textbook my friend and I were checking out. I think a better title would be "Upper Intermediate" but we found their translation of "Quasi Advanced" a little more amusing.

End of winter vacation

Well sadly my long winter vacation is about to come to an end. I've had over a month and a half off and it was wonderful. After traveling with my sister and brother-in-law, I still had a month of idleness. I made use of my time by going to the gym and studying Bengali like there's no tomorrow. Here are just a few photos from my break.

To the right is a photo on the ice at the Tianjin TV tower, Tianjin's one and only landmark. Left to right: my friends Robin, Sudev, and Sumanta. You could rent skates or these little sleds on runners that you sit on and push yourself around with long picks. We just walked around since the ice seemed too bumpy and skate rental seemed a little pricy (20 yuan per person! - $2.50)






Left is Rajdeep checking out the skates.








The two photos below are from Valentine's Day. I had never actually celebrated it before, and doing so in China was something special in itself.

























Last but not least, Chef Lyndsey. Like the apron? It's the year of the rat folks.