March 24, 2000 (Email)
The True Meaning of Holi
(a.k.a., "Forgive Your Friends, Behave Generously,
and Try Not to Get Killed")
OK, it's been a long time. I'm going to try to write this email with
some sort of organization so that I'll forget as little as possible.
TV
| I'm sitting in my living room watching the Knicks/Pacers game
as I write this. I know I've told you about the big transition which occurred
when Kraig moved out and Junee (Virginia) moved in. As if the personnel
change wasn't enough, it was at the same time that we inherited a ton of
nice, new stuff. Radio/cassette player, rice cooker, blender/coffee grinder,
coffee press, dishwasher, mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets, etc. I
paid to have Bill's old TV fixed (2600 Rupees) and to have a cable line
spliced in from our family's line. The novelty of having TV again, even
with a lousy selection of stations, hasn't worn off yet. I have CNN, BBC,
a movie channel, two sports channels, an Australian channel, a Russian
channel, and about a dozen identical, interchangeable channels of constant
Hindi film music videos (Hindi videos themselves are interchangeable, so
these channels are virtually indistinguishable at any given moment). In
the few days I've had it (including the day I was holed up alone hiding
out from the Holi celebrations - see below) I've watched Stakeout, Stakeout
II, Inventing the Abbots, Money Talks, and the Big Lebowski. I visited
Sommer at her post in Kalaiya two weekends ago and bought some rugs for
our place. One for my room, one for the hallway, and one for Junee's room
(my birthday present to her - March 15). They are very much like the rugs
we used to have in our bathroom at home -- a collection of vertical lengths
of different colored material sewed together. Very cheap, very colorful
- just what our drab rooms needed. Oh -- by "dishwasher" I mean that we
have begun paying an extra 100 Rupees a month to our family's servant girl
(Lolita) to do our dishes. This has freed us up to make tea, coffee, snacks,
meals, etc. whenever we want without a care. I hated cooking when Kraig
was here because I hated washing dishes in the shower. The family has installed
a sink in our kitchen since we started paying Lolita - which makes it even
easier to play in the kitchen. Oh, and the inheritance of enough pots/pans/plates/mugs/etc
to cook and eat properly (from the various people who have left recently)
also helped. Favorite thing to make... brownies and coffee. I think I've
told you that I've started drinking coffee. More out of boredom than out
of any need to be awake. I hope it doesn't confuse the waitresses when
I come back home (four coffees?). I moved Kraig's big bed into my room
and put a lot of pillows and a nice new mosquito net on it. Very smart.
I've been sleeping well ever since. Junee's entrance was also a catalyst
to rearrange. We converted Kraig's room (the largest room) into a sitting
room with all the nicest furniture - sofa, chair, table, bench, shelves,
desk with TV on top. All arranged in the classic pattern of every rectangular
living room in the world. The living room also has windows in two walls,
a ceiling fan, and a door to the outside. I wish I could say that all this
ventilation makes for a comfortable room, but the fact that our house is
a one-story concrete block with a black roof more than counteracts anything
we can do to cool it off inside. Also, it's been getting... |
Hot
| I've been sleeping with the windows open and the fan on since
mid-February. I've also been trying to bike to work very slowly to minimize
how hot and sweaty I get. Trying to keep my eyes closed for as long as
I can to how hot it is getting. It's probably only in the 80s, which isn't
really that hot. But it's also only March. |
Kalu
| Our family adopted a "guard dog" (puppy) after four bikes were
stolen from our back porch several months ago. Well, Kalu ("Blacky") became
very sick one day about two weeks ago and stopped eating. She became extremely
skinny and disoriented from dehydration. There were two nights in a row
where I said good-bye to her because I was sure she wouldn't make it through
the night.
It was only at this point that we all realized that she wasn't eating
because she couldn't! Some sort of infection in her throat made
her unable to use her tongue or swallow properly. Ama (our Nepali mom)
took her to the vet (unheard of in Nepal!) whereafter she received a shot
every other day for a week. Junee and I started pouring water down her
throat. Despite how awkward this must have been, she cooperated fully.
She must have been so thirsty. Each day she seemed a little more able to
open her mouth and swallow. Junee disappeared for a few days at this point,
which left me to nurse Kalu from water to milk to ground up tuna to normal
food. It was a very time-consuming, messy process (I won't get into the
details), but I feel like I saved Kalu's life. And she loves me now --
she even shuts up when I tell her to, which she never would do before. |
Aba
A girl named Aba is visiting as part of a women's studies program
run through
her college in America. She, and the other students in
her program, are expected to look for volunteer opportunities overseas.
Well, she went back to Kathmandu last week to comfort a friend of hers
who had gone to India. Her friend hadn't been able to deal with all of
the stares, comments, and harassment which is such a central trait of the
culture there. Aba herself had been having quite a difficult time. I think
it's probably even more difficult for a black person to get by here than
a white person. The few times I went out with her while she was here
were very hard for me. It was as if I was re-experiencing the first few
frustrating, difficult days of life in Janakpur through another person's
eyes. The stares, the rude comments and insults. And she hadn't had the
three-month buffer period of training that I had had. I hope she comes
back and volunteers at the center -- I liked her a lot. I in her place,
though, would stay in Kathmandu and find volunteer opportunities there.
