Things I've Come to Terms With

1) I'm not going to shave my legs until I'm back in the states. 

It's going to be exciting. Maybe if my leg hair gets long enough I'll dye it cool colors and braid it. Expect updates.

2) I don't like monkeys.
I've never had an affinity for monkeys, but I think I truly began to dislike them when I saw the Chimps on Planet Earth. I didn't like seeing animals that so closely resemble humans do violent and unprovoked, "human" things. Things like eating their young and murder. It's even worse that Chimps, being apes, are even more related to humans than the typical monkey. I've generally always liked animals more than I've liked people, so this whole group of physically similar, thumb-opposable creatures just creep me out.
However, my dislike of monkeys is in no way comparable to my dis-like/trust and fear of frogs and toads. I can't even look at those amphibious bastards. In fact, just typing out their names' give me the creeps, but I digress. I still appreciate monkeys and think they can be quite cute. Therefore when I first came to Southeast Asia in the fall of 2009, I thought the prospect of monkeys trapeze-ing through the cities like birds was exotic and mesmerizing. If only I had known what I know now, maybe I could've saved myself from the imagery that still haunts me to this day.
Upon entering Thailand I found the monkeys to be cute and mischievous. They darted through the streets and traffic like thieves and ninjas. The babies clung to their mothers so tight, and they were even cuter when they ventured off on their own. I dreamed of finding (capturing) a baby monkey to adopt as my own and take back to America, where it could live the American-monkey-Dream and achieve great fortune and fame as a test-monkey in privatized space exploration or work in the cosmetic development industry.
Much to my displeasure, I soon found that monkeys were actually quite spiteful and indecent. The Monkeys would steal food and even attack people. Despite being so closely related to humans, monkeys had no qualms about cleaning their genitals and defecating in public. I tried to look past this. I tried to feed the monkeys and show them love, as I am convinced that is what most animals truly need. But after I was chased away from my bedroom door by a monkey, I could not look at the creatures with an unbiased view and I saw them in a different light. 

My young, budding relationship with monkeys finally ended on a pleasant day in Agra, India. We had visited the Taj Mahal earlier in the morning, so we were now on a rickshaw headed to the mall to see a Bollywood movie in the airconditioned theater. As usual, I was riding with my head out the side when I saw a monkey on the edge of a roof, standing on all four legs, with her baby clinging to her chest. Just as I was thinking, "Oh, how cu...", another monkey (presumably male) came up behind her and started fucking her doggy-style. That was it. I was done. Monkeys, you tried to steal my heart but you just couldn't keep it in your furry pants long enough for me to love you.
Now that I am once again in India, I find that I was rather dreading having to deal with the "monkey-problem" again. Lucky for me, it seems that Northern India is much more plentiful in monkeys than it's southern counterpart. I'd been here for officially one week and I hadn't seen a single monkey. Until today.
On my way back from shopping (What? No! I didn't have class this afternoon...) a friend and I saw a group, perhaps a family, of monkeys sitting on some rocks near the post office. She was thrilled to spot her first monkeys in India. I was not. 

So monkeys, know that while you may be fuzzy and adorable little ninjas, I will not seek out your love again. Not this time. 

3) I'm getting a roommate.

Remember when I said that "it was safe to say that I wouldn't be getting a roommate"? That was a naive lie. I've just have never had much luck with roommates, so I can't help but be worried about my upcoming roomie. Obviously, I think I'm a good roommate. I can be a little messy, but never dirty, and sometimes I can get a bit passive aggressive, but only in the most dire of circumstances. So future roomie, I wish you the safest of travels, just don't come early. Please. I'll probably need all of tomorrow to clean.

4) I am incredibly unsocial. 

I'm sure most everyone is saying, "Well duh. No shit Harper," but alas, it's true. Being thrown into a foreign country where you know absolutely no one really requires every ounce of "social" my body possesses to come out. It didn't.

I don't know what went wrong in my childhood to make me be this way! Sure, I have deep-rooted trust issues. No, I probably wasn't hugged enough as a kid. Yes, I'm generally described as "intimidating", but how am I supposed to fix what I don't even realize? Being a characteristic that I do not have is hard, especially when Sybil or Keli isn't around to do it for me.
Contrary to what I'm describing, I have actually made some friends and I have actually gone out some nights. But no matter what, I'd really be just as happy exploring alone or sitting in my room with a book... and a cat. I have come to terms with my unalterable fate as a crazy cat lady, and I am perfectly okay with that. 

