My Daughter in India

[pecan]

More updates ... been seven month now with three more to go before she returns home in May.

She leaves for the 26-day north India trip in 12 hours.  Only 13 of them this time.

Here is a recent blog on language

February 6 - 21st:
What you may or may not know, is that when exchange students from different countries spend enough time together they create a really great language of their own.

The staple language is English. We all speak English fluently, and use English in India. But of course, Indian English is MUCH different than Western English. We have made the term "Hinglish". The words most commonly used differently in Hinglish compared with English are "Only" "Properly" "perfectly" "itself" and just a different sentence structure. A standard conversation with me and an Indian would be:

"From which country you have come from?"
"Canada."
"Oh, Canada, itself?"
"Yes Canada, itself."
"And what day does your birthday fall on?"
"June **th."
"Oh, June only?"
"Yes, June only."
"And have you taken your lunch properly?"
"Yes. I have taken my lunch properly."

... and so on.

Next major language is Hindi. In Maharashtra, Hindi is widely used. Obviously, living in a different country for seven months you are bound to pick up a few words. But since Hindi isn't necessary to surviving in India, we haven't learned how to make proper sentences.

And other than Hinglish at it's best, we use a few German and French words American and Canadian slang, plus one word of Marathi "F u kta" which means "only", but when I say it, it sounds...a lot cruder than it's suppose to. Meanwhile, Chris and I try to remember the Japanese that we picked up from one class and me from watching too many anime shows as a child.

SO. A conversation between us would looks something like

Anais: Guys! Let's chalo! (Hindi for "Come on" or "Let's go")
Me: Ek(One in Hindi) second, let me get some khana khana (Hindi for food)
Anais: Only take tora tora (Hindi phrase for "a Little bit")
me: "Fukta chotti (Hindi for small) amounts?"
Chris: Where are we chalo-ing to?
Franzi: The mall
Chris: The mall, itself?
Anais: The mall, only??
Me: The mall, properly?
Franzi: The mall, perfectly. We'll take lunch over there, then go for some masti(Hindi for fun)
Me: Thik Hai(Hindi for okay) I'm Bas(Hindi for "Enough" or "Stop")that anana(Pineapple in French, German AND Hindi) was schiessy German origin, but...slang...
Franzi: Hogya?(Hindi for "Finished")
Me: Hogya. Bas. Chalo.


...I'm not sure what that will mean you if you aren't an exchange student in India...but this specially language has become much apart of my life. Along with the hand gestures. I'm not sure if I could explain those to you.

[pecan]

Blog on being Foreign in central India


February 6 - 21:

... Look, India is cool and all...but the way that Indians are - they yell out "Foreigner!" at you, take pictures of you, and straight up just be really rude to you really can get to you. You try and ignore it and accept it. But sometimes, when you accept the fact that this is how you're treated and no one will do anything to help you...it really sucks.


I'd have to say that being a foreigner in India (Really in most of Asia where the population is pretty homogeneous) is one of the things that's really hard. Not so much for me, since [I can pass for Indian].

I experience the foreigner attention second handed. I hang out with fair and lovely, blond haired and blue eyed people who stand out in a population of 1 billion who have tanned skin, dark hair and brown eyes. Although I have the same mindset as my fair and lovely friends, my look doesn't generate much interest.


Indians can't help themselves. For most, the only foreigner exposure they've had is the back up dancers in Bollywood movies or Hollywood movies. And unfortunately, that what they think of us in the west are like. And I guess that's kind of true. Girls in the west are allowed to wear tank tops and shorts that can be mistaken as underwear and it's acceptable. But for the much more conservative India, showing your knee is a bit risqué. In other words, generally speaking, Indians think that fair and lovely blonde haired, blue eyed girls are hussies. The attention from the teenage boys can be a little much when they follow you home, and try talking to you etc.

The following home doesn't happen all the time, mostly it's staring and yelling at us.

Girls will whisper and giggle, middle aged people will simply just stare and the pale complexion in astonishment. Young children will either blankly stare or scream in excitement. Young teenage boys will do all of the above, plus scream and talk to us.

"Arey Bapure!"
"Hi Foreigners!"
"How are you!"
"Where are you going?"
"Where are you?" (Hinglish for either "Where have you been?" or "Where are you from?"

