Monday, May 21, 2012

First week in India

       I really don't know where to start or what information to detail. I could never convey all of our experiences or my impressions so far so I will only hit a few. We arrived to Bangalore on Tuesday evening. I was tired and worn out from the 30 hour adventure and had yet to find out amount of time and struggle was yet to come. After waiting 45 minutes to get through immigration because we didn't have an address of where we were going I began to realize that I really didn't know where I was going -- I didn't know how to navigate here. I was just grateful I had my husband to wake me up when it was time to get off the plane and guide me through immigration, or, rather, deal with customs with me. Walking out of the airport we spotted a sign that two boys were holding saying "Kharuna Home". We both knew that was one of our contacts in Bylakuppe but we also knew that Samson, one of Dave Shuler's friends, was picking us up. That was the begining of our problems. Luckily we found Samson and he took us to Krish Homes where we would be staying that night. Later we found out, to our bewhilderment, that Kharuna Home had driven all the way from Bylakuppe just to pick us put.  Well, what happened happened and we had no control or knowledge of what happened until we had already come and gone so the story continues......Krish Homes was a nice place with a balcony, two beds, shower, bathroom, and balcony that over looked the hidden street in Bangalore. It ran up into a grove of mango trees. The neighboring houses seemed very nice. Most of the houses had balconies, nice rugs, and clean patios. It is hard to tell much else from just the outside of the building. We arrived in Bylakuppe very late and found out that we weren't suppose to stay there. We stayed just the night and ate dinner there (thukpa). Our living quarters will be very nice. We are in a building in the back of Namgyal's house. There are 3 rooms (the bathroom, washroom, and bedroom). Our room has two beds separated by a nightstand. The beds are wood slated frames with thin blankets and topped with Tibetan decorated rugs. The rugs or mostly dark blues and reds. At the foot of the bed is a stand with a very very modern TV. It is much nicer than I expected and much more westernized than I expected. The washroom consists of a shower (very cold!) with a metal drain in the floor and a small wash machine in the corner which is something I never expected. The bathroom is a squatter with just a nozzle for water to wipe your butt. Make sure you only use your left hand! I had to learn how to use them very fast because we forgot toilet paper. It has been a good experience.       When we were at Namgyal's he told us quite a bit about farming. A knowlege about agriculture here is very common knowlege which I didn't expect. He explained to us about how maze has been a very large crop in Bylakuppe but it is not very profitable. Usually the corn is only grown for cow feed and is not able to be consumed by the people. It was supprising to find this out because almost all extra land here is a well plowed farm or coconut tree farms.
        On Monday we were able to visit the Organic Research and Training Center where I was able to talk to Tenzin Damdul. He explained the maze as a plant that does not give anything back to the earth. Currently they own 80 acres of organic farms which they use to invite Indians and other Tibetans to see that vegetables, fruits and herbs can grow well if they put the time and patients into it. Currently, Mungod has over 1000 acres of organic farming. Damdul explained that although farming is not a good way to make a sustainable income they are doing much better because they are growing 6 herbs that are sold for medicines. He clearly explained that once I obtain the PAP I will certainly be able to work on the farm. It is the perfect season right now because everyone is starting to plant.
       As far as my class on Tibetan Medicine I have not been able to learn much yet. I have a few books I want to read which I have to wait for them to get here and then I can begin to ask questions. A Tibetan nurse came to Kharuna Home last week and told me of a Tibetan doctor's office that I might be able to learn at.
      Not having the PAP has made things frustrating. We have been able to build rapport in the Kharuna Home but it does not extent out of that besides with Damdul. I pray that it will come soon so that I can move on with my project.
      My adventures here have been very small in comparison to what I will experience but one thing I learned on the very first day was that Indian standard time is 10 times different not that it is good or bad but plan on everything being twice as long as they say. On our bus ride from the airport to Krish Home I was told that we would be there in 30 min from the time we asked and it ended up being a good 1 and a half hours later. As Beau's Hindi teacher says Indian and Mormon standard time just adds up.



      Now since posting pictures is kind of sketchy here because we have to use an internet cafe. I will post pictures of places that we have gone to in our free time.
The Golden Temple

Sera Monastery


Mysore