My Address

Harper Ganick
Tagore International House
South Campus
University of Hyderbad
Gachibowli
Hyderabad- 500046
India

And to all those rapists/stalkers/kidnappers/sex traders out there, we have 24/7 security with video surveillance.
So think twice before you buy that direct ticket from Creeperville to India!!!

Classes

Choosing classes in India is quite opposite from choosing classes back home, or at least at MC. Like always, you have to consider the class title/content and what department its under, but in India you also have to take into account as to whether or not you can actually understand the professor, find the classroom/building, or even if the class is going to be taught this semester, regardless if it was on the course list. The head of the SIP program warned us all of this at orientation on Monday, but I don't think any of us actually took her that seriously. That was dumb and a perfect example of American elitism.
We got a list of potential courses on Monday and had about a week to visit the classes and decide if we'd like to register for them or not, which is quite nice. However, its at least a 20-30min walk to nearest of class buildings.
I began my trek on Tuesday morning after breakfast and its already very hot out, which is not helped by the required dress (no cleavage, sleeves past shoulders, pants past knees). Once I get to the social science building it occurs to me that I actually have no idea where my classroom is. So I wander around... for a while. Finally I run into a friend who is going to the same class and she knows where it is; on the roof. So we took the stairs to the third floor/roof, walk across the roof and into a covered hallway that has classrooms off it. There were a few other SIP students there too, so we all sat together and chatted before the professor came.
Eventually the professor showed up, but once he started talking I immediately understood why we were warned about being able to "understand" our professors. I was able to decipher about a third of what he said, maybe. The class was called Developmental Anthropology, and after a 90min class I still cannot tell you what developmental anthropology is. At one point he apparently said something funny, because all the Indian students started laughing. There was silence on our side of the room, a part from the awkward glances we were exchanging.
After class we journeyed back to the Tagore House for lunch where everyone was laughing at one another for our similar, yet different, experiences of our first morning classes. I learned that some of the art students have a 45-60min walk to their building, but they got lost so they walked around campus for over an hour and a half before they found it.
I had another class at 2, so around 1:30 me and three of the Norwegian girls walked back to the social science building (where all of my classes are). I had planned on attending a History of Medieval India class, but I couldn't ever find it. We walked around for a long time, but when we finally asked someone who knew what they were talking about, they laughed at us and said all the professors were still at lunch and no one would be back until at least 2:30. Duh.
Once 2:30 came and went we continued to look around, but to no avail. A little after 3 we gave up and headed back to Tagore.
I had more luck on Wednesday and Thursday. I went to a Medical Anthropology class which is going to be really cool, and a Sexuality in Society class that focuses on LGBTQ issues in India. I learned a lot in that class even though it was only the first day, however, the professor/Indians? call the LGBTQ community "homoerotically inclined," which is kind of funny, but also kind of sad. It will take some time getting used to all the same.
I find myself spending a lot of time in my room. Alone. I think at this point its safe to say that I won't be getting a roommate, but I also just haven't really been in a social mood. I know you're probably thinking, "But Harper, when are you ever in a social mood?"
And to that I will repsond, "Fair."

Knock Out beer.
Legitimately the worst beer I've ever had.

While I know I should be "making friends," I'd really just rather read. And I think that is just fine! I've only been here for 5days, even though it feels more like a month. I'm having a good time, I'm just letting myself get settled by being a hermit. Whatevs! There's nothing wrong with that!!...
However, I did "go out" last night. 10 of us were going to try and go to a Western cafe/bar, but none of the tuk-tuk drivers would give us an acceptable price, so eventually we just got some beer and came back to Tagore. Getting the beer was incredibly sketchy. I'm not sure why it was necessary to do this inorder to get beer, but we went around the back of some shops, down a little path, and knocked on someone's door. A little old Indian woman came out and Mike (a flaming, neon ginger) asked for 10 beers. So she loaded 10 Kingfishers and Knock Outs into an old rice bag and we were on our way.

the view from my window
(some people were asking about it)

I like India. Sketchiness is the acceptable norm of society. 

