I got my first mosquito bit. Damn, they found me.
I'm sitting in front of the Ganges in a place in India known by the Indians as the most sacret site. Where the energy here is...different...holy... I'm waiting to feel this energy.
We woke up at 4 in the morning yesterday to begin our trip. Drove for 8 hours (a combination of horrible Indian traffic and getting lost) to our camp site. We are at the very Northern tip of the Ganges river. Where the water is still clean enough to swim in...even to drink. But I dared not drink it. We hiked to a waterfall and bathed in the holy water. Heal my soul Ganga. "You can only feel it if you are really quiet." My Indian friend told me.
I'm getting old...we went cliff diving and I was scared to death to jump. "Its only water after all. I'll catch you when you fall." It whispered. The freezing cold water took my breath away. My body dropped into her like a pebble in a pond.
I met an Indian yesterday. Born and raised in Delhi. He spoke Hindi with his family. But could not read or write Hindi. "But I know English and that is the important language." He proclaimed with pride. "Many Indian parents will speak English to their children because they want them to learn English. It is more useful, more necessary."
"But do you ever feel like you are missing part of your culture?"
"No."
Is my job as an English language educator perpetuating this cultural amalgamation? Cultural elimination?
How much wealth does one need? How much novocaine does it take to turn a blind eye to starvation? 5000 rupees for Brunch at the Hyatt. 50 rupees for lunch. "How do you come to terms with all the poverty here? With the huge wealth disperity?"
"It's just how it is. This is how it is."
I'm sitting in front of the Ganges in a place in India known by the Indians as the most sacret site. Where the energy here is...different...holy... I'm waiting to feel this energy.
We woke up at 4 in the morning yesterday to begin our trip. Drove for 8 hours (a combination of horrible Indian traffic and getting lost) to our camp site. We are at the very Northern tip of the Ganges river. Where the water is still clean enough to swim in...even to drink. But I dared not drink it. We hiked to a waterfall and bathed in the holy water. Heal my soul Ganga. "You can only feel it if you are really quiet." My Indian friend told me.
I'm getting old...we went cliff diving and I was scared to death to jump. "Its only water after all. I'll catch you when you fall." It whispered. The freezing cold water took my breath away. My body dropped into her like a pebble in a pond.
I met an Indian yesterday. Born and raised in Delhi. He spoke Hindi with his family. But could not read or write Hindi. "But I know English and that is the important language." He proclaimed with pride. "Many Indian parents will speak English to their children because they want them to learn English. It is more useful, more necessary."
"But do you ever feel like you are missing part of your culture?"
"No."
Is my job as an English language educator perpetuating this cultural amalgamation? Cultural elimination?
How much wealth does one need? How much novocaine does it take to turn a blind eye to starvation? 5000 rupees for Brunch at the Hyatt. 50 rupees for lunch. "How do you come to terms with all the poverty here? With the huge wealth disperity?"
"It's just how it is. This is how it is."
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