More fun stories....

July 9, 2007

On Sunday night Nick and I went with Tasnim, Mukesh and Byson to a small little restaurant for dinner that was not too far away from where we live. To get there we took a regular city bus... our first experience with Indian public transport. It was not too bad at all. A man even came by and sold us some peanut on our way for 5 rupees! Of course as we got off the bus Mukesh said, "Public transportation is the worst!" When I asked why he said that just last week ten people were killed in a bus crash and that similar things happen all the time because the drivers are not certified to drive. Eeeek!

Before we ate Nick and I went with Tasnim to a near by market and bought some pasta for the following nights dinner. Then we went and sat down. Mukesh and Byson had already finished eating so they left. So Nick and I had a really nice dinner with Tasnim. We had beef curry and prawns. It was all very Yummy! On our way back home we got on the wrong bus so we got off and decided to walk home instead. On our way I noticed that every hundred feet or so the overwhelming smell of urine would overcome your senses.... Tasnim joked that whenever she travelled she would get off the plane to this smell and know she had made it home. It was kinda gross... but when you gotta go... you gotta go!

(as a side note... with all this talk of pee... I just went to the bathroom at Navdanya and a rat ran across my feet! The bathroom is filled with all sorts of papers, stacked from floor to ceiling all around. It's not the cleanest bathroom in the world... actually it is kinda gross... but it still surprised the hell out of me!)

As we walked we talked about all sorts of things and had a good time. When we got outside of Greenpark Village Tasnim stopped to buy some flowers. When she did Nick whispered to me that he shouldn't have eaten the food and that his stomach was messed up. I believed him because his face was all contorted with pain. Tasnim bargained for the flowers and we moved on. There was a little Mother Dairy ice cream cart on the side of the road. Mother Dairy is, at least this is what Manu says, run by the government. It is pretty much the only place we have found dairy products. Well, lots of shops sell ice cream... but other than that... not much. Tasnim wanted to treat us to good Indian ice cream. I think it is called Kulfie but I am not sure. So we stopped and she got us some. It was fantastic... Nick ate some too even though his stomach was giving him pains. We continued through Green Park and I asked Nick if he wanted to stop, he said no, his stomach was doing better! So we walked on. When we were about half a mile away from home nick handed me the bag of pasta and said he would meet us there and took off running toward home and the bathroom. Hahaha... poor guy! He is feeling much better now. Later the food messed my stomach up as well but not nearly as badly as it did Nick's.

July 12, 2007

Yesterday Nick and I were at work with very little to do so we left and headed over to Tasnim's house. She fed us lunch and took good care of us (as always) and then we headed out to go shopping because I really needed pants. The mosquito's are biting like crazy lately so my legs are paying the price. I must thank Sergei for the Malaria pills... they have been a real life saver!;o) We walked out of our village and most of the auto drivers already had passengers, but there was one that did not. He was sleeping in the back of his auto. So Tasnim went over and woke him up and scolded him for being lazy. Nick and I found this very amusing! After a few groggy complaints he realized she was right, splashed some water on his face and off we went.

As soon as we came to the first shop Tasnim put on her bargaining face. She bargained for a pair of pants that I liked. We got them for 100 rupees (2.50)... not a bad price at all. From there it was a whirl wind of shopping... with Nick wondering around behind us. Nicks disgruntled quote of the day, "it feels like we are right back at home shopping with your friends." Hahaha... but I think he ended up having fun.

After about an hour and a half of running in and out of small street shops we decided we had enough and went to look for shoes that Nick could wear with his suit. These were not so cheap. The most inexpensive ones he looked at were the equivalent of a little over 50 bucks so we decided to wait. We also saw some shoes for 250 rupees on the street but Tasnim said they were not of a very good quality and would fall apart quickly. So we didn't get any.

As we were walking around, Tasnim treated us to a yummy little treat called Momo's. It was a mixture of chicken and other stuff inside of a thin bread on the outside. They were kind of like won tons only they tasted way different.

On the way out of the market we were accosted by 4 or 5 children who wanted to sell us various items. Though I have to say that was mostly my fault. I was looking at the pretty necklaces and it made one of the children think that I was interested. After that... it was all over! The children are so desperate to sell you something that they will follow you around until you break. It makes me really sad and sometimes I'm tempted to just hand a little money over to each of them. Sometimes I do, but this time there were way to many of them all tugging on us to listen to their offers.

