Goodbye India. Hello.... Paris?

So we leave Wednesday night. Wait, we leave Wednesday night!? That's in two days. That's in too few days.

Don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited to see family and friends that I miss very much. I'm even excited for dollar theater date nights again! AND I can't wait to move into our new apartment. But India.... Oh India. How I will miss India. I can't go on and on about it though because I think I'll start crying here in this little Internet room in Delhi. That would be embarrassing. So let me just say, I think the worst of leaving is over. I said goodbye to our Ahma-la. I said goodbye to my Rogpa babies. That's all I can say without getting too emotional.

But here we are in Delhi. I love Delhi, interestingly enough. Delhi is... in your face. Always. You can never forget that you're in India when you're in Delhi. Even when you find the Hollywood movie channels on the T.V. in your hotel room. But Delhi doesn't take long to grow on me. It was hard at first, coming from the fresh mountain air and rolling hills of McLeod Ganj down into the beast's belly. Delhi Belly. But Delhi has some charm. Dusty, sweaty, power-outage charm. For example, last night I ate one of the most delicious meals while sitting on the roof-top restaurant, looking over the city and up to the sky, where hundreds of kites were being flown in the breezy dusk air. I fed some Thai fried rice and chicken to a stray cat, who enjoyed sneaking up next to me and playing with my scarf. I had the incredible company of my best friend/husband, and we watched the sun set and drank fanta and hot lemon with honey. Hindi and Punjabi music blared out into the night, as well as sounds of the street and crowds of Main Bazaar.

So this is the Delhi I've come to love. Just in time for us to leave. But, looking forward and having a positive attitude... we are going to Paris!! Man oh man is that going to be great. I'm trying to finish planning it all out, and I can't wait to see all the amazing sights and eat all the amazing food. Paris will be a crazy difference from here, but it's all part of the adventure. And then it's back to home, back to work, and back to school. We will graduate in April and start saving saving saving in order to come back as soon as we can. Our goal is 2013.

Well this is pretty much my last post from India. I'll try to keep this blog up, regardless of class requirements. Thanks for following, and can't wait to see you all!

Observations

Well, I have officially finished my observations, so my field work is done. I still have a bunch of work left, such as expanding my notes, coding them, looking for parallels, etc. And don't forget the many papers I'm yet to write with the information I've gathered. I have a long road ahead of me in my project, but the fun part is just about over ;)

But I look forward to sharing my notes and findings with others, and to maintain the great friendships I've made here.

Something I've found while abroad is that we are all just humans and we basically want the same fundamental things. We just have different ways of going about it sometimes. In the context of families, and from what I've seen in my observations, mothers are mothers and children are children. Children are funny and say hilarious things, and mothers laugh and repeat the humor to friends. Children are sweet and sensitive and mothers cuddle them and love them. Children say something profound and mothers are proud and in awe. Children are naughty and mothers discipline them, with the hope that they are teaching them to be better people and learn from their mistakes.

I suppose I didn't expect families here to be much different. So what was I here to learn?

Gatekeepers

This past week, I was able to meet with the woman in charge of Rogpa to gain permission to observe in teacher's homes. Rogpa puts a lot of effort in protecting the privacy of the families involved, including the teachers. Pema is the acting gatekeeper for these individuals and it is through her that I have been able to progress in my project with the help of this organization.

I feel as if the meeting went pretty well, considering she is a very busy woman and I hadn't interacted with her much before that point. She is very enthusiastic and encouraging of my project, and she happily gave me permission to begin observing in the homes of the teachers at Rogpa, as long as I provide her with a schedule of my visits. I asked the teachers if they would be willing to let me come observe. One said that if I got permission, of course I would be welcome. Another nodded in agreement with her...(?) and I'm hoping that another will get a report from the first two and realize that I'm not a spy, that this is PARTICIPANT observation, and I just want to get to know them a little better.

Another note about my meeting with Pema:

Wait...the date is WHAT!?!?

Alright so tomorrow is July. That means that this blogging ball needs to start rolling. It'll be rolling fast because it's all downhill from here!!!

Jeez louise I can't believe how fast this is all going. It's true that you think you have all the time in the world and then all of a sudden, BAM, you're buying your tickets for you "mid-semester" retreat and planning your last few weeks in the field.

So here's THE BACKGROUND:

I am a Human Development major working on a project in McLeod Ganj, India. This town is located in the Northern state of Himachal Pradesh, and it's where many Tibetan refugees are currently living. It's also the headquarters of the Tibetan in Exile's Government, and the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Because it's such an interesting and spiritual area, it attracts many tourists from all over India, and all over the world. It's also kind of a base-camp for trekkers who journey into the mountains and up to Jammu and Kashmir. I am here studying Tibetan parenting styles and trying to answer the question: "what to Tibetan parents in this area consider to be good parenting?" This is a very exploratory study, and I will be accomplishing it through participant observation in 3-5 Tibetan homes.

And here's WHERE I AM:

Pictures- Round 1

 Here are some pics of our trip. These are just some random highlights.

 This is the street in Delhi on which our hotel was.

 This is me in front of the Lotus Temple in Delhi