"Strange Ways"

I clipped this from our local newspaper. Sadly, this is still a reality for many, and not just children. Adult men and women also wed dogs in hopes of better health.

Indian Sweets, Not So Sweet

The other night I ate out with some native Bangaloreans and after our meal they handed me a little cellophane package with something inside.

"What is it?" I asked.
"It's paan. You know, paaaaaan."

I had no idea what they were talking about, but I've decided that I'm going to try all foods here at least once. When in Rome...err, I mean India. I opened the cellophane package to find something that looked like this:


"Do I peel off this aluminum part?"
"No, just pop it in your mouth and eat it all at once!"

So, I popped this leafy sweet into my mouth and my immediate thought was, "I just ate India. They have concocted a food that is India. I didn't think it was possible, but there's some Indian Willy Wonka that has been hard at work."

It tasted like incense, mixed with granulated sugar (the most common sugar here, not like the refined sugar found in the States), mixed with cherries, plus leaves (leaves?!) and some kind of spice mixed in for good measure because what would an Indian sweet be without spice. What an experience. It was actually refreshing and kind of like an Indian after-dinner mint.

Later, I googled this Indian sweet to find out exactly what it was that I ate. Here's an interesting, and slightly disturbing blog post that I came across regarding someone else's first paan experience:

"I also tried paan, which is like an Indian candy or after-dinner mint It is a leaf filled with coconut and spices and sugar and stuff, which you chew on. It's tasty, but then I looked it up and found... apparently it's carcinogenic! The Betel leaf it's wrapped in is a stimulant and causes oral and esophageal cancer. Indians I talk to tell me, no, it's the tobacco that is often wrapped inside by people that causes cancer, but this sweet paan is something kids eat all the time. They are wrong! The tobacco does it too, but Betel leaf is itself bad. Which reminds me of when I tried betelnut in Taiwan -- people chew the nut with tobacco as an addictive stimulant there -- I was assured that it was ok because they left out the tobacco but now I'm not so sure."
[noammohr.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html]


If you're interested, you can find out more about paan here.

-C

P.S. My stomach is doing much better these days (if you haven't guessed by my adventures with foreign foods). Thanks for pr.ying for me!

Light In the Darkness

A few weeks ago, I heard about a historical tour offered called "Bangalore Walks" and I finally had the opportunity to do the tour this weekend. The tour started at 7am in the center of the city, so I figured it would be best to be out the door by 6am at the latest in order to be there on time. I'm not fully aware of the traffic patterns here yet so anytime I need to go somewhere, it's always an adventure and learning experience in terms of how long it will take and how much the auto will ask for a fare. For example, the other morning, I needed to go to the same part of the city I was destined for on this morning and it took me an hour and a half to get there! Other times, it has only taken me 45 minutes. Mornings seem to have the highest traffic, especially around 9am.

I stepped out of my apartment at 6 AM and it was pitch black out and the main road was dead. I've never seen it that vacant before. All the shops were closed and no one was in the road. Could this be India?! My first thought was, "I'm never going to get an auto." There were no autos in sight, but I decided to start walking on the main road in hopes of catching a ride anyway. At first, I could see a little, but then the distance between the street lights began to increase. Five feet, ten feet, then 20 feet between each pool of light. "If I can just get to the next light, I'll be fine. If I can just reach it." There came a point on the road where there were no more lights and just darkness. I decided I couldn't go any further and stayed in that last pool of light on the main road, waiting for an auto to come by.

This whole ordeal made me think that maybe this is how the people here feel. If they could just get to the light, then maybe they would be ok. If they could just reach it and then stay in it. That's my pr.yer for them this week.


-C

P.S. Incidentally, I did get an auto. If you want to know more about what happened the rest of this day, you can find out here.

Health

Friends,
Please be in pr.yer for my health. Last week I caught a bug that has been going around that started out with a fever, then stomach problems. I took a day off last week to rest, and (I think) I'm over the worst of it, but I'm still having problems eating foods and don't have much of an appetite. Pr.y that I wouldn't have stomach pains and that I would get my appetite back. Also, a few other people in our company have the same thing, so please be lifting them up as well.