We then realized that we had not been to the shop where Tasnim needed to go to get the key to her locked cabinet (she lost her copy). She was not sure what shop she bought it in so we walked around for another 45 minutes before we found the right shop. I think Nick was now very tired but I was still having fun. Then we headed out of the market to look for a ride.

When were looking for an auto Tasnim had to make us stay far behind her so she did not get ripped of by the drivers. Even when she had bargained for a price she liked they would change their price as soon as we walked up.

Nick and Tasnim... coming home from shopping

We drove back home and took a shower before heading back down to Tasnim's for dinner. On our behalf she cooked us a pasta dinner. It was (like all of her cooking) AMAZING! Nick could not stop eating it! Manu and Mukesh were a little skeptical at first because pasta is not very common in India but by the end Mukesh was saying that we needed to meet a nice Italian girl and send her his way when we left (he has a girl friend... so he was only kidding:o).

After dinner we once again had ice cream and mangos and then called it a night. We have been eating LOTS of mangos because it is the end of the season and they tell us they will not be around for much longer.:o(

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Dehradun so don't expect any posts for several days! We will update you on how the trip went as soon as we return to Delhi!

A change of plans... of sorts

An update to our trip itinerary:

We were originally scheduled to leave India on August 16. That date has now been pushed up to August first and we will spend the remaining 18 days touring Europe. We want to visit Italy and Spain and of course Germany to visit with Kristin's family. Anyone with friends in these areas please contact us!

Aside from that, we travel to Dehradun to Navdanya's organic farm in two days. We'll be going with some Italians who are studying "Gastronomic Science"... so basically cooking. There will be a Mango festival!!! We also have professional responsibilities in assessing the school and its prospects for sending students there to learn various things... will update when we know more.

When we get back from that trip, we'll be heading off to Hyderabad in the State of Andhra Pradesh. We also have professional responsibilities on this trip. We'll be joined by Raja, who is a tech worker at Intel in the states. We will be visiting villages around Hyderabad interviewing people affected by campaigns by large US agrocompanies to sell genetically modified seeds to Indian Farmers. To those unfamiliar with this issue, what basically has happened over the last ten to fifteen years is that beneficial international trade laws, specifically portions of TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), allowed for industrial giants like Monsanto to patent genes and life forms in India (and all over the world for that matter). These companies mount campaigns to get farmers to buy genetically modified seeds that are supposed to be resistant to a certain type of pest. The companies will use local fronts such as other farmers or Indians on the payroll to convince other farmers to buy the products. Demonstrations of success are accompanied with promises of amazing profits.

Unfortunately, the seeds rarely work and most of the time give far lower yields. Farmers are convinced to continually buy quick fix solutions like more seeds and pesticides to fix the problem. This happens continually until the farmers get into huge debt which they can never get out of. At this point, they either sell their farms or commit suicide. In fact over a hundred thousand farmers in India have committed suicide due to this phenomenon.

We will be involved in is assessing the feasibility of a tech-to-farmer campaign where tech workers who emigrated to the United States can send money back to Indian farmers to buy back land. In addition, we'll be setting the groundwork for a documentary and study on the issue, so lots of interviewing. Which reminds me, I might appear in a documentary talking to Dr. Shiva in her office looking like a tool haha.

Thoughts about the last few days:

So over the weekend, Kristin and I had some good experiences. On friday night we went to Khan Market which was way too posh. I did, however, pick up a book I'd been dying to read called Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. I just finished it today. This book is a fantastic read and it explains a lot of the strategy of the "corporatocracy" over the last 60 years.

Out of college, Perkins was recruited by the NSA, but ultimately decided not to sign on. He instead joined the Peace Corps, went to South America and when he returned was recruited as an "Economic Hit Man" by a large engineering firm. His job was to make absurdly optimistic predictions about the possibilities of economic growth in developing nations. This would then justify loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which the nations couldn't and weren't expected to get out of. Then the countries would owe favors to the United States and also were forced to hand over no bid construction contracts to American firms like Bechtel and Halliburton. The book is about his adventures in Ecuador, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Panama, and elsewhere. It explained a lot to me about the last 60 years of revolution and intervention by the United States in many parts of the world. Anyone interested in understanding the gory details about how the United States shaped its empire, from an insider perspective, read this book. I'm especially calling on Dan Golden, Pablo Galvan, and Brad Page to read this book.

