Priyanka Chopra

So it's Sunday night and I'm trying to write this post.

Yeah.

No.

Inspiration has decided not to be my friend today. So here's a picture of the view from campus.

I complain a lot about the lack of attendance by the teachers, I know. But this week really takes the cake.

Wednesday, there I sat for breakfast, enjoying my usual (mango, sweet lime juice and a chia seed health bar), when I look at my phone to see if any news about school had come up.

I had 60+ messages on WhatsApp.

No, no I'm not exaggerating. I literally had 60+ messages from the different classes.

As I'm skimming these messages, I notice that this time it was the students who had asked the teachers if class could be canceled as they would be out till 5am.

And the teachers actually agreed. 

In other news, this week for some reason, I've repeatedly been told that I should become a Bollywood movie actress.

What do you think.

Me, the next Priyanka Chopra?

I think.

DEFINITELY.

I'm planning on going into movies after I retire, when I'm relaxing on the beach in Thailand with my elephant replacing a car.

Saturday night some of us went to Connaught Place. We were going for dinner and walked into a rather health-obsessed restaurant. For non Delhiites, Connaught place is a pre-Independence era shopping and business center - it is the epitome of British colonialism.

And when I say health-obsessed, I mean health-obsessed. They were promoting a "fat-burning detox drink." Needless to say we all just kind of stared at the guy. I'm sorry, but does it look like we need it?! I think not!

After about 15 minutes of not being able to decide what to do, we went to the rooftop of Summer House in Hauz Khas.

I could feel the wind in my hair, moon on my face and the music in my ears. 

I felt like a valley girl driving a convertible.

Except, instead of California it was New Delhi.

And instead of a convertible it was a rooftop bar.

Aand instead of a valley girl it was a half Indian girl with half red hair.

Okay I'm going to level with you guys. The lack of inspiration seems to stem from the fact that I may have only slept a total of 5 hours.

Goodnight y'all, I'm going to sleep until kingdom come.

Need for Speed

Once you can give directions in a new place, and they're actually correct then you know you've settled in.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you all today, it's been a very, very uneventful week. And studying is basically to blame. Well, not blame exactly, it's not "studyings'" fault that I didn't have an eventful week.

Monday was, as I wrote in last week's post, Independence day. In 1947, on August 15th, India gained independence from the British. India was thus partitioned into India and Pakistan. People here do various things to celebrate Independence day. The parliament and other government buildings were so incredibly lit up, that the only comparison I can make is how Americans decorate their houses around the winter holidays.

Thursday was another holiday. It's called "Raksha Bandhan" and its a Hindu festival to celebrate the love and duty between brothers and sisters, related or not. The sister has to perform a Rakhi ceremony in which she celebrates her love for her brothers and her wish for their well-being. She then ties a "rakhi" (red string) around the wrist of the brother. The brother then pledges to protect and take care of his sister under all circumstances.

So to my brothers, related and not, happy Rakhi!

I've also been running quite a bit lately. At least when the birds let me. I feel like I'm in some modern age rendition of Alfred Hitchcocks' "The Birds."

Yes. It is that creepy.

Then again, it does make me run faster.

This week I also took rickshaw.

BUT I ACTUALLY SPOKE PROPER HINDI.

It was great.

There were no weird looks. Well, thats not completely true. From my side there were plenty. At the end of the drive, I sat there with a single tear running down my face. Wiped it off and handed the cash to the driver.

I'll start from the beginning.

I called for the rickshaw and told him where I wanted to go. He seemed to have absolutely no idea what I was talking about (a fear that was proven true as we neared the area). But fine, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I asked him: Kitna? (How much?)

He said: 100. (100).

I said: Na hi, 80. (No, 80).

We settled on 90. And we were off.

I call this next part "Need for Speed: Auto Rickshaws of New Delhi."

I don't think I've ever feared for my life more than I did Friday. We drove through red ( a few times), bumped up against cyclists, flew over potholes (my head hit the top of the auto a few more times).
I'm fairly certain we broke at least, at least, 48 traffic rules.