They will say a combination of the above statements. My personal favorite was while biking past a group of teenage boys with Anais. Nine of them in the same tone said "Aaaaarey baPPure! WELCOME TO INNNNNDIAAAAAAA"

None of this happens to me, but I get to watch the interactions between Indians and my fair and lovely friends very closely. It's interesting and annoying at the amount of attention we/they get. I don't know how they deal with the attention all day. Michelle will cover her face like a bandit, Chris keeps count of the times we hear "Foreigner" in a day. And mostly, to feel some sort of power and vengeance, after hearing "Foreigner" or after the attention passes we'll laugh it off together, and I think that's really all we can do.

[Dutty]

Girls will whisper and giggle, middle aged people will simply just stare and the pale complexion in astonishment. Young children will either blankly stare or scream in excitement. Young teenage boys will do all of the above, plus scream and talk to us.

That hadda be nerve wrackin for any young gyirl...OR they just love the attention

Pecan yuh daughter go come back with the sideways head shake during conversation

[pecan]

Girls will whisper and giggle, middle aged people will simply just stare and the pale complexion in astonishment. Young children will either blankly stare or scream in excitement. Young teenage boys will do all of the above, plus scream and talk to us.

That hadda be nerve wrackin for any young gyirl...OR they just love the attention

Pecan yuh daughter go come back with the sideways head shake during conversation

she already doing the side-to-side head thing.  And if required, can do a damn good accent too.

By and large, they would rather not have the attention.

On a unrelated topic, Cricket going on in Nagpur and five of them went to see Australia vs New Zealand (I think). But my daughter was complaining that she will not get to see any matches.  She from country and only came to town yesterday and then left for the North India tour today. Then she said, she missing Canada play ... sigh ... I do try to maintain her West Indian heritage but seemed to fail on the cricket front.  But then again, 1/2 the Cdn team from India ...

[frico]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

[Deeks]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

So Trini men are off-limits to your daughters?

[Dutty]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

I'm confused..if you go to Trini you become a murderer? a little land is good for food production? killing and teefin de land or de goat? murderers in india dont have accents? there are no murders in india?

[lefty]

 

[truetrini]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

typical c**tishness from a typical c**t.

[lefty]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

typical c**tishness from a typical c**t.

leh we try an not derail d man thread nah jus ignore frico

[truetrini]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

typical c**tishness from a typical c**t.

leh we try an not derail d man thread nah jus ignore frico

no derailment fella.  The man is a racist..I see he behavior in de other forum arready..jes cyar stand dat shit.

[Deeks]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

typical c**tishness from a typical c**t.

leh we try an not derail d man thread nah jus ignore frico

Honestly, this is a very intersting thread. I agree let's go back to the topic at hand. Bro, Please let the young princess post more informative things of her trip to India.

[lefty]

Better she come back "with a shaking head and Indian accent"than a murderer with a Trini accent.I dont suppose getting a lot of grazing land for cattle and goat is bad for food production,better than killing and teefing others for theirs.

typical c**tishness from a typical c**t.

leh we try an not derail d man thread nah jus ignore frico

no derailment fella.  The man is a racist..I see he behavior in de other forum arready..jes cyar stand dat shit.

I realized dat long time............but we sure to find ah another thread to beat him on, hell I made ah similar comment above den ah edit it when remember d subject of d thread and realise allowin frico dotishness to incite ah long winded cyber cuss out wouldn't be fair to d originator of d thread.........daiz all

[pecan]

bring back the thread with an update

She is gearing up for the next big trip starting in February - 25 days in North India this time

Some pictures from the 25 day tour of North India.

She is scheduled to come home in May.  Can't believe it has almost been 10 months.



B: Jaipur










Amber Fort (i think - not sure)



C: Jaisalmer - desert safari







Snake charmer



E: Firozpur





F: Amritsar


Random pic of a cow

G: Dharamsala
H: Manali
I: Rishikash - sleeping in tents.
J: Delhi


Lotus Temple

K: Agra


Taj Mahal


L: Varanasi
M: Gaya
N: Nalanda
O: New Jalpaigudi
P: Darjaling


Q: Gangtok -they will be celebrating Holi Festival here



A few exchange students after Holi


Tsango Lake 3km from the the Chinese border in Sikkim


A yak up in the Himalayas


Local Himalayan Child



R: Howrah.
S: Nagpur.

Somewhere on the Ganges River


Young monks to be ..

[Jumbie]

beautiful/interesting pics.

side note: allyuh watless days in that house soon coming to an end. 

