hopefully a substantial update

so, i've been trying to start a blog that i can update regularly, but somehow the internet is being complicated. maybe it has to do with the connection here, or maybe it's just that i'm inept, but i'm finding it fairly difficult to access most blog sites.

so, until i have that figured out, i'm going to probably continue with the mass emails. sorry, again, for the lack of personal touch to these- but i just have a few things i think i'd like to tell most of everyone, and it makes more sense this way than writing it over and over again. but, please, write to me, and i'll respond more personally.

So, i guess it's been awhile since i talked to everyone. orientation here is over, and i'm all settled in (for the most part). There are still a few things that are sort of sketcy (like our cell phones working off and on...) and I had to go back to the police station and redo my paper work because i filled it out in green (i find this amusing because none of the papers have my proper name on them- they all leave out Miller- and the authorities don't mind that, they just don't like that i wrote in green...)- but for the most part everything is going okay.

I live above a really sweet family in a relatively quite suburb of Madurai. we're a 60 rupee auto rickshaw drive from the temple in the centre- just north east of the centre in a neighborhood called Park Town. The family I live above is a mother who's 27, her husband (also her uncle), and her two completely sweet sweet children- an 8 year old and 6 year old. The mother's name is Mutha, which means pearl, and she takes really good care of us. She and her 8 year old daughter, Santhya, made us dessert and brought it up for us. They feed us fruit and peanuts too. The peanuts here, by the way, are completely different. they're soft and taste like alfalfa sprouts. And when our family brought them up to Lauras room and we were eating them they just shelled them and threw the shells over their shoulders around Laura's room. Anyway, the family is really nice and takes really good care of us.

I go out into the village twice a week to do pottery with a potter priest in a hut. I have lectures twice a week and go to Tamil class twice a week. Somehow, even though i'm not in class a lot, I find that I'm constantly exhausted. It's also hard because the one time of the day that i'm sure to not have anything is right after lunch, but everything is closed then so i can't do any sort of errand running. I guess it's like a siesta, but they don't have a word for it.

Yesterday Emily, Laura, our program director, Shaker, and I went out into a village to go see part of this 15 day festival. It was a really long trip out there, and i got so carsick. The last leg of it we were in a private bus, crammed in with people all around us, and with insanely loud tamil music blaring. So we got out in this village, and went to find the priest. I guess the festival had already started, but it doesn't really 'take off' until next week.

So this is the story for the festival: a long time ago there was a mother who had seven daughters. The daughters got along really well with the mother's older sister. whenever she came to visit the daughters got so excited and they all loved eachother so much.However, the mother got really jealous of her sister. So, one day when the sister came to visit the mother hid her seven daughters under a chicken basket. Then when the sister left the mother lifted up the basket and found that her daughters had turned into seven little dolls. A goddess came and told her that her daughters would be restored to her only when she was free from jealousy. So, now, every year the priest in this village gets posessed by the goddess and selects seven little girls to represent the seven daughters. the seven girls are all prepubescent and have to stay within the temple for the 15 day. Then they are blessed with good fortune for the rest of their lives. I still have a hard time exactly connecting the myth with the festival and how they directly relate- but i thought it would still be interesting to see what was going on.

So we went and talked to the priest and he had the seven little girls all come out and see us. they lined up by height and all recieted a prayer for rain. We had to put the sacred ash on our heads, and eat a little bit- which i guess could be considered sort of weird 'cause it's burnt cow pies (in the north they use dead human body ash!), but i figure ash is ash.

Then we talked to the priest for about an hour and a half. At first it was really interesting, but then we started to realize that he was a little unreliable. he told us that his temple was 3000 years old and that the festival was that old also. then he told us that the goddess of his temple was originally called Durga, but now her name was changed. Then he told us the story of Durga (which is a really common story), and explained that she was the original goddess 3000 years ago, and now she goes by a different name in his temple. I found this interesting because Durga and the myths surrounding Durga aren't specific to any village- they're pan indian and relatively new, coming from a western influence. So, i wondered if he was trying to convince us that she was the original goddess, or if he was convinced of it and was just trying to tell us what he thought was true. Then this same sort of thing happened a few times. he told us all about his four sons, saying each one was smarter than the previous- each getting the highest marks in Tamil Nadu, running hospitals and software companies etc. Then he told us that he had traveled and worked all over the world and knows 15 languages without ever studying them- just because he is so spiritual and full of Shakti and energy from Durga. Then he went into a trans where he was speaking another language, but it wasn't any language any of us recognized- and he then continued as if nothing had happened.

so after an hour and a half we took some photos (which probably didn't turn out great 'cause it wasn't very good lighting in the temple), and then left. I guess it was mostly just interesting to observe how this priest presented himself. I guess it would be a really difficult (maybe impossible? i dont know) psychological study- but interesting to see how mysticism works psychologically. When i saw the woman being posessed at the last temple i was convinced that she was convinced she was being posessed- and here it seemed so mechanical as if he had produced it and was trying to sell it to us.

Anyway, that was sort of the adventure for yesterday. We also got some sacred cow-pie ash to bring home with us to our friends- so i have two little parcels in my room if anyone's interested.

i'm still pretty afraid of indian men in general. the two girls that i live with seem to be less afraid- and yesterday had some 18 year old guys up on our roof. But, for the most part the men here seem sort of sketchy. I guess that's a generalization- but it's pretty frequent that men call out to us and yell "white women!" in Tamil when we pass, or ask us if we're married (we all have started saying yes. Emily now apparently has a husband in the US named "Bob"). I think i'll feel a lot more comfortable when i know the language. According to the 18 year old guys on our roof yesterday, everyone at their school knows who we are- and that really weirds me out. I would much rather keep as low a profile as i can- even though that's pretty hard when we stick out so much.

For the most part, however, Indian people are so friendly. So many families invite us into their homes and try to feed us. They always ask if you've eaten, and what you ate, and when they can give you food. Our mom downstairs did a sort of henna type of design on our hands (maybe i mentioned this already?), flowers and mine is a swastica, and she braided our hair and put bindis on us and is eager to help put saris on us if we ever want to wear them.

well, the internet is starting to get even more sketchy, so i think i should sign off. plus lunch is due to happen in a minute or so.

I hope you're all well! keep me updated!

I'm missing all of you a lot, and trying to not think too much about the US right now- about fall in alaska and the beginning of school in NY. But, still, keep me up to date on all the happenings!

much love,

--- catie