As we were driving over the Moti Bagh flyover (almost home) I could feel the wind flowing in my hair, my eyes watering with each km/h over the speedlimit.

I felt........ like I was about to near death. Quite the opposite of alive really.

And that brings us back to where I started, sitting there with a single tear rolling down my cheek from the wind, paying the guy, and vowing that I will never complain about traffic in Europe again.*

In other news, doesn't my dog look like the king of the jungle?

*Disclaimer: The rickshaws are generally safe. Once in a while it happens that one driver will be a little more reckless than others but don't let that discourage you from taking one. Keep in mind that they don't want to get into accidents neither because it would cost them a lot more to fix their rickshaw than that your trip would cost.
It's all part of the adventure.

Def Col

As I walk through the valley of the shadows of death

I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left

Yes I am in fact talking about the wasps that are currently terrorising my classroom. 

Friday started off as a great day. I did discover though that running in this weather is a bit of a challenge. But at least the view is nice. 

I've noticed something else lately. Teachers tend to not let students know when they will be teaching. My four hours of class turned into 5 minutes in each class waiting for someone, anyone to show up. Normally you'd think "great, no class, time to go home early." But really. Twice in one day?! Four teachers in two weeks?! This is a tad ridiculous, is it not? Or is it just me?  

Anyway I ended up taking an auto (rickshaw) home. And as we were nearing the house, I was trying to give directions in broken hindi. I said "islieh dhain, islieh bhain," thinking I was saying "here left, here right." But the guy just kept looking at me really weird. Like, really weird. 

Turns out, "islieh" does not mean "here." Rather, it means "this is why." 

Okay I kind of understand the confusion. 

Oops. 

Friday night some of us went to Defence Colony. That was an interesting evening. We went to a bar where they were advertising "499 rupee = unlimited Bira.*" 

Yeaaaaaah. No. The deal was only until midnight, but they did give us two pitchers instead. The bar had a guy playing music, and believe you me, this guy was amazing. He was singing in Hindi most of the time, but noticed that we weren't exactly Indian, and thus most likely didn't understand Hindi. So he sang "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias for us. Personally I can't stand the song. But hey, it's the thought that counts. And it really did sound like Enrique was there in the room with us.

The best part of the night was when we spent 20+ minutes driving around Defence Colony trying to find the next bar. Once you've passed the same roads about 4 times, it's time to call it quits.

This post comes a day late as hopefully some of you may have noticed. But it's for good reason! We went to a Bengali wedding last night and I was hoping that there would have been enough interesting events that I could talk about.

First off. Food. Yes. I did in fact eat about 51% of all the spring rolls that were available. I would have eaten the other 49% too, but that may have been a bit too gluttonous.

Secondly. Apparently the bride and groom wear these special types of hats during the ceremony. They looked quite funny.

Thirdly. While the wedding was going on, Belgium beat India 3-1 in hockey in the Olympics. I have mixed feelings about this.

And finally. It definitely was a very special night and I'm very glad I witnessed it. Just to see the differences between north Indian and Bengali weddings was, to say the least, very interesting.

And in the picture is me, struggling to wear typical Indian clothing. I say struggling because it's not exactly the lightest thing to wear. 

But I look pretty darn good if I do say so myself. 

And of course, today is the 15th of August. In 1947 India gained independence. 

Happy Independence Day! 

*Bira = Belgian brewed beer made especially for India 

Urja

I saw something on Tuesday that I don't think I would have seen anywhere else. And to be honest I don't think I would have seen it here in India.

We were waiting at a red light to go to class, when in the background I heard an ambulance siren. Nothing out of the ordinary really, the siren was anyway being drowned out by the honking. Normally people would, you know, move out of the way of an oncoming ambulance going reasonably above the speed limit. But seeing as this is India, there was little to no space for people to move out of the way.

So basically a man got out of his car and started moving towards the people first in line. This guy looked really, really angry, like he was about to beat on some people. I had my phone ready to film/take pictures (thanks social media for promoting people to film everything and everywhere) because I was 100% sure this guy was going to end up blocking traffic by causing an argument.

BUT NO.