Thanks for your pr.yers,

Camille

Aap kaise hai?

Dear Friends,

Today was my second day of language study with an Urdu tutor. I've forgotten the kind of mental exhaustion that comes with being a language student. After my first lesson yesterday I came home, studied and felt like I had a good handle on the phrases and vocabulary I learned. Then I had a time of review with my tutor this afternoon and couldn't seem to remember half of the things I had studied or at least I couldn't verbalize the phrases. I know that I won't learn unless I speak, am willing to make lots of mistakes, and laugh at myself.

The writing may come more quickly for me, however. The Urdu script is very similar to Arabic script, which I am already familiar with from taking an Arabic class in college. Hopefully, being able to write the script and sound out words will help me a little with pronunciation. Simply hearing Urdu words and phrases is challenging for me. I'm definitely a visual learner, so I need to figure out a system for meshing audio and visual learning together.

As far as my job goes, I'll be involved in extensive research of my people group for the next few months. This includes study of language, culture, their communication styles, and what forms of media they use most often. Sometimes I feel like I'm in my own little world of research and many times I just want to be with these people rather than looking at data and statistics (which I will get to do eventually). I have to keep reminding myself that this is what it's going to take to reach them.

I get really excited about it when I think about the work the father has called me to here. This is the first research of its kind being done in Bangalore, so it helps me to know that every little piece of information or cultural insight that I'm able to document will help other workers in the future, but more importantly it will help to bridge the gap that has existed for centuries among these people in Bangalore.

Pr. Req.
-Language - pr. against discouragement, for motivation, and perseverance.
-Pr. that I would learn from simply hearing Urdu words and phrases.
-Pr. for plenty of study time as well as time to rest and recover in the evenings.
-I would still like to find a language helper (someone in the community) in addition to my tutor. Pr. that doors would open for me to find an Urdu-speaking woman to help me learn the language and culture.
-Pr. that the father would open doors to make at least one Musl.m woman friend
-Pr. for my Aunt in the States. Her health is poor right now and she's in the ICU. Pr. for her son and daughter as well.

Thanks for your continued pr.yers and emails of encouragement.

How can I be pr.ying for you?

Blessings,

Camille

You asked for it, you got it.

Hello Friends,

You can send mail and packages to this address:

No. 1 Anand Nagar Road
HA Farm Post, Hebbal
Bangalore 560024
INDIA

Some of you have been asking about what kinds of things I'm not able to get here, would like to see in a care package, etc. Fortunately, I can get many things in this city. But since you asked, here's my current wish list:

-3x5 note cards (no lines)
-white sticky tacky
-black ball point pens
-hand lotion (not anti-bacterial lotion, please)
-chapstick
-Extra Peppermint Gum
-DVD movies - I'm not picky. The only DVDs I brought are "Fly Away Home", "Minority Report" & "The Neverending Story I & II", so anything besides these three. (No Bollywood movies, please - haha.)

...And any other fun stuff you want to send. Please don't feel like you need to send these things right away because you think I'm desperate! I have everything I need here. I'm mainly posting this for those of you who have been asking what types of things to include in care packages. Also, don't feel like you need to send tons of chocolate. I'm able to purchase a variety of chocolate products here (unless, of course, you feel compelled to send Dove dark chocolate).

Simply a letter from you would also be great to receive in the mail. Thanks to all those asking about care packages.

Yours,

Camille

New York Visits Bangalore.

I found out a few weeks ago that a good friend from Rochester would be arriving in Bangalore in January for a wedding. Turns out we arrived on the same day and were able to meet up two times while she was here. Talk about my worlds colliding! It was nice to see a familiar face from home and get to hang out in my new home city together (even though I know the city about as well as she did. I didn't make for much a tour guide!).

This picture was taken on my roof the day she left. For all you RIT folks, you'll have to ask her about her adventures in Bangalore...she may recruit you to come visit me! Don't resist :)

C

P.S. See the photo link on the left for a few new pics.