21 May 2008

Early morning we went on a safari in a bus. We saw 2 elephants, 1 peacock, 1 Langur monkey, herds of spotted deer, several wild boars, 2 mongooses, and one eagle. I came back and saw a cool ascilid and an antlion adult while a few of us watched some of the other jungle inn visitors played cricket. I played a few rounds of badminton with LaTisha and relaxed for a while.
The day was relaxing with a long car ride delayed by rain back to Bangalore. We re-packed our bags once we returned for 4 days of washing elephants and hitting the beach. I cracked open Matt’s coconut from the wedding with my hoof pick (as of yet the most useful it has been to me at vet school) and we left for the train. As we purchased some food at the train station, a barrage of beggars met us. This has not been an unfamiliar sight thus far, but we were waiting for Dr. Nadeem and had no place to escape to this time as women with babies and small children would give us the gesture for food and perhaps even the children would attach themselves to a leg. Here there was even an extra element of a terrible smell. None of this was so disappointing as the way we talked about them. The shock or disbelief that they would resort to such tactics to get some money from us is ridiculous in itself. I don’t know how we can be so close in proximity to poverty and so removed from the situation of it. I knew I would be face to face with the impoverished when I came to India, and I was thinking this would be a part of the society that I would like. I would rather have death and poverty be in the open where people know it is a problem, instead of behind closed doors and swept under carpets as I feel it can be in America. While I most always ignore beggars, I will always wish them well and not dehumanize them. Their pain is far more distressing than any annoyance they could impart. I can only hope that society around the world can advance to a point that allows them a more noble, useful, and healthy position in life. The train was a fun trip. The compartments each had six beds: Top, middle that folds out, and bottom that is a seat normally on each side. I was on the middle bunk between Libby and Ms. Matthew. Somehow, Dr. Nour and Dr. Nadeem messed up the roster and Matt was marked as a female. We saved the paper to document this. I slept more or less well, and in the morning it was cool to get to hang off the side of the train as it moved along. I recommend this to anyone as a method of waking up.

20 May 2008

Some sight seeing around Mysore today was scheduled. We visited the Golden Temple and a Giant statue of a cow called Nandi. With all the temples and spiritual icons, the trip can really make you think of religion at times, or at least has for me. It may be the lack of religious upbringing that has inspired the surge recently, but I think anyone could appreciate the mixture of spirituality. It can make it difficult to interact with people who are religious in a strict sense at times, but usually this is a rarity at least. I think mostly I do not like the restrictions in life choices that either having religion or not offers you, as so much of the world will be different from your view no matter your choice. Either way, there is no use worrying over such matters when I have wonderful opportunities available to me either in spite of or due to my life choices. Mysore Palace is a beautiful place with incredibly ornate carved wood and stonework. Windows and stones pieced together in ornate patterns and religious icons along the walls and ceilings give the palace an epic feeling as you walk by icons of the royalty that stayed there. Unfortunately they don't allow cameras...so there's the front gate. We make our way to Nagarhole, which is a cute eco/cultural tourism spot near Bandipur Park. Butteflies abound and other wildlife as well. A cute skink even let itself get caught for a few minutes. We visited a nearby village.
The people are friendly, but it is definitely impoverished with the children looking bloated and filthy. There is a school and many houses. Some of the families even pose for pictures for us with some of the animals wandering around. As night comes, we get a tribal dance from a local group that is quite lively and then some dinner. Most of the dinner is Indian but French fries and potato chips are a sight for sore eyes for lots of the group.