Instead, he was yelling at people to make a path available for the ambulance to go through! And it actually worked. People actually moved out of the way! They listened to reason and decided to not be complete pains! It turns out that this ambulance came a massive distance to reach this one hospital.

People who live in villages often don't have access to hospitals with the latest and newest equipment so the doctors in those villages give referrals to doctors in the bigger cities.

As I felt that that was an act of kindness, I decided to dedicate this post to something else that is dear to my family, namely my mothers' NGO: URJA- Energy.

Urja in Hindi/Sanskrit means Energy. Originally the aim of this NGO was to provide electricity to Siswa Bazaar, my family's ancestral village. Then the aim of the game expanded to include the villages in and around Maharajganj District, a district on the border with Nepal. Currently the electricity plans are working to the point where they are self-sufficient and thus can be considered a success. Another item on the agenda is women empowerment, something that is relevant to not only India, but the rest of the world as well. Even in "advanced" places like Belgium and the United States. The latest project is installing libraries. This has been quite a challenge as the basic structures are lacking to begin with. So even getting a few books hasn't been as easy as one-two-three.

The thing is, India has a lot of NGO support from all over the world. So much so that India now has been sending NGO support to other, more dependent countries. But the problem is that the current NGO's are all located in the south of India, leaving north India to fend for itself.

So now we're here. Though financial help is always appreciated, how about starting of by informing yourself about this NGO, and then you can decide for yourself how exactly you feel like you can contribute. Right now we're looking for books. Preferably in English or any Indian language.

This is the website: http://www.urja-energy.org/
And our e-mail address: urjaforenergy@gmail.com
We're also on Facebook at Urja-Energy where we regularly post our latest accomplishments and upcoming goals.

If you're in high school and looking for an extra-curricular, contact us.
If you're in college and looking for something that will make you feel good, contact us.
If you're an adult and working, give us money. (No but in all seriousness, please do contact us.)
http://www.urja-energy.org/

Uptown girl

She's been living in her uptown world....

(I bet all of you have started singing that in your heads now. I suffered all week so now it's your turn!)

So I would have had class on Friday. BUT. Teachers apparently strike here. Teachers were striking against the suspension of the vice chancellor to the JNU Teachers Association.

See Belgium? This is an actual reason. Not because you need to work a 40 hour work week instead of 38. Because those two hours over the course of 5 days really makes that big a difference right? 

So because the teachers were on strike I went on strike as well. 

In other news: it was Friendship day! Hi friends! 

So to honor that, we went to Hauz Khas Village (okay so none of us actually knew that it was friendship day, but lets just pretend that that's the reason as to why we went.) Hauz Khas Village originally, in the 13th century, was a type of water dispensary place. It's only since the 1980's that it's become a breathing ground for young, inebriated youths and apparently, deer. (There's a deer park attached to the complex.) 

If you're from Belgium, or more specifically Leuven, you could compare Hauz Khas to the Oude Markt (Old Market) on a Thursday night at about 2am when the university is in full swing. For those of you have never been to Leuven on a Thursday night at 2am when the university is in full swing, lets just say I've almost been involved in a few brawls when people wouldn't let me through*. Point is, it's incredibly crowded. Hauz Khas is like that, but about 90% of the bars/restaurants/what have you close at around 1am, so it doesn't get quite as crowded, but you get the picture. 

If you're from the States, or more specifically... Actually I have no idea what I would compare Hauz Khas to in the States. What do you want from me, I was 12 when we moved away. 

I noticed as we were sitting there, I kept feeling compelled to speak Hindi. Every time the waiter would come by I would start speaking "Hinglish" to which the waiter would reply in full Hindi. And naturally I didn't understand a word of what he said. Fail. Okay so my Hindi was mostly saying "bhaia, eek or mojito chaie zara" (brother, one more mojito please). And of course all the while I do the head shake and hand wave type thing. 

Finally I can start representing my other half (a bit)! 

Sunday we went to Dilli Haat, a market place in south Delhi where people from all over India come to sell their products. I can safely say that I've spent my fair share there. (Ha that rhymed.) 

