Time to update before I head off for another couple days of traveling! I have had a really great weekend. Stephanie and I took a half day Friday to head into the city and run some errands with our friend Parabita. After successfully completing our shopping we went to dinner at our friend Babita's house. Babita is the personal assistant of one of our supervisors and she has been talking about having us over forever. She just got married five months ago and wanted us to meet her husband. Their whole family was so incredibly hospitable and generous, it was so overwhelming! It was a really special experience to be invited into their home and meet all of them. It is so interesting how commonplace it is in India (and a lot of Asia) for so much extended family to all live together. Babita and her husband Rahul were living with Rahul's parents, Rahul's brother and his wife, and their son! In the U.S., parents want their children to be independent and out on their own but this situation seems desirable and expected here. So different. Anyways, we arrived about 6:00, by way of three people at a time on Rahul's motorcycle and no helmets for the passengers! No passengers wear helmets here and often times the drivers don't even wear them! It was a bit of a scary ride. They served us an appetizer of something called pachori I think (pretty much just fried potatoes and veggies). We had a good time all sitting around talking and meeting Rahul. We watched their wedding video. It is the second one I've watched and I really love seeing all the different wedding customs and traditions. Their wedding wear is so elaborate, it's incredible! Then they took us to a gurdwara (Sikh temple) close by. Sikhism is a really fascinating religion that combines elements of Hinduism and Islam. Stephanie and I had actually slept at a gudwara when we traveled to Chandigarh (that's a whole other story!). The temple was beautiful.
Stephanie, Babita, Parabita, and I in front of the temple.
The entrance of the temple.
These are prayer scarves. You tie it on and once your prayer is granted you are supposed to come back, untie it, and worship. There was also a prayer pole covered with these scarves in front of the temple. The swastika is a holy symbol in India, you see it everywhere.
We headed back and Rahul played his electric drum set for us. It was really fun. They served us a really scrumptious, large dinner. It was such a welcome change from the food at the Institute's "mess" (kind of like a cafeteria) I eat all week. We had paneer mutter (these kind of cheese cubes with peas), dal (a staple of Indian food, a sort of lentil soup), curd raita (a sort of yogurt), poori (fried bread), a raw vegetable salad thing, this spiced rice with peas, and a dessert of kheer (like the rice pudding Indian dessert I've had in the States!). It was a veritable feast. They were so kind. We got to meet the whole family and they performed sort of a traditional farewell ceremony when we left. They put the tilak (little red dot) on our foreheads, tied another holy thread on our wrists, and even forced us to take money! I couldn't imagine anyone in the States being so welcoming like this to someone they barely knew! I really enjoyed my evening there and it is definitely something I won't forget anytime soon.
Myself, Stephanie, and Parabita.
Stephanie and I with the whole fam!Saturday was a lovely rainy day. Stephanie and I went into the office for a half day then I spend the afternoon lounging, reading, napping. Stephanie got one of our friends Tanu to do mendhi, more commonly known as henna, on one of her hands and I watched that for a couple hours. Tanu told us about a wedding custom they have where the mendhi artist hides the groom's name on the bride's hand and then he has to find it. The mendhi is so gorgeous, I think I'll have her do my hand in a couple weeks. They had a special dinner at the mess with a new Indian sweet I hadn't tried called rasmullai (not sure on that spelling). After dinner some of the MSc guys invited Alex (another U.S. student here from the University of Texas researching) and I out to go "frogging"! I was intrigued. We really just went traipsing through the woods in the rain in search of frogs. It was surprisingly SO fun! I've never been a big science person but of all the sciences I find wildlife biology and ecology interesting so being here at the Wildlife Institute has actually been really cool. The guys were amazing. Standing in the woods they could hear three different types of frogs sounds. We saw 8 different species! WII has a really incredible campus, they even came out with a report on the biodiversity of the campus recently which I skimmed through. All the different frogs were so neat, the guys could tell me their scientific names and all about them, their mating habits, etc. It was scary at a point they told me I shouldn't be walking in the field in my sandals because the most poisonous snake in India, called the common crait, inhabits WII's campus. You won't even feel it bite you then its neuro toxins paralyze you then you die!!! Luckily I was fine but am still a little freaked out to know that is roaming the campus. The experience was so interesting, never something I envisioned myself on a Saturday night but it was really refreshing and fun, I loved it.
Fearless frog hunters.
Playing with a praying mantis!
My favorite- the yellow tree frog! It was ridiculously cute. You can't tell in this picture but it was so tiny!Today is one of my Indian friends Neha's birthday! So last night they planned a little surprise party for her at midnight which I went to after frogging. It was just about 5 girls and we had a chocolate cake for her and Stephanie and I had made her a card and bought her some sof (I think it's usually celery seeds they eat after meals and they have all sorts of flavors). We brought her over at midnight, sang to her, ate the cake, and presented our gifts. They have this custom where everyone feeds the birthday person a bite of cake and then the birthday person feeds everyone a bite. After talking and eating for a bite they brought in some speakers and we had a rockin' dance party in Ambica's little room, just us girls. It was amazing! I know this sounds cheesy (I always think of the Dane Cook skit) but sometimes I really really do just wanna dance! I love it when people can just be uninhibited and fun and just dance! They played all sorts of American and Hindu music, I was singing along to it all. We had a wonderful time.
Dance party! Neha (the birthday girl), San Geeta, Parabita, Ambica, and Stephanie.
The birthday girl blowing out her candles!Now, Stephanie and I are leaving in about an hour to take the overnight bus to New Delhi! We are going to spend our first day doing some work for our internship. We will visit some different wildlife organizations to gather some more data, maybe conduct some interviews, etc. I am really excited! The World Wildlife Fund- India Office, the Wildlife Trust of India, and TRAFFIC-India are the three places we plan to visit. The second day we will go sightseeing, shopping, pretty much enjoy Stephanie's last day in India! The next morning (bright and early at about 4:00 AM) I am seeing her off at the airport so she can head home for some family vacations. I will head back to the institute on Wednesday and finish up our project for the next two and a half weeks. Also, sorry I haven't been able to respond to emails the past couple days, my internet hasn't been working and now for some reason my gmail isn't working, I'll respond when I get back. Don't worry about me, WII is sending us with an escort again and I will be safe. Love you all!
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