The First Days

After I got to my room on Sunday morning (around 2:30am) I attempted to find wifi for a while, failed, and then went to sleep. I continued to sleep for most of actual Sunday until I was woken up by a few indian men who were trying to setup/fix my internet. After that I figured that I should probably get up and shower, since I smelled pretty bad. My shower was cold, and therefore generally unpleasant. I then went about disinfecting and setting up my room. I'm really glad that I thought to bring things to decorate with, otherwise my room would resemble more of a prison cell.

My side of my little room

I forced myself to be social and went down to dinner and sat with some people. I was very hungry and the food was so-so. Then I really just went back to my room and FaceBook chatted some before I went back to bed.
Today was much more interesting. I woke up around 7:15 to take a shower and get ready before breakfast, which is from 8-9. My shower was actually hot and it was the greatest experience I've ever had! I was social again at breakfast, but so far everyone I'd met was either in a summer program or a semester program that doesn't just wish them luck and throw them into a foreign country. At 9:30 there was an orientation down the road and I was able to walk there with some other girls.
As far as I can tell, this is how the SIP (Study in India Program) works: Different programs, similar to ISEP, send their students to the University of Hyderabad, most with a lot more info that I had. Once we're all here it doesn't really matter which program you came here with because now we're all just working with the SIP office.
We got a lot of information at orientation and after lunch we looked over the available courses for this fall. You can choose as many as you want at first, but within the next week you have to visit all the classes, sit in, and narrow it down to four. I had planned on taking Urdu as my language, but they're not actually offering it this semester. If there's enough interest they might make a class, which I really hope they do. I really have no desire to take Hindu.
After we chose our potential courses I went with some people from orientation to this place that was supposed to be like a artisan community. We got to ride in tuk-tuks to get there, but it turned out to be pretty lame. Maybe it would've been more interesting on the weekend rather than a Monday, but it was just pretty touristy with a lot of overpriced, cheap stuff. I did get a cute top though, so now I have something new to wear to my classes tomorrow.  

Fresh chicken stand with a tuk-tuk parked out front

Getting back was rough. Our tuk-tuk driver got lost a few times, so we had to sit through a lot of traffic, but I didn't really mind. Riding in tuk-tuks is just so much fun anyway, its like an amusement park ride, but real life! Theres hairpin turns and sudden stops and turns. I'm usually terrified the whole ride, but this obviously doesn't stop me from hanging my head out the side the whole time. Its also a great way to see the city and I got some pretty neat pictures.

I really like my camera

Once we got back we went right to dinner and then I went to my room to rest. I really had every intention of just laying down for a bit and then going to be social in the common room, but then I legit fell asleep...
I am looking forward to my classes tomorrow, but I'm not too happy to see my summer end so quickly. So far I have yet to see any monkeys, but I can hear wild peacocks from my window and today I actually spotted one! Its only a matter of time before I begin to harbor a menagerie in my room...

Take Three: Prelude to an Adventure

Technically I began this post on a note-taking app on my iPad yesterday, but I'm now unsure if I can even get that draft onto my laptop. Whatevs...

I know that I got to Hyderabad at 1:30am on Sunday. I know that I left Nashville at 8:30am on Friday. However, I don't know what happened to all the time in between. I spent at least 20hrs on a plane, but time zones confuse me.
Embarking on my adventure was hectic to say the least. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday on the phone to Expedia, Air India, United, and Humana. A tip to my fellow travelers: Do not ever book through Expedia. They make an already fairly confusing process even more stressful. They also failed to give me all of the confirmations numbers I needed, and if you've even flown before you'll know how important confirmation numbers are.
I got to see all of my friends for a final goodbye before I left, and on Thursday my dear Keli drove up from Chattanooga to spend the day with me, even though she'd just gotten back from Guatemala not even 24hrs before! She spent most of the day playing on her phone while I was making all of my calls and watching me pack, but we still got a chance to catch up. Even though I'll miss all of my friends a ton, I'll probably feel Keli's absence the most just because we see/txt each other everyday, even if we're not at Maryville.
After she left I discovered that my brother had taken my iPod and deleted it's entire memory, which was a huge blow. I've had that Ipod since I was a sophomore in high school and its memory has been full for over a year, so I had all of my core music on it. I'm moving past it, but it was difficult and a real shame because it made me leave Nashville with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Speaking of leaving Nashville... I left at 8:30 on Friday morning and nearly missed my flight. Once I got to Chicago and was checking in with Air India I was informed that the woman at the United counter in Nashville didn't give me the correct receipt, which was required in order to send all my bags to India. So I had to go to terminal 1 (I was in terminal 5) to talk to the pre-security United counter. I got to talk to someone pretty immediately but waited around for a long time. While waiting, I was surrounded by adorable foreign babies, therefore sealing my fate that I'm meant to bring a baby back to America with me.
I was finally given the right receipt and was allowed to successfully make it through international security. I was really hungry so I paid $22 for a sandwich, OJ, Sour Patch, and Rasinettes at a Hudson News Stand. I finally sat down and discovered that you had to pay for wifi, which I firmly believe is a constitutional violation. Almost in tears, I ate my sandwich and made good ole fashioned phone calls until I had to board.
The flight was virtually uneventful. I watched The Prestige, which was pretty good, and tried to doze, since I can't sleep on planes. I was excited to get to the Frankfurt airport for our layover so I could grab my last Western meal and hopefully get some wifi, but obviously that didn't go as planned either.

