Journal Entries

Monday, January 10, 2011 by Mallory Wyman

Today we took the train from Chennai to Madurai. I was happy to leave the city and the pollution behind and get to see a little of the countryside. I'm so excited that we took the train. I'm a fan of The Darjeeling Limited and I really wanted to take a train while we were here just to see what it's really like. While it wasn't quite like the movie, it was really fun. I was pleasantly surprised when we boarded. We had heard so many things about the train and how bad it was going to be but it really wasn't bad at all. After negotiating with some passengers to switch seats, we got a little compartment all to ourselves. When we pulled the curtain closed, it felt like being on the Hogwarts Express. I thought the bunk bed style fold down platforms were really neat and I climbed up to the top and slept for most of the trip. I'm not terribly graceful and I think I kicked the woman in the opposite bunk by mistake when I was climbing up which was so embarrassing. Then my supposed friends all took pictures of me while I was sleeping which was even more embarrassing but pretty funny. When I was awake, I got to look out the window and see some pretty great scenery slipping by.


My favorite part of the train ride was getting up and standing in the open door while the train was moving. The countryside was so beautiful and getting to see it without the foggy glass in the way was spectacular. I wish I could've spent the whole ride hanging out of the side of the train, just watching the world pass by. At one point the train stopped and we could see monkeys crawling all over the platform and sitting on the tracks. It really got me excited to go to the monkey temple in Madurai. It's so weird to see monkeys just hanging out, interacting with the world. I've only ever seen monkeys in zoos so it was interesting to see them outside of a cage. It almost seemed postapocalyptic to see them climbing on the walls of the train platform. I imagine that that is what the world would be like if there were no more people, just animals taking over the cities and playing with all of the man made obstacles they don't understand.



Wednesday, January 15, 2011 by Cynthia Arzuaga

Close to 10 a.m. and on the train to Madurai! Egmore Station in Chennai was a little scary! Lots of beggars were around and one was masturbating while sitting on the floor! GROSS! There were also lots of families and even stray dogs on the platform. I really wish I could take a dog home…


The train itself isn’t too bad because we’re in the sleeper car. Everyone nearby is sleeping but I don’t want to. The landscape is changing and I don’t want to miss the transitions! There are mountains, palm trees, thick shrubbery, hovels, homes, trash, flowers, rice paddies, water, people, birds, stores (we’re just stopping in Tindivanam), railroad-side temples…HOW CAN I CLOSE MY EYES?!? Once again, I’m wishing my eyes were cameras and I could just blink to click the shutter. My pics aren’t so clear – kind of dream-like and out of focus. There’s bubbled up tint on the windows. Kings of Leon on my Ipod…



Monday, January 17, 2011 by Yaindy Baez

Today we are at a city called Madurai we had a delicious breakfast and then walked to the where we took the tour bus were on our way to a bullfight traditional festival on the way we had amazing sightseeing and took pictures as we arrived to the bullfight arena we noticed there were bulls all over the place and the man’s were wearing yellow color clothing we got in a sat down to watch the bullfight in India there’s no such thing as killing the bull , it just runs out and people chase it which is kind of fun to watch I took very nice picture while watching it , after that we went back to the hotel and had lunch I had the amazing delicious Tandoori chicken which it’s my favorite then after that we met at the hotel lobby and waited for our bus we head to the Monkey temple as we were getting closer to the place we started to see monkeys everywhere , it was exciting to see so many monkeys . We finally got to the temple and had to take our shoes off then went around a circle to wash our feet and finally went up to where all the monkeys were, we took pictures feeding the monkey I was happy to take the picture cause I never had a monkey so close to me like that specially cause I was feeding it , it was fantastic .


After that we went to one of the biggest temple in India inside was beautiful they had like a market stores everywhere my eyes didn’t know where to look so many beautiful things, sculpture, painting, scenery it was amazing we took some pictures of the statues and pillars of the temple after that we kept walking inside to keep exploring the beauty of the temple and we found an elephant it was big and beautiful and it had colorful painting around its body my eyes couldn’t believe what I was seeing . we then all got the elephant to blessed us with its trump and we ride on it , it was an amazing and unforgettable moment of my life to ride an elephant , I never felt so thrilled about it, it was by all mean the BEST place , time, and date I ever had in my life.



Tuesday, January 18, 2011 by Chris Workoff 

Talk about a day that went in two different directions of quality and comfort. Thank goodness that the best part of the day occurred during the latter half; as luck would have it my illness struck during the evening, so my enjoyment didn’t falter too much.