[weary1969]

beautiful/interesting pics.

side note: allyuh watless days in that house soon coming to an end. 

 

[pecan]

beautiful/interesting pics.

side note: allyuh watless days in that house soon coming to an end. 

 

nah, she going to Toronto 

[Dutty]

nice pics,, the architecture on that fort is impressive as hell

even de yak on rastaman vibes

[soccerman]

Pecan thanks for sharing. Seems like your daughter is seeing alot of interesting sites and learning about the culture and lifestyle. Who ever it was that was sitting next to the cobra is a brave individual, nuff props.
I just came back from Jordan and have some pics of Petra, Mt. Nebo, etc. I've have to upload them up on the site soon.

[Deeks]

Pecan,
          Thanks to you and the Young Princess for sharing information and pix of her trip. It was very good.

[chinee boi]

it honestly does open your eyes to how fortunate things are in our lives.  Pecan is she back home now?

[pecan]

She has one more month before she come home

She had some issues with her visa and was denied entry into Sikkim (that is, was  a monarchy that joined India back in 1975 and they still seem to operate somewhat independently).   Rotary had to pull some fast strings to allow her to enter.  But this was a blessing in disguise as her passport was not stamped properly and she may have had some problems exiting the country.  The passport is now stamped (I hope) by the proper authorities.

She finally began cooking classes this week - they were supposed to start in August of last year.

I was happy to share her experiences and thanks to all who expressed interest in these posting   


this is her (in the middle) and two friends pretending to be Indian to get local entry fees into a tourist attraction. They were the only three of the 25 exchange students who had brown skin.

At the Tah Mahal, she paid 20 rupees (CAD 0.44) and foreigners had to pay 200 rupees (CAD 4.36)

[pecan]

Last post. 

She coming home in less than two weeks.  This April 30th blog from her sums it all up.  The other two from March 15 and 20 I found insightful.



Saturday, April 30, 2011
Probably my last post EVER.
Yes, it's true. I probably won't post again for the rest of my exchange. I'm leaving India on May 11th, and spending some time with family in Ottawa and Toronto until May 16th. I'll be in London on 17th.

Has this year already come and gone? I've been waiting for exchange since I've been 11 years old, and in a blink of an eye, it's over. Probably for the better though. Indian summer is coming, and it's already hot, especially in my non A/C house. I've been waking up in the middle of the night twice to take a shower to cool off.

India wasn't the best year of my life. You might expect that an experience like this might be the best year of a life, but it all depends on how you define "the best". "The Best" for me would be having crazy adventures every single day, making so many friends and laughing until it hurts way more often then I did. My year wasn't like that. I faced many many lows. I've never felt so lonely and confused in my life. India was BY FAR the hardest year of my life and scores pretty high on the worst year scale too. I am glad to go back to Canada where there is electricity, running (hot) water all day, A/C building, and men that don't blatantly stare me like I'm a piece of meat. And shorts. I miss wearing shorts.

Saying that, India is the best experience of my life. Definitely. So far anyway. I am so so so grateful and happy that I got to experience this lifestyle. I met some of the greatest people I've had the pleasure of meeting, I made a new family, and started learning a new language. (Kinda ) I have learned a lot about India and Indians, Canada and Canadians, and myself and how I function in both. I will learn more when I come back too. (What's up reverse culture shock?). India gave me a new way of looking at life, a new career path and a new language spoken fluently by roughly thirteen people in the entire world.

I had expectations for what my exchange would be from my brother and sister and my exchange brothers. It's hard to NOT have expectations after being so closely touched by four successful exchanges. My exchange didn't quite live up to my previous expectations. They lived up to their own. I regret little from my exchange, and I definitely don't regret choosing India as my host country, no matter how difficult it was.


For future exchange students, or my exchange friends still on exchange who have two months left in their exchange, here's my bit of advice. Hey - even if you aren't on exchange, here's my advice that you could carry through in other life situations.

- Don't blink. Don't sleep. Don't make your life timepass. No matter how hard your exchange and life might be at some points, because it'll be over before you even have time to realize it.

- (Given to me by my brother) Cherish your moments. All of them. ESPECIALLY the shitty ones. They are the ones that will shape you to who you will be. Saying that, it's up to you to make them shape you well.

- Love yourself. What's not to love about yourself? In the morning when you're getting ready, try saying one thing you like about yourself. It's a good start to your day.


