Mountains and Mountains and Laughter?

All I want to do since returning from our trip to the desert is read about mountains. To spend every moment reading the 50 + scholarly articles sitting in my inbox unopened. Do not worry however, I can't sit still for that long/ go without human interaction for much more than an hour so that isn't happening. I think it's my little way of dealing with everything at the moment. and sort of my way to exert some control.

So what to say about the desert. It was intense. We spent much more time on this trip hanging with people our own age. we spent an afternoon at the Balika Shivir Girls education camp just outside of Bikaner. Here, girls who have dropped out of school from anywhere between 5th and 10th standard spend 7 months taking intensive classes to prepare to pass the Indian board exams. An additional challenge was that even my very little Hindi was not usable. Many of the girls, especially the ones in the group I spent time with, spoke Malwari, an offshoot of Rajasthani. So instead, I stuck with my usual fall back. Self deprecating laughter and hand games. I did however spend a great deal of time speaking Hinglish to Renu, a teacher at the school. Though the girls aren't smiling in this photo I promise we all laughed alot. A side note, three of these girls are married. No judgement passed because just as with everything else, this issue is immensely more complicated than I can understand.

The next day we were off to the Village Nathusar. Both Balika Shivir and Nathusar receive assistance ( or are ran in the case of Balika Shivir) from URMUL, a non-profit which began as a dairy co-op but has since widened its focus to pretty much all of the services the government doesn't provide. I actually missed most of the village trip due to a dizzy spell however a woman kindly opened her home up for me to lay down in. I closed my eyes, only to open them 10 minutes later to this group of Hooligan makers. Please note,  when languages fail, nothing goes quite as far as laughter and cameras.

we went on the village excursion with a group of girls from Binani Girl's college, the first women's college in Bikaner. This was excellent for a number of reasons, first, it gave us a chance to use our Hindi, and second, they were just too much fun. According to our teachers, many of these girls come from very conservative families where acting independently outside of the household is a rarity. Clearly this group of 18 missed the message that they were supposed to be shy. A special shout out to Rajmi and Vyas who humored my horrible Hindi and my attempts to sing Teri Meri. Little do they know as awful with English lyrics as I am, Hindi lyrics are probably a lost cause.

and speaking of Bollywood, our Amir Khan photoshoot with Awadheshji and Nicky on the Thar Desert:

Ah. I apologize for how long this entry is. One last very important part to go. So combine all of these people together, and the sharp contrast between what we are seeing during the day and where we are staying at night. and the sunsets over the desert watched by rooftop, and the stars gazed upon also my rooftop anddd I was already mentally exhausted. Now, off to the Pakistani Refugee camp we go.

I have no idea what to say with this one, except that when poor diplomatic relations result in the exclusion of thousands and thousands of people something is desperately wrong. I was one of the last to sit down with our group so while we were primarily addressed by male members of the community I happened to be sitting next to the women and children. The results? Lots of hand holding and playing with small children. Goodbye notebook cover and highlighter, lost to the inquisitive hands of a two year old. I guess I just really struggle over borders. I've never quite understood them, especially when in so many places a border is not tangible and yet has such a significant role to play in your future and access to opportunities. Many of the members of the refugee camp are from Jodhpur originally and a generation or two ago their grandparents/ great grandparents, moved just inside the Pakistani border for work. And than partition happened. An absolute example of the wrong place at the wrong time.

So Here I am however. back in Jaipur with three days off. And lots of city to explore. Most people in my program are off on different excursions but I really needed some time to explore this city and hang with my host family. I'm pretty exhausted at the moment but I know things will look up, and this is why you travel. To have everything you thought you knew become as scrambled as eggs. To use my favorite quote:

"The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white."

touche random quote from quotegarden. you have spoken my heart. Tomorrow, the medieval observatory and hanging with my new best friend, the lassiwala.

Hello Spice market at dusk!