Let me preface this post by saying that today was, by far, the most interesting and enriching day that I have had thusfar. Wait until there is ample time to read this.
I suppose I will start with my school day, which ended early for reasons which will be discussed later. We began the day with a worksheet on the uses of "in, about, beside, above, etc." and this went over relatively well due to the fact that we had practiced two days ago. After some English practice (consisting of my reading a sentence and the children repeating it aloud) we moved on to math. The reason for the switch was that the kids eventually stopped looking at their books and were just looking at me and emulating the sounds which I made. The highlight of the day was that I was allowed to teach some science and English to the 6th grade class.
This class is especially bright and attentive. I am almost positive that this is due to the fact that all but one of the students are girls. I have found that girls are much more willing to learn in a classroom setting, whereas boys tend to make faces, slap each other in the face, and pull the girls' pigtails (which all girls wear). We learned about cellular respiration, both aerobic and anaerobic. For what seems like a difficult subject they caught on quickly. They asked questions like "Why do we need ?" and some others. I explained the body in terms of an automobile, and how a car needs petrol (gas) just as our bodies need food. The faster the car goes, or the more we exercise, the more energy we expend. The released energy come out in the form of exhaust from an auto, and in sweat and heat from our bodies. This was the most accomplished moment of my young teaching career. Even as I sit here writing I am smiling at how well they received such a difficult concept. Around 11:45 the school day ended, and this is when things got interesting.
We knew that we were going to leave early, but with the understanding that we were to attend a Hindu wedding of one of the teachers' sister. We could not have been more wrong. As time went by "wedding" became "ceremony" and finally "function". So we hopped into the car and drove toward home, only to stop half way at a house. We soon came to find out that we were attending a Hindu death ceremony, for the husband of the principal of the school. I was told that he died four years ago from cancer, and that this was the annual rememberance ceremony. As we walked up to the house we saw a large number of people, both old and young, sitting out of the porch of a large house, with some visiting inside the house. We walked up and greeted everyone with the traditional "Namastar" or "Good morning". For the elderly men and women you greet with "Namastar Ji", which is a Hindi term of endearment. We were prepared to visit for a few minutes and leave, but we ended up being invited for lunch!
As we approached another side porch we were asked to remove our shoes and sit in one of two lines, one for men and one for women. Each person sits with legs crossed, beside one of their own gender and facing one of the opposite gender. A large 'plate' of leaves stitched together with small sticks was placed in front of me, followed by men serving a large portion of rice and seven smaller portions of traditional 'fixins' which are mixed with the rice and ingested with the fingers. The men beside me took great pleasure in the fact that I ate with my left hand (the one which most Indians reserve for cleansing themselves post-restroom) and word quickly spread down the line. Thankfully I am used to the food at this point, and the meal ended up being fantastic. After the meal we were greeted by the principal and her mother, who gave Weezie and I huge hugs. She then (in Hindi) said "You are now my son, and you are now my daughter." with what resembled tears welling up in her eyes. I have said it again, but with each experience I come to realize how genuine and hospitable Indian people really are. We were not just invited to this ceremony out of nicety, we were truly invited as guests of the family and treated as such. I was also amazed that in this culture everyone eats as equals. There are no sterling silver table settings, no mahogany dining tables. Every man, woman, and child (caste willing) sits with one another on the floor, eating from leaves. From the most affluent businessman to the poorest farmer, everyone comes to eat as equals in India. Even if a poor family hasn't enough food to feed themselves they will offer a king's ransom to you as the guest. If this doesn't exemplify the traits of compassion and hospitality then there is not much in the world that does.
We left the meal with smiles on our faces and a deep sense of gratitute in our hearts (and stomachs) and prepared to head back to the homebase. I was ready to call it a day worth of cultural exchange and it was barely 1pm. We soon realized that we had yet to scratch the surface of Indian culture for the day. At 2:30 we piled in the cars again (this time with the 7 other volunteers) and made our way to Tashi Jong Gompa Monastery and Baijnath Temple.
After a pleasant 30-40 minute ride through the countryside of Himachal Pradesh we reached the semi-secluded setting of the Tashi Jong Monastery. The friendly little community is home to a community of 150 monks and about 400 refugees from the areas of Tibet and Bhutan. The complex is home to many young men and women who are there to study the teachings of Buddhism in the hopes of one day becoming monks (and perhaps even gurus) of their religious and philosophical framework. From the ages of 16-26 these young people study and are not allowed to leave. If they decide to leave then they are excommunicated from the community for life. We were allowed to enter the temple in which they learn, which also doubles as their dormitories, and then we moved on to another temple which holds small memorials for monks who have revently died. On each memorial site they place various things such as money, fruit, cookies, juice, and other food; these are the things that they will need to survive in the next life. We then walked to the very top of the mountain to see the shrine and memorial to a guru who died a few years back. The story is that this man was one of four disciples to follow the original guru from Tibet and the last one to pass away. In the house where the teachers live, on the top floor in a corner room, there is a small box in which the mummified remains of the last guru are preserved. This box is covered by silk cloth in the traditional Buddhist (and Tibetan) colors of red, yellow, and blue and surrounded by numerous pictures and a great number of gifts for the afterlife. You will see in the pictures that a picture of the last guru hangs on the wall to the left-hand side of the box. After this we made our way back down the hill, spun the prayer wheels (always in a clockwise direction) and saw a few young students debating. This was an intersting sight as the young men debate their philosophy by standing quietly, with their hands behind their backs, and when they have their answer they quickly step forward with a loud clap of their hands. They then proceed to calmly explain the teachings of the Buddha, and their views on his philosophy. For having never been to a Buddhist monastery this was a unique and delightful experience. After this we piled into the cars (in the pouring rain) and headed to the Hindu temple.
The Baijnath Temple is said to have been built in 804 CE and has been an important pilgrimage place ever since. It is a shrine to the goddess Shiva, who is worshipped and celebrated for her help with female fertility. The large stone building is surrounded by an outer fortress-style wall which also houses three smaller shrines (one again to Shiva and two for local dieties). One of the most interesting things that we found were the monkeys that live in and around the confines of the temple. The girls went wild about these little fellows and snapped about 300 pictures. I had read about not getting too friendly with monkeys here so I kept my distance. This proved to be a prudent move as one of the girls was semi-attacked after she got too close and looked a monkey in the eyes as it was eating food (this is the monkey body language equivalent of saying "Bring it on!"). This culminated our experience and all the girls (7 out of 9 volunteers) left in a mess. I had an incredible time visiting both the Buddhist and Hindu places of worship and seeing how both religions practice their worship. I hope that we will have the opportunity to do more of this soon.
When we got back everyone was ready for some down-time and we sat around watching Indian music videos while Pawan (the cook) sang along to every word. The Carrom board inevitably got pulled out and tense games ensued. Vicky and I had a tough time, but with such bad luck we surprisingly lasted for a few hours before losing all of our Carrom men. After such a tiring (but tremendously exciting and enriching) day it was time to hit the hay early. We had to go teach on Saturday because we missed Monday this week. More adventures to come tomorrow.
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