Thursday, March 18, 2010
In Retrospective.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Spring Break O'10.
Slightly tipsy from drinking at Ashley's with Nate, Tom and his gf. But in a good way. Ashely's is a great hang out. I'm officially on the world tour.
Listening to the new good teeth jam, way stoked on how it turned out. way pumped on music after the show on friday.
Playing a song I wrote in my fucking basement and having numerous kids sing along going nuts is the most surreal, unbelievable experience. it's why at 15 years old I wanted to play music. It still humbles me so much.
Really excited for this roadtrip with Samir and Blake to Minneapolis. I was a bit hesitant, seeing as how we all lead different lifestyles, but they're good dudes and it should be a good time. Plus, seeing the midwest for what it is will be worthwhile enough. I hope MN and Madison are badass. I may end up there someday.
Just bought some pretty healthy pizza. I haven't been eating as healthy as I should be, hopefully post spring break will fix that.
I miss India kids: Amanda, Drew, Chris. I miss traveling and I miss India and want to be abroad with them and hanging out with Romey. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Built a new bant deck because Ray stole my badass Jund deck. Testing it on friday.
missing danielle a bit. after hanging most days it's strange to have our relationship be over the phone. but things have gone well: and hopefully indicative of times to come.
Lastly, excited for the LSAT, and the future. life is good. I can't help but smile and be positive. That's all that really matters: staying true to myself.
Oh, and the pianos become the teeth show :)
Listening to: Pianos Become the Teeth - Saltwater
Friday, February 12, 2010
Hipster Beards
If you're a hipster, you likely won't admit that you are. But if you listen to obscure music until it's popular, feign interest in contemporary art, where tight clothes and pretend you're poor despite your trust fund -- and you think I'm making fun of someone else right now -- then you should be growing a neatly trimmed, short beard. "Neatly" actually means "strategically" here. You don't want it too full because you're too vain and insecure to grow a full beard. But you also don't want it to look like you care.
Nonetheless, I still say diy or die.
In other news, going to this fancy italian place on main street for dinner today with danielle. I saw something on the menu with the words vegetarian, ravioli, and goatcheese: which means deliciousness will ensue. I'm pretty sure it will go against all the healthy eating I've done the past week (I started p90x) but its my "rest day" so it's whatever.
I'll be updating this soonish. I wrote a really long blog that needs a few more sentences, and then will be posted. peace.
Listening to: Pianos become the teeth - Old Pride
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A New Year
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Poor People
Made some good friends (with some connections in high places) and have had quite a bit of adventures (fancy hotels, bars, illegal street racing to name a few) . We're about to leave HOPE project to go up to Agra for the weekend and then up north for another week.
I've come to really like this area. People say it's a bad area, but the people have grown on us (and vice versa.) I go on a couple walks a day and earned a bunch of street cred. Yesterday some guy asked uswho we we were to some other guy (this is all in Hindi) and he answered with, they're one of us, one of our own. It made me feel pretty great.
This week I've gone to some the poorest areas of Delhi. These people are migrants, and don't have water, bathrooms, drainage or any type of housing besides tarps. But they're all really excited to meet me once I go out of my way to show I'm not just some tourist. They're some of the poorest people in the world, yet they always go out of their way to offer me a seat (even if its a rock) and to find something to offer to me. Their hospitality is one of the most humbling experiences I think I'll ever encounter. Its offered me quite a bit of perspective and a whole new outlook on people, poverty, america, and more importantly my way of life.
I know everybody has their own specific problems but never again will I claim to be poor. I'll never again complain about the overwhleming amount of blessings I (and most of our country) have. I think it's something that almost all of us (and by that I mean maybe the two people who look at this) should stop and consider next time we're down about our situation or circumstances.
on a brighter note, I have tons of pictures and stories. I'm going to try and give a more detailed account of what's been going on (with pictures) sooner rather than later and hopefully before we take off up north.
Lastly, it was 107 today I thought it was cool out. I can't wait to be cold in a michigan summer.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
India.
So I figured I should finally make some time to sit down and update the past ten days of my life in India.
First and foremost, the weather has been surprisingly bearable. The past week it has been around 110-220 degrees. Although its really hot, once you accept that you are going to be extremely sweaty doing ANYTHING, it becomes ok. There was a big dust storm last night, so it should be about 100 for the next few days, which feels amazing. People wear bright colors and long clothes to fight the heat, and constantly laugh at us for coming at the absolute hottest time of the year. I shower about 4 times a day (normally I don't even shower 4 times a week) and drink a ton.