There were lions' and tigers' and bears' (carpets and cushions). Oh my. And elephants of course. I could buy all the elephant products there and then some. Dilli Haat is not necessarily a huge place, but you could easily spend a few hours (and rupees) there. It really is, for lack of a better word, interesting. If you don't feel like dealing with busy streets and annoying sellers, this is the place to go. Personally I feel it's a must when you come to Delhi. You won't find a place like it anywhere else. Well I mean in India you will, obviously, but I mean in places like Europe or the States.  

On a slightly more serious note, I'd like to point out that this is real India. What people see in movies is a gross exaggeration of the truth. Granted, there are obviously areas where it's a little bit more unsightly than others. But honestly, isn't that with every country? Brussels isn't exactly the cleanest place neither. In fact I feel much more at ease here in Delhi than I do in some parts of Brussels. From what I've heard, New York can be, at times, very unpleasant.

India is a different place, obviously, but its a special place that should be treated with respect, not by whats wrongly represented in movies. 

Anyway, I'll end this on a positive note. This guy clearly knows exactly how to spend the perfect weekend: 

*family members: don't worry, nothing actually ever happened! 

Mascha and the Bear

It happened! I had my first (two) classes! It was from 9.00 till 13.00 and then I slept from 14.00 till 18.00.

No but really it was quite intense. My first class was Russian Applied Grammar and Text Analysis. The semester is split up into three "sessionals" and an exam. Sessionals are apparently monthly exams that count towards your final grade. This is already more work than I've done the last three years in Belgium. And that's not including homework, projects, assignments and the final exam. I think it's safe to say I'll be speaking fluent Russian by the end.

However, I'm not sure how I feel about this teacher. I think her smiling muscles (definitely correct medical term. I looked it up)  have been surgically removed. It's like in Men in Black 3 when Will Smith asks for Agent "K" and describes him as smiling like this:

I'm a bit scared of her. 

Then we had communication skills. Yeah okay that was pretty decent. We started off watching a cartoon: маша и медведь. In the episode the girl, Mascha had done something "bad." So, in due fashion, we were told to write a sentence in Russian about something "bad" we did as a child. 

Couldn't think of a single thing. 

I was THE best child. 

Ever. 

Well okay. I did bite my bothers' back once. 

But I was four and I've apologized since. 

Our homework assignment is what kind of threw me. We are going to be debating marriage. Namely "love marriages vs arranged marriages." The class was divided into two groups and guess which group I get to defend! In Russian! The one I know absolutely nothing about! Supa dupah excited! 

Wednesday I had grammar again and it went much better. We're working on который (pronounced ka-to-rih) and its declensions. I didn't die this time exactly. I'd say pre-death status. And at least now I've become used to the different accents so I can properly follow along. 

We then had Russian cultural heritage. It wasn't bad exactly, but it was getting to the third hour of class (in one go) and then the teacher decides to turn off the fans because we otherwise couldn't hear a video. Mind you it's summer in India. And we're 30 people in class. 

By 1pm I had melted into a puddle of me. And hand sanitizer.

So far I have to say I'm very happy studying here. It's not too different from my classes in Belgium actually which is nice, makes it easier to adjust. The main difference is the amount of respect people have here for the teachers. We stand when the teacher enters and say "ma'am" after everything we say to her. I kind of feel like I'm back in middle school. All our classwork gets checked by the teacher. So we go up one by one and hand over our notebooks. It's not a bad thing, it's just different. Especially for something like Russian grammar where it's way too easy to make idiotic mistakes. 

The biggest change was the pronunciation of the Russian. As I said before we were discussing который (pronounced ka-to-rih), but in Hindi a "katori" is a small bowl. So the teacher kept saying "we'll be discussing and handling katori. Katori is blablabla..." 

I kept thinking to myself "why in the hell are we talking about bowls? Is this Russian? Am I in the right class? Shit. I need to be somewhere else. Well. This is awkward." 

Turns out I was in the right class. They're pronunciation is just a tad bit different than what I am used to. 

Friday I have more classes. Including the marriage debate. 

But no worries, as per usual, I'll keep ya'll posted.