Team Bonding, Indian Style

These past five days, we were privileged enough to travel with our fellow KHEL teachers to Jaipur for a bit of sight seeing, religious monument visiting and team bonding, Indian style.

Getting to Jaipur involved catching a three hour bus to Haridwar, place of the aarti (everyone lights flowers on fire and throws them in the Ganges at sunset). Because it was a holy day (Good Friday) there were buckets of people there, and so we walked/struggled through massive crowds instead of catching bike rickshaws.

One thing about walking with Indians is that they are mighty easy to lose. Normally one wears bright colors so those in your group can find you. However, EVERYONE wears bright colors here. They also either 1) stop and look at things every couple of feet, or 2) charge ahead, leaving us with no hope of ever catching up. Miracle of miracles, we caught every train and bus and had a lovely time. I am becoming a very calm, collected type “No Death, No Disaster, No Problem.”

Our train was a fairly straightforward affair, and we were comfortably installed in our sleeper car for the night. Other than being awoken around 1am by a thief who stole from the woman just across from us, and fasting from lunch until lunch the next day, it was a delicious adventure. I STILL love trains, and will take one with you anywhere you like.

JAIPUR NEWS WILL COME LATER. THIS IS ONLY TRAVEL INFO.

While waiting for our train home, we learned how to say, “Why are you bothering us, mind your own business” in Hindi. This is in response to the paparazzi cum stalker-esque behavior we are subjected to in any semi-crowded place. People throw their babies at us and attempt to take “just one snap, ma’am.” I have an urge to go Britney Spears on them, as it seriously brings out the anti-pacifist in me to have my photo taken by people who don’t respect me when I say “No, thank you”.

I ought to be more like Jacqui.

Marielle’s Typical Conversation With Indian Paparazzi:

IP: Ma’am, may I take one snap please?

M: No, no thank you.

IP: Ma’am please?

M: No, I’m sorry.

IP: Ma’am why not?

M: Because I don’t take photos with strangers. Please stop.

IP: Maybe with my baby?

M: No thank you!

IP: Please?

M: NO! (Explodes)

Jacqui’s Typical Conversation With Indian Paparazzi:

IP: Ma’am, may I take one snap please?

J: No. Go away.

And you know what? THEY LEAVE HER ALONE. India is making us into jerks.

We also played a hilarious game of drawing portraits of each other, balancing the notebook on our heads. I will leave you to judge our efforts, and would like to say that you can CLEARLY see the duck face Jacqui was making while I was drawing her. Me on the other hand... Unclear what was lost in translation.

I will treasure that portrait forever.

When we came back on the train, we arrived in Haridwar with an interesting conundrum. Some of the teachers wanted to catch the bus to go home to Dehradun immediately. After all, 12 hours in a train leaves everyone feeling wonderfully hostile towards humanity. The others wanted to jump in the Ganges, and take a bath.

Now for a bit of cultural comparison, this is like me taking a dirty, smelly, noisy train for TWELVE HOURS from say Detroit or Chicago, and arriving in St. Paul, Minnesota. I can then drive home, OR I could jump in the Mississippi. Logical decision?

Go home. Please.

Having now eaten food that was not deep fried in sketchy oil and handled by people whose fingers were in dubious places, I am much happier. I am clean, I am not surrounded by crying unphotogenic babies or thieves on a train. I can remember the great parts of my trip, and forget the rest.

Tonight I am going to sleep for AT LEAST ten hours. Anyone who wakes me up before 7am with their Rajastani folk music is going to get a rusty nail between the eyes.