Erode Village Homestay, Part 1

So much has happened in the past two days since I wrote my first post about India.  In fact, my first impressions did not do this country justice.  India is an amazing and beautiful country . . .

 

At 8pm three nights ago my trip met in the Union.  We left the comforts of our ship behind as we boarded another bus to head for the Chennai train station.  India is bustling at night.  There are people covering the streets, and there are many food vendors who come out at night.  We were all overwhelmed when we got to the train station.  Thousands and thousand of people hustling about.  I felt like we were a parade because everyone just started at us Americans.  We were all shocked when we got on to the train.  Dirt, dust, and bugs.  The bathroom was a squat toilet, aka a hole in the ground with two designated places to place you feet.  We all went to the bathroom before the train started to move in order to avoid a catastrophe of sorts.  We all sat for about an hour until the train was schedule to leave.  We also prepared out “beds.”  My friend Allison, who I had met form my bus in Namibia, was in the bed next to me, and two girls named Zoey and Colleen were on the bunks on top of us.  The four of us had our little nook, and a curtain could be drawn to give us minimal privacy.  We also had our own light and fan.  Alison gave me some Nyquil, and I slept like a baby.  We arrived in Erode very early the next day, at about 6:30am.  At the train station some school children were gathering to get on to their buses.  We were once again the focus of everyone’s attention.  We loaded on to two mini-buses, and departed the station.  On my bus there were 10 of us, and on the other bus there were 16.  Our buses were to depart for the entire day, and to meet back up the next day.

 

Driving, I observed how many physically handicapped people there are.  This could be for the sheer reason that there are just so many people in India, but to me the streets looked like a Christian charity commercial.  It was sad.  I am afraid that the money a few well-meaning Christians could muster up wouldn’t even be the tip of the iceberg fro solving the problems of poverty in India.

 

We drove about a half an hour to a town called Gobi, where the 10 of us were staying with our host family for the day and night.  As we pulled up to the huge, gated house we could tell that our hosts had lots of wealth compared to their neighbors in shacks and dilapidated houses.  We were greeted with flower lays that smelled amazing and bhindis (sp?), the red dot of spices in between the eyes.  Different colored bhindi’s have different meanings, as we came to discover.  Our red bhindi was to welcome us and was a guiding eye for our insights into this new culture.  As our host, Dr. and Mrs. Shavari greeted us, they said “Welcome Home.”  I have never felt as welcome as I did, in fact.  Also, it is tradition for the Indian women to draw designs in rice flower outside of the front door.  These beautiful designs are sometimes colorful (but more so during festivals) and are for the ants and other bugs to eat.  Along with this design our host wrote “Welcome.”  What a great start for the day. 

 

Next, we were shown around the house.  A huge open foyer area led upstairs, where bedrooms were everywhere.  I counted 6, but there could have been more.  Dr. Shavari works at a local hospital, and Mrs. Shavari is the principle of the school next door, the school in which this couple owns.  We also met Dana, a 22 year old from Minnesota who graduated last June with a degree in world religions.  He has been staying with our host family for two months now, and has two more weeks left in India.  He is volunteering at the school, teaching English to the older students.  He was excited to see some Americans.

 

Breakfast was our first taste of amazing Indian food.  South Indian food, by the way, does not taste/smell like “curry.”  Curry, in fact, doesn’t really exist in India.  So no, the house did not smell like curry all the time, and neither did the people.  For breakfast we started with coffee.  This was the best coffee that I had ever had, ever.  It is made with fresh milk, not pasteurized or tainted with chemicals.  Also, it contained tons of sugar.  Lastly, the coffee beans were fresh, gown not too far from the town by a relative of my host family.  I had three cups, as did most of us.  We also had fresh lime juice and fresh orange juice.  There was dulce (like a thin pancake, or crepe), rice dumplings, and sweet bread.  To go with this there were a variety of sauces, or chutneys.  There was a cauliflower with coconut milk chutney (my favorite) and a salsa like chutney.  There was also peanut brittle, meringue cookies, shortbread cookies, and other sweets out for us.  So yummy!  After breakfast we all headed next door do the school. 