I had never heard how difficult it was to travel in New Delhi, Agra, Calcutta,
etc. But since coming here, I have heard universal condemnation of India
(especially northern India) as a travel destination. |
Holi
| The last few days have been a holiday known as Holi. No holiday
is just one day long in Janakpur. Holi is a Hindi holiday, but nobody seemed
to know the exact history behind it. I couldn't allow this to upset me
overly much given that for a few days I had been unable to explain the
history behind St. Patrick's Day to anyone who asked. ("The day you wear
green." seemed a pretty lame explanation after I had done so well explaining
the history behind Thanksgiving and Christmas). Well, Holi is the day you
forgive your friends and behave generously. In reality, it's also the day
when everyone is supposed to drink a lot of alcohol (like St. Patrick's
Day) and throw/spray/rub paint on each other. The verb used to describe
the observance of Holi is not "observe" or "celebrate", but "play." "Are
you going to play Holi?" The morning of Holi was actually very nice. There
were a lot of visitors in town, as usual. Sommer, Jill, Abby, Cherie from
my group. Annie, Martha, Amanda, Connie from 188. There were also
a large number of Nepali and Indian tourists. We all wore our least necessary
clothes and walked into own around 10:00. People were very
excited to have a chance to paint white people, but were also somewhat
tentative and polite -- hesitating before they smeared us with paint to
make sure we wouldn't react badly. The most fun episode of the day
occurred at lunch as we sprayed people on the street from the balcony of
the Rajastan restaurant with our just purchased water pump-guns full of
dyed water. The Hindi-speaking restaurant staff seemed relatively sober
as they ran back and forth charading orders and ensuring that we had a
constant supply of watered down paint on hand. The crowd of people which
invariably gathered on the street cheered as two brave souls stealthily
scaled the wall and threw pitchers of pink paint over the railing onto
us. When I left the restaurant at around 2:00 is when things took
a bad turn.
I was, stupidly, the only one of us on a bike. When the crowd became
unruly, I was somehow separated from the two people I had left the restaurant
with. A group of about 20 kids surrounded me and took my bike, so I couldn't
make a run for it like my friends did. After a while, I finally was able
to regain my bike and get off the street, but not before I was kicked in
the back, punched in the jaw by a drunk teenager with silver paint all
over his face, pushed around, insulted, had my arm twisted and my shirt
torn off. Oh, the group also broke my bike lock and the hat and water gun
I had just bought. The twisted arm is the only thing that still hurts.
The situation was scary because of how bad I knew it could get more so
than because of how bad it actually ever became. In a way, I'm proud of
how I handled myself in the melee -- but it would also have been nice to
degrade myself and get into a fight. Me against 20 drunk Nepali teenagers
would have been a close call. I had never been hit quite like this
in the past, so at least now I know what it feels like. I guess I've learned
that I can take a hit pretty well. It made my head jerk back a few inches
when it happened, of course, but afterwards I made a point not to rub my
jaw, step backwards, or do anything that would make it appear as though
I had been hurt. I thought doing so would just encourage the silver boy.
I simply slowly turned my head towards the boy and gave him a disappointed
look. He must have thought I was made of iron (I think he had hit me as
hard as he could). He freaked out and took off. It did hurt, though.
Everybody else, including Junee and her friend James (visiting from
Boston!) had left Janakpur (as planned) by the next morning. I stayed holed
up in my house alone for the next two days with my TV, kool-aid, and some
cans of tuna. |
What else....
The Pacers won.
The new manager at the Women's Center is Shradha. She is from Kathmandu,
fresh out of college, and somewhat difficult to deal with. She seems absolutely
convinced that she knows what she's doing, is perfectly capable of handling
the job, and doesn't need any help. Very unfortunate state of mind to have
in her situation. I'm hoping she'll come around in time.
Still playing a lot of cribbage. I taught Junee the game when Kraig
left and now we play as much as I played with Kraig in the past.
School has been pathetic lately. Between the Holi holiday, my headsir's
son's wedding, and wedding season in general nobody seems to feel the need
to come to school anymore. I haven't seen my headsir more than a couple
times in the past month. My class size has dropped to around seven over
the past few weeks. I've taken to playing chess and singing songs more
than teaching math. Very disillusioned, but having a good time.
I should be in Kathmandu on Saturday night (my time). I may be joining
Junee and James on a quick trek before All-Vol. After All-Vol and a 189
conference I'm going to a micro-enterprising conference with a counterpart
from the center (Junee is also coming with another counterpart from the
center). I'm not sure what we'll do there, but it's a week long and I know
a lot of people on the Peace Corps staff (including Mary Lou) take an interest
in our organization. If we're smart, we'll take advantage of the situation
somehow.
I had the women make 200 mugs with Maithili designs and the Peace Corps
logo for retail sale at the All-Vol conference, with the profits being
split between the center and the Women in Development organization. The
same thing was done last year.
Time for bed. I'll call this weekend.
Love,
Mark
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