For the bad, starting off, I anticipated good things for the bull-taming portion of the Pongal festival. Advertised on the syllabus as a “running of the bulls,” my thoughts went for an exciting, kinetic experience unlike anything law would have permitted where I came from. Instead, I sat down among rows of other tourists high on the grandstand seating, my view obscured by a green pillar which blocked what little sight of the grounds below I already had. Fifteen minutes passed and a few dozen more people, unable to sit on any designated spot, thronged around the grandstands, and they almost completely blocked my line of sight. What followed underwhelmed me to the point that I left early. Every five plus minutes, a bull charged into the grounds below, then he just ran off into the distance while the “tamers” attempted to halt his progress. Because of the aforementioned pillar and the people who stood about five inches from my face, I only caught the bull as he entered, and maybe a small snatch of him as he ran off. Enough of that.


For a diversion, not long after I left the stands, I found Christina, Mallory, and Yaindy as they hung around the grounds below. As we waited for some of the other group members, a short, lanky fellow in a purple polka-dotted dhoti and a black shirt with the phrase “Funk is my attitude!” shifted around the general area in which we sat. There were looks exchanged between the group to the effect of “this man is a creeper,” but before we could have spoken, a few police officers aggressively raised their long, thin clubs and they chased the man away from our presence. I wondered whether this man was a “dalit” (an untouchable), and the police just demonstrated the workings of India’s caste system right before our eyes— the officers’ response felt automatic and firm, and it echoed some of what we learned during our tour of the DACA school just the day before, i.e. the harsh discrimination towards those castes. The man later made his way towards the coffee shop which the group sat around while we waited for the bus. The proprietor’s response was a veritable repetition of those officers earlier, except this time he succeeded in giving the man a few hard blows to the back on his way out.



Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Pondicherry by Barry Shifrin
This is by far the most beautiful city we have been to on this trip. I really do love Pondicherry, and I wouldn’t mind coming back her some day. While India itself was a British colony until 1950, Pondicherry was a French colony, and French effects on the culture and architecture are quite apparent. The town itself looks like it could be tucked away in Europe somewhere, a little village with balconied townhouses and cobblestoned streets.

In the morning we made our way to the beach, although it was not quite the beach I was expecting. The sand was little more than a heavy dirt road, not quite fit for the loafing I had been planning on doing. There is a huge outcropping of jagged rocks separating the shore from the sea, but it is still nice to perch yourself on one and look out into the Bay of Bengal.



Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Beauty of India by Alana Harouch

Beyond the dirty streets, chaotic traffic and decaying storefronts, the real beauty of India is in the faces of its people, the warmness of their smile, the openness of their eyes; it is in their temples, the strength of their faith. With just a genuine gesture, wave or smile, the people of India open up to you in a way I’ve never experienced. In no other culture exists this intimacy with strangers that I have come across here. It seems they are deeply connected with one another in a way that Western social formalities and narrow constructions of gender could never allow. I find myself waving like a giddy kid just to see them smile. There is a purity and innocence in their smile.


These people are seriously happy. And I’m happy I came here. I had regrets about signing up for the trip right after the orientation because I thought it wouldn’t be what I expected. And it wasn’t. But it’s what I needed so desperately and it’s what I wanted: to find what I do best in this world, or more accurately: to find what I want to do best, so that I can contribute in this world the way that I am the happiest, that way I can give the most. Much like Vivek I wanted to explore my passion. I’ve always romanced the idea of materializing my imagination and stories on screen and India provided an ideal situation to do it. I really want to continue making films and seeing my imagination light up on screen.



Monday, January 24, 2011 by Katharine Filardi 

I am writing this entry a little late because I was unable to do it yesterday because the last day we were in India I was in a small Motorcycle accident. So here the story two guys from Prasad offered to take Christina and me to the mall first before meeting up with other people at a different shopping place. So hey picked us up at the hotel and took us. Everything went good we got the gifts we need at the mall and continued to the next place. As were where driving the guy that Christina was riding with knew the area more so we were following them but at one point they went to far ahead so my guy wanted to catch up to them and as we were coming up a rickshaw came right in front of us the guy tried to stop the bike but we ended up hitting it and both fell with the bike.

I got up right away to register what had just happened and as I looked down I could see my toes start to bleed. This man I don’t know who he was but he grabbed my arm and started to brought me over the side of the road. I was kind a freaking out because I didn’t have anything to cover my feet with and blood was going everywhere. As we started to look for a hospital we kept on passing a children in desperation I said just bring me there. They took me in right into the back to meet a doctor right away. At first the first doctor that looked at my foot said that I probably needed a stitches. That when I lost it a little but then another doctor came in and she said that after cleaning I didn’t need it and I would be fine. This was such a weird experience because when I first got on the motorcycle I had a bad feeling about it and Christina also told me that she too had a bad feeling about me being on the motorcycle. I just thank God that it wasn’t worse and that I was able to come home with everyone and in one piece.