Bas. Hogya. That's all I got. Thank you to those who helped me with advice and support all the way through. We should totally meet up for coffee or something.






March 20, 2011 (This is during the Holi Festival and the the tsunami in Japan.)

While out walking I see a group of people holding candles. I’m curious to know what exactly is happening. I see a banner that read “Pray for Japan. I heard about Japan in Delhi. For ten seconds I felt sorry, but had to move on to go sightseeing. It quickly slipped my mind. We stand behind while Hindi chants and mantra’s swim through me.

I step away from my tour – induced happiness. Or at least try. I try to cope with the devastation that has happened, not that far away from me. I think about the exchange students who are in Japan now and my sister’s host family. I pray for them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while being in India, is that the terrors of poverty, no clean water, sex trafficking and the terrible living conditions that people come to school and do assemblies on aren’t actually that far away from u. We live in a small world, I promise.

March 15th: Varanasi and the day my life was changed


Varanasi is the oldest city in India. It’s also really crowded and dangerous. In the evening we went to an arti, similar to the one in Rishikesh, just minus as many foreigners. Although we sit among the locals for the same reasons they do, the white skin around me attracts salesmen. Salechildren would be more appropriate. Today we are bothered by three little girls who were probably about eight – ten years old. Usually in this situation, young children in dirty ripped clothes come up to us, playing “The Pity Card” in hopes that we’ll buy something off of them. We’re almost 100% sure that the money doesn’t go to them, but to some man somewhere else. When they come up to us, as heartless as it sounds we ignore them. There is so much poverty in this country, I think if you were to pity every single one that came up to you, you’d be poor and depressed. The Indians usually ignore them, so… when in Rome.

But there was something different about these three girls. They were persistent. I mean – most are, but it was the fact that they were speaking really great English. Usually they’ll just repeat the same line “Only 250rs. Please ma’am. Ma’am? Ma’am? Hello? Hello? Hello? Yes? Yes? Yes?” But they answered our questions and had a conversation with us. I asked one of them where the money will go. She said to her schooling. I wanted so desperately to believe her, so I bought something off of her. The girls had gotten almost all of us to purchase something from them, whether it was bindi (The jewel that Indian women put between their eyebrows) or postcards or other trinkets.

As they walked away I said to Olivia that I hope all the money they just made goes to them or their families. I went on to talk about how they will unfortunately grow up and still be in the same place, or worse. And that’s when Olivia says the thing that changes my life.

“Why don’t you open a woman’s shelter in Canada or something? You’re really passionate about women’s rights.”

…Yeah! Why don’t I?! I didn’t realize how passionate I was until she actually said it. In a matter of seconds, I can see where I want to be and realistically can be.

Okay, feelings and confession time.

The original plan was to go to university for music. I got rejected from two of the three universities I auditioned for, and the one that accepted me didn’t grant deferrals for their music program. I decided to go into the Arts and Science program at U of T and take a year of random courses before and a year later I’d join the music program.

To be honest with you, I kind of lost my will to study music after being rejected. That whole “I’m not good enough” feeling. I wasn’t excited for first year at all because I had no idea what I actually wanted to do after that. It was an issue that I was going to think about after I came back from India. But with a simple suggestion from Olivia, my life came together in a nice little package for me.

Now, the new plan is Double major in South Asian studies, and Women’s studies and then come back to India and educate them!

My head is now spinning. I’m excited for university, and I’m excited for life. WHY IS LIFE SO EXCITING?!

[Dutty]

Well I can see why you would like the March 15th blog

aah boy, life at 18 years old real sweet yes

[Socafan]

Last post. 

She coming home in less than two weeks.  This April 30th blog from her sums it all up.  The other two from March 15 and 20 I found insightful.


 …Yeah! Why don’t I?! I didn’t realize how passionate I was until she actually said it. In a matter of seconds, I can see where I want to be and realistically can be.

 
Now, the new plan is Double major in South Asian studies, and Women’s studies and then come back to India and educate them!

My head is now spinning. I’m excited for university, and I’m excited for life. WHY IS LIFE SO EXCITING?!

[/i]

Niiice!! Congratulations Pecan!

[Pointman]

when next yuh talk to her, ask her to look up some family for me. They in Tamil Nadu side, not exactly sure which part doh. 

[pecan]

She home ...   


Signing off.

[weary1969]

Tell her her cyber godparents say welcome back.