Unfortunately, India doesn't have clean drinking water. Everything we drink ( and eat) is either packaged or from a very very reliable (and often expensive) source. I haven't gotten sick yet (out of my group of 16 at least 10 people have been totally sick), but it's common to have a constant small stomach ache, especially after eating, but you get used to it. The food is delicious though. Almost everything we eat is vegetarian and I love it. Everybody drinks tea, and if you stop for about 10 minutes to talk to someone, the always serve you a cup of tea.
I've come to realize how much I took living in a developed country for granted. Our water constantly isn't working and we sometimes lose power during peak hours of the day (or during the dust storm). Sit down toilets are always a welcomed surpris and toilet paper is a luxury. Air conditioning is veryy hard to come by. The fact that I assumed internet would be readily available still really makes me laugh. People here are forced to drink contaminated water to live; while back home our showers, dishes, and toilets are filled with cold, delicious water. Even here we are extremely lucky and viewed as upper class (which I hate). There are sooo many people who just live and sleep in the streets, streets littered with garbage and sewage. And these are good, friendly people (most of the time). In my opinion I feel our society automatically assumes homeless people did something wrong and deserve to be homeless. But here there just isn't enough space or housing and/or class and caste prevent social mobility.
The biggest lesson I've learned is to learn as many languages as possible. I've been trying extremely hard to learn as much hindi as possible but there have been so many times when I just hang my head and apologize in hindi for not understanding. Members in my group complain when people don't know english (especially the lower lower class like rickshaw drivers), which pisses me off because we're in their country and expect them to speak our language. One girl in our group speaks Hindi and sometimes tells us what people say about us. Things like, 'here are the americans taking pictures of broken iron houses' or when the laugh at the girls for being afraid of beggars. I try really hard to break these stereotypes. A few of us have been going for walks in the morning (we're always awake by 6) and just walking around the village saying hi to people. I do my best to make small conversation (or at least smile and wave) with everybody, which goes a long way. Sometimes they laugh at my broken hindi, but I can tell they appreciate the effort. Mostly the rude beggars are little kids or deformed adults, and then you have to be cold and just ignore them (for your own safety).
I know I was raised to be polite to everybody, but I don't understand why members in our group would come to a country and expect to be catered to. They complain about the heat, the water, not being able to wear shorts or tank tops, people staring, how crowded the streets are, the smell, pretty much anything and everything. I get so frustrated when they look down on people and treat them like shit. One time we were in a rickshaw and our driver tried really hard to make conversation (he asked us if we were americans) and two of the girls just laughed at his broken english and turned away (he did smell). It was so fucking rude. I proceeded to lean forward and talk to him the rest of the drive about his family, India, and the elections. I'm constantly trying to assimilate to the culture (eating all the food, not hiding in our room, haggling for everything) compared to staying on that surface level of a tourist.
But overall I'm still really excited to be here. The first week we stayed in a fancy (fancy for India) hotel and did a ton of site seeing. I've become very good at haggling and grown use to being a minority. We saw a ton of temples and monuments (I've learned a lot about religion), where ghandi was assassinated, gardens, the US embassy and even a few bars/nightclubs. Last Friday we relocated over to the HOPE project, which is in a slum like area, especially compared to the area of our last hotel. But there is definitely a sense of community here. Most people are muslim here (compared to Hindu like the rest of the city) and are friendly with each other and us. This week I've been working in the nursery with 1-3 year olds. I'm normally pretty good with kids but it has been surprisingly hard. They talk to us like we know hindi, and half the time when we yell at them its in english so they don't even know what we're saying. There are so many kids in a such a small room, but they all listen really well, and help each other when told to. Its also hard because half the time I want to let the kids climb on me, or give them hugs, but apparently in this culture that's not allowed. They constantly ask for water (paanee in Hindi) and I have to tell them no, which is hard because I drink like 10 water bottles a day. Next week I'm going around with the mobile health unit to different neighborhoods, which should be a complete opposite, but worthwhile experience.
I've been a bit homesick lately. I miss hanging out with my family and friends, and its hard to think that it will be quite a while before I see them. Right now I miss Taco Bell, Dr. Pepper, and slushees the most. I miss playing music and eating pizza.
I planned on writing more in this, but currently I'm in a coffee shop with broken AC and sweating terribly. I'll do my best to update this again soon.
Lastly, if you care enough to read this, take a moment to talk to somebody on the bus or in a restaurant next time you get a chance. Enjoy the fact that you can communicate with them, and just ask them how their day is going. let me know how it goes.