As a few people close to me know, I've been a little depressed at parts of my trip here in India. One of the things contributing to that is the massive poverty in this country and the seemingly impossible task of correcting it. In fact, India, like the United States, seems hell bent on ignoring it all together and instead making the rich people richer. Anyways, just driving around in town and having 7 year old impoverished children working the streets begging for money just destroys my heart. I've had a hard time dealing with it... which seems absurd as I don't really have to deal with it all. I'm embarrassed to admit that my first reaction to the situation was to close my eyes as well and try to avoid any area where we might run into it. This just made me feel like a sell out and more depressed. Kristin and I had also been trying to different justifications for our increasingly dismissive attitude about the whole thing. Luckily the shock wore off this weekend and we are starting to embrace facts about life. I don't think that I will ever witness a world without poverty, but the difference between poverty in the 3rd world and poverty in the United States is staggering. The standard "get a job" cop out that we use in States will not pass here. There are no jobs. There's no clean water. And there is a growing lack of compassion from the upper classes as they pander to America's neoliberal economic wishes. The upper class wants to modernize so damn the realities.

I was reading a case the other day where the Supreme Court rejected a plea from slum dwellers that if their slums were demolished that they be given another plot of land to live. The Supreme Court said told them that giving them a plot of land would be like rewarding pickpocketers. In another case the Supreme Court said that desperation doesn't give a right to violate the law. The callous approach to the poor is astounding, but it probably only seems worse here because the poverty is worse. I think it really set in when I was watching a segment of the Colbert Report the other day where he reported that the number of High Income people in the world grew by 8 percent this year. The promise that America once offered to the world after WWII has all but disappeared. Crooks rule the world! This article by Richard C. Cook shows that the economic end might be on the way, despite the optimistic outlooks that the corporate media always delivers http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6239

It's hard to be here and not be embarrassed to live in the United States. I still wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but everyone in the country is complicit in the state of the world we created, ignorant or not. So I guess I'm recharged with resentment instead of depression.

Anyways...

So on Saturday, Kristin and I first went to find the law library across from the Supreme Court. We found the advocates building where all the Supreme Court lawyers work. All you lawyers in the States be happy with your accomodations, no matter how modest they are. This place is a dump! We found the library, which was a bit nicer, but extremely small. Instead of staying, we left to see the rest of the city.

We next went to this giant market called Connaught Place. It's a giant circular monstrosity with a central park in the middle. The outer blocks are divided into seven large subdivisions. The main subdivisions were really expensive! It was almost like an American mall. So instead we went to the subdivision that is an underground bazaar. Everything was cheap! Kristin also got to hone her bargaining skills. I will have her expand on this part a little more.

After we left the bazaar, we walked around and found the Tibetan markets. A man saw me and dedicated the next 30 minutes to selling me a leather whip. I told him that I didn't want a whip for any reason except to use on Kristin if she got out of line. She didn't appreciate the quip. He said he would sell it for 900 rupees (~$22.50). I told him I didn't want a whip and walked off with Kristin so she could bargain for some bedding. For the next thirty minutes, he sat behind me pleading with me to bargain with him. I tried to ignore him as he kept lowering the price, bargaining with himself more than me. At one point he demonstrated the whip and almost whipped a dog! Eventually he said he would sell it to me for 100 rupees. At this point I turned around and bought the whip even though I had no desire for it. I respected the effort. Immediately he tried to sell me a wallet. I grabbed Kristin and we left.

On sunday, I was sick most of the day and kept fighting Kristin because she wanted to go out and I wanted to sleep. Tasnim made an amazing lunch. I ate 3 generous portions and fell asleep on her couch. They excused me to go sleep in our apartment. Then Kristin's nagging finally persuaded me to get up and do something. We went back to the Connaught Place area, but just held up in a coffee shop where Kristin continued the streak of kicking my ass in every card game that we play. It was a relatively uneventul weekend, but I will let Kristin expand on it when I pass the computer off to her!

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