According to Germany, its a security violation if passengers get off the plane and then reboard, even though they had been though security from wherever they took off AND if they ended up leaving the airport they'd have to go through security again anyways... I was already not overly fond of the Frankfurt airport due to my experience with it this past January, when my MC group and I had to transfer planes there on our way back from Dublin. I thought it was completely inefficient and housed embarrassingly inept technology, so this experience did nothing to improve upon my first impression of it.
Frankfurt airport: I will live a very happy life if I never have to land on your premises again. Good day to you. Good day!
I dozed/slept the whole way to Delhi. I had to transfer planes in Delhi but was faced with a 3hr layover beforehand. I was ssooo tired and not super comfortable falling asleep on a bench with so many foreign men around, so I paid $23 to rent a Sleep Pod for 2hr. It was awesome. I didn't take a picture, but it was just a small little room with a bed, desk, chair, and tv in the middle of the airport!

My personal sleeping area

I watched Moulin Rouge on the flight to Hyderabad and got through baggage claim and customs super successfully. I didn't immediately see anyone with a "University of Hyderabad" sign when I first got out, but the man holding it actually found me. He took my luggage cart and we left, and it wasn't until we were actually at his car that I thought, "Harper, what proof do you have that this guy is actually from the university? He didn't show you an ID, he just had a sign. What if you're kidnapped and sold into slavery? You better think of a plan!!"

Tagore International House

I threw caution to the wind and continued to get into the car. That is what over 20hrs on a plane will do to a person; accept your immediate and ultimate demise into the sex trade industry. Forty minutes later I was safely on the campus of the University of Hyderabad (although part of me wasn't convinced that's where we were actually going until I saw the gates). When we arrived at Tagore International House I was handed off to another, very unfriendly, Indian man and then shown to my room and left alone. Completely and utterly alone. 

Dragonfly Heart Camp 2011

http://www.dragonflyheartcamp.org/

This was easily the best week of my summer. I had a fabulous time working Dragonfly last year and I’ve been looking forward to it all this summer. Last summer I was asked to stay at EHOS longer than I had intended so I could work Dragonfly part time but help out in the kitchen and office the other part. This year I watched one of our directors’ son during the day and Dragonfly in the afternoons and evenings. I would have much rather worked Dragonfly full time, but it was presented to me in a way that suggested if I didn’t watch Ben some of the time I wouldn’t get to be on Dragonfly, so I gladly agreed. Working Dragonfly is a very coveted position among staff, usually given to senior staff, so I’m just glad I got to work it for the past two years.

So the week leading up to Dragonfly I hardcore cleaned the dorms, which I think I’ve mentioned. I mean, absolutely everything was vacuumed, swept, mopped, and disinfected, and no one was really put in charge of the prep cleaning, so I did the majority of it alone. I was fine with it actually because I get self conscience when others witness how fucking OCD I can get, but anyways! So everything was clean and ready to go. Like last year the CHOP Staff (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Staff) got here on Sunday and went sailing and to a BBQ. I was watching Ben when the kids arrived on Monday, so I wasn’t there to meet the parents and help get them settled. As excited as I was to see the kids again, I was also pretty nervous. I basically remembered all the campers and we’re told byt the CHOP staff that the kids talk about “camp” all year long and love it, but I was still nervous to see if the kids would remember me. I know I was just being stupid and I told myself it didn’t matter anyway, after all there was a lot of staff for the kids to remember, but let me tell you, nothing felt better than when I drove up on Monday afternoon and several of the campers from last year audibly said, “Yay! There’s Harper!” It was kind of great.

