Udaipur, IN (week 3)

Our third week volunteering in India has been very productive! Both Sarah and Sharon left us on Saturday, and in the evening Samvit took us to Bay Leaf, another hidden gem where we enjoyed another round of lassi and gulab jamun. We spent a fair portion of Saturday and Sunday’s hot, daytime hours working on administrative tasks and updating information on the Development Action Awareness Nationwide website. Somehow the idea of pizza had come up, and Samvit had said that he knew of a pizza place in the old city which was worth investigating. That was our plan for dinner, but first we visited the Monsoon Palace, of James Bond’s “Octopussy” fame, which has a popular sunset lookout.

Sam dropped us off at the base of the steep, windy approach, where we paid our admission fees and caught a shuttle to the top.  The mountain road reminded both of us of driving in New Zealand, where each successive blind turn and switchback is sharper than the last, and each viewpoint shows a panorama increasing in breadth with our altitude. At the top a guide gave us the full tour, which was good, since there was no information available, and he had a lot to say about the history and construction of the palace.

Following the tour we had a half hour or so before sunset for photos of the palace and grounds, vistas below us, and mountains.  Christina took a silhouette shot of me which came out so well that we enlisted the help of a fellow visitor to make the same shot of both of us.  The result is fantastic! It may be the best photo of our trip so far.  The palace itself is quite picturesque, and the numerous views are very good as well. On the whole, it was a very worthwhile trip.

As we were getting a final photograph of the main gate, Christina made a little friend when she had a small girl take our picture in the door. The little one shyly but happily obliged us, on the condition that we would take her picture as well.

For the descent we shared our shuttle with three other foreigners, and chatted on the way down with them about their travels in India so far.  It turned out to be a good thing that we made friends because at the bottom there was a shortage of rickshaws, and the five of us shared one (made for three occupants) for the ride back into the Old City.  We met Samvit at Chetak Circle and had our pizza at a joint called Uncle Sam’s.  It was actually pretty good pizza, despite being (like so much else here) veg-only.

We settled into a rhythm for the week’s work.  Christina and I were usually up by 8:00, which gave enough time to review what we were planning to do for the day’s lesson at the Havala center, and to collect the required documents for printing from the library of items that Christina has been busily assembling.  We would then take the short walk to the “print shop” (though “print shack” is more like it) that we have come to use regularly.  Here we would print out then copy those items selected for the lesson.  The print guys are very friendly, and are happy to be our “official” print providers.  Yesterday they served us chai while we waited for our copying to complete, and on our walk this morning one of them was passing on his motorbike so pulled over to give us a lift the rest of the way.  Our first time 3-up on a bike – excitingly called “doing it indian-style”, according to Christina. Once the printing is complete we’ll walk back, stopping along the way to pick up a couple liters of water and maybe some juice or pop. Back at the house we’ll have breakfast, usually of rice or oatmeal, then visit for a short time before getting down to business.

While Christina focuses on gathering and organizing material and creating lesson plans for the Havala center, Samvit and I visit the Badgaon centre, where he supervises and I support as the new teacher there delivers the days lesson.  My support consists, for the most part, of keeping the kids entertained during those periods when Samvit and the teacher need to confer on the style or pace of his delivery, or otherwise shape the class.  The kids all love singing, especially when there are actions involved, and Sharon set a wonderful stage of nursery rhymes and lullabies.  Favorites include “The Wheels on the Bus” (featuring some outrageous guests from the animal kingdom), “Head and Shoulders”, “You are my Sunshine”, and the most recent addition, “Eensy Weensy Spider”.  We used to do “Hokey Pokey”, but that was back when Christina and I had first arrived. Since then we’ve seen attendance basically double and when 40 kids “put your right leg in”, our confined space turns into a mosh pit, so we don’t do that one anymore. This past week, Samvit and I would typically leave early to run some errands and try and find supplies for both centers, stopping along the way to “fuel up” either on fresh pineapple juice or samosa.  Since there’s just two of us we’ve been spending our time zipping through the mess of pedestrian, automotive, and bovine traffic on his Royal Enfield, which has been a lot of fun.

We would be late, usually, in returning home to quickly collect Christina as well as the supplies for the Havala center, then dart off again (in the car this time) to start our second shift. Here the teacher is a little less ambitious, so Christina and I have been the ones delivering the material.  While I teach some of the songs we do at the other center Christina and the teacher review her lesson plan, trying to increase his confidence and motivation in preparing his own material.  The general plan is to work through the alphabet, one letter at a time, pacing it very slowly for the young kids while trying at the same time to provide enough content for the older ones.  There are word searches, educational videos, coloring sheets, writing practice, and anything else that Christina is able to prepare.

Attendance has also increased here quite significantly, and indeed seems to test the limits of our small room’s capacity.  Samvit has all sorts of ambitious plans for expansion, and with the amount of energy required to keep things running as they are, I don’t know how he does it.  Once we finish up it’s time to head home.  There might be time for some sightseeing, or a little nibble of street food before getting back.

One day this week we visited Tiger Lake, which has a walkway providing a peaceful overlook.

On our way to the lake we stopped to check out a cricket game happening in one of the villages. The announcer, upon our arrival, made a remark about the game attracting international attention – according to Samvit’s translation.

We’ll have dinner and visit for a while with mama and papa, then often head into town for some lassi.  We’ve tried a few different places, and each one seems better than the last.  Our most recent lassi was had last night, at Hotel Swaroop Vilas, which is very much the opulent, colonial-India-style elegance one would expect to see after watching too many movies.  We liked the ambiance and decor so much, to say nothing of the drinks themselves, which were excellent, that we asked about seeing a room.  We were shown rooms from each tier, Deluxe through Suite (which was, yes, “sweet”). Prices for these ran from 4000 to 7500 rupees (around $90 to $170 CAD), which is a bit high for our budget, but definitely good value if you’re here on tour. Sam figured I could use my “white magic” to finagle a better rate, but I have yet to put this to the test.  In any case, it’s a very impressive joint.

No big plans for the weekend, but I have every confidence that something will unfold.  It’s our last weekend here at the homestay before we move on to New Delhi, so we will be trying to catch whatever we’ve missed from Udaipur’s list of “must-do” activities.