 

At the school (which is a private school) we were greeted at the gate by a marching band, which began to play as soon as we were in sight.  About 15 children marched and played the drums, trumpet, or fife.  They led us in procession to the morning assembly, which is held outside daily.  The 1,020 students were standing, waiting for us in perfect lines.  We had to sit in chairs facing the students.  We had so many eyes on us; it was truly an awesome feeling.  After we each introduced ourselves we listened to the students recite their mantras, or prayers.  After the assembly was over, children headed to their classrooms.

 

We were toured around the school, visiting various classes.  We were all amazed by how smart and well behaved these children are.  When they saw us coming towards their classroom, everyone stood.  They stood!  Silent as a mouse, no one said anything until told that they were allowed to interact with us.  The older students, on a regular basis, take botany, physics, zoology, biology, chemistry, computer, social studies, all studies of math, English, Tamil (their language), Hindi (their second language), and English (their third language).  Talk about well educated, well rounded students.  What struck us the most was how eager these students are to learn.  120 of the students live close to the school in a hostel because their homes are too far away.  They all wake up at 5am to meditate and to study.  The students have classes from 8am until 4pm, at which point many students stay until 8pm to study and to tutor other students.  The passion for learning is mind blowing.  The content of the material these students are learning at such a young age is beyond my knowledge.  It goes to show how cocky the American education system is getting, and how badly it needs a reform.  We are falling behind in America, we truly are.  Students take all of these classes from Kindergarten through 10^th grade.  At this point, students choose a concentration for their last 2 years.  After 12^th grade, students take an examination, almost like the SAT.  Students who score a 1180/1200 will be excepted into medical school, free of charge.   Others must pay, and it is difficult to get in without that 1180.  Other professions such as businessman have a sliding scale in terms of what you scored on the exam.  If you think about it, it is similar in America.  Almost all of the students at this school either want to be in medicine or engineering.  100% of students go onto college.  Amazing.

 

Side Note: At the school we were taught about the Silk Cotton Tree, whose seeds contain a white substance similar to cotton.  These seeds are used to make a rough cloth.

 

We left the school and walked to the house of a wood-worker.  We watched him carve out a bedpost or a table leg.  He sells to other individuals in the village, but his products do not reach much farther than that. 

 

After the woodshop we traveled to the village fabric shop, where we watched the noisy mechanical looms weave towels.

 

Next in the day, we got into the bus and rode to a place where they produce sugar.  First they grind the sugar cane, which is grown on the premises.  Next, they boil this liquid and skim off what floats on top, until there is nothing left.  What is skimmed off drains and starts to harden, and then it is turned with huge wooden paddles, similarly to fudge.  Lastly it is formed into medium sized balls.  This yellow, no-chemical-added sugar tastes like honey fudge.  It is amazing.  I wanted to buy a ball, but they wouldn’t let me pay for it and insisted that I take it for free.  We also chewed on some sugar cane before we left.

 

Continuing on with our journey, we went to house of a potter.  We watched him spin a pot, which he then lets it sit for three days.  After the three days he pounds the bottom for smooth it out, a process that we also observed him do.  This potter produces 30 pots a day, and each pot sells for R8, or less than $0.20.

 

Lastly in our “Trades Tour” we went to an organic farm.  He we enjoyed raw mango, guava, 2 varieties of gooseberries, coconut milk straight from the coconut, and coconut flesh.  The raw mango was interesting, but good.  It was not as sweet as the ripe mango but it does carry a stronger mango flavor.  This is how they enjoy their mangoes in Gobi. 

 

After the farm we went back to our hosts house to eat lunch.  There, we met the niece of our host, a deaf girl.  Our host was telling us how the niece can only speak one language, unlike the rest of the Indian population who can speak 3.  We were all amazed that she could even speak one language!  She speaks so well that you really wouldn’t even know that she was deaf.  It was incredible.  Lunch was another amazing meal.  We had these soft brown tortillas, rice, lentil chips, other chips (tasted like Bugles), beans and carrot salad, potatoes chutney, lentil chutney, egg mix (chutney), soup with spices, fresh yogurt, fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, coffee, and a variety of sweets.  We finished our meal with amazing bananas, a different variety than you can get in America.  They are smaller, but sweeter and stronger.  My favorite thing about eating in India is that you eat with your hands.  You mix everything together on your plate using your right hand only and then shovel it into your mouth.  It is fun.  I think we need to implement this in the States.