The first thing I realized was bow much the kids from last year had grown. I mean, I know teenagers grow up quickly, but I was still surprised. And a lot of these kid’s growth was set back while they were sick, so to see the kids that were obviously “behind” last year as just these normal kids was awesome. Two of the older girls, Ronnie(15) and Bree(14), became so pretty over the last year! It’s surreal to think that I only knew them for a week last year, but when I saw them this summer I was just so proud of them! Dragonfly is pretty incredible like that.

Everyday went along in the same manner: I’d wake up, grab breakfast with the Dragonfly kids, hang with Ben until about 2 or 3, then spend the rest of my day with Dragonfly. Since I was with Ben during the day I did miss out on going to the beach with them, which is something I particularly enjoyed last year, which was admittedly disappointing. Another thing that Dragonfly has gotten me to know more about is the Make a Wish Foundation. I’ve always known what it is and such, but basically all of these kids have had “a wish.” Its great to talk about what they did or what they think they’re going to do for it. Last year Ronnie had just come back from a week in Paris with her parents before she came here, and two of the girls this year had been to Disney and Universal earlier this summer with it. Kendall, who I have to admit is one of my favorites, is just this spunky 8yr old that is easily the size of a skinny 4yr old. She has pulmonary hypertension, so she wears a backpack that gives her a constant stream of medicine. I know the medical term for it, but I have no clue how to spell it. She is one of the girls that went to Disney this summer, so of course we talked about that a lot.

On Thursday night we had a crab feast and talent show. Even though the kids live in the Bay area, a lot of them have never eaten crab, so its hilarious to watch them crack them open for the first time and clean out all the guts and goo. The talent show was great too. The girls tried putting on a play, which of course was an epic failure, but some of the kids did a great job. One of the boys, who is almost completely deaf and blind, signed along to a song. One of the new campers, a 16yr old who is almost certainly gay, sang along to the Kelly Clarkson song “My Life Would Suck Without You” (at least I think that’s what its called). It seemed like a strange selection at first, especially for a guy, but then he got all of his doctors that helped him through his transplant last year and his performance nearly made me cry. A few of the girls sang and one brought her clarinet, but overall it was a great night.

On Saturday I was there for their departure and it was bittersweet. Several tears were shed but even more hugs were given. It’s a hard balance, because we all want to see the same campers here next year, and probably most of them will come back, but its such an important experience that we want even more new campers to come. The issue is that we have a limit of only 24 kids. I won’t worry about it, but it is kind of a rough predicament.

In conclusion, it was a fabulous week and although I am considering looking for an outdoor ed program with a change of scenery for next summer, I’d come back for Dragonfly in a heartbeat. I’d be more than happy to even volunteer for the week, and I’m so happy knowing that. I mean, obviously you’re supposed to find/have a job that makes you happy and fulfills you and shit, but who thought I would find one right out of high school?

Kendall before the dance on Wednesday night.

All of the campers and CHOP Staff

On a much sadder note, last Saturday one of our Dragonfly campers from last year passed away from a double lung infection. His name was Austin and I think he also had pulmonary hypertension. He didn’t come to camp this year because he had a girlfriend, and unfortunately he got sick quite suddenly and just couldn’t recover. He’s the first Dragonfly camper I’ve experienced “loosing,” so I’ve been thinking about his quite a lot over the past week.

"Jake? No Jake! Pull up your pants before you leave the bathroom!"

July 25-July 30
A couple of weeks ago I worked with our Little Explorers program. It lasted from 9-12 and we had 12, 4-6yr olds. It was tons of fun but also pretty exhausting. There were 9 boys and just 2 girls, which was perfect. All of the kids were adorable and hilarious, except for one girl named Madison. She cried all the fucking time, and not even for "legitimate" reasons. She cried if we were walking down a hill because she was "scared," she cried if we were standing too close to water. Her cousin, the other girl who was 4, was so much more fun and cuter, mostly because she never cried. This is why I must have all boys.
In the afternoons I just helped around with a few of the other programs and helped out in the office and kitchen. And my friend Sara's, who got knocked up at Rockfish last November, due date came and went with no baby.
I'm sure other things happened too, but I guess forgetting things is what I get for not updating my blog in a timely matter.

My Little Explorers at the outlet on our beach

Little Explorers on the boardwalk in the swamp

(Madison is the one in the pink hat)