Journal 10

Dear Journal,

So today we experienced our first Rickshaw ride and I have to say, it was quite an experience!

Abbie and I went to St. Anne’s women’s College today to do some more research and interviewing for our Ethnography class. We arrived at the College at about 10:30am and met with the principal to find our which classes we could sit in at. She referred us to one of the Science faculty who invited us in for some tea. After tea we went and observed a class she taught in Biotechnology. I was fascinated by the quality of education the students were receiving. I thought the teacher did a phenomenal job of interacting with the students, presenting important information and at the same time asking questions and assuring student participation. After class we sat down and talked to the students, which was great and very informative. I interviewed three girls and asked questions about my research topic: Identity in Indian women. I received some answers that were expected but also receive quite a few unexpected answers.
Afterwards we were offered a snack for lunch and some more tea (I found out that the average Indian drinks about 8-10 cups of tea a day…that’s about 1 cup of tea every hour!!!). We then sat in at a political science and an English class, which were both very interesting. After our observations and interviews, we headed home.

When we got back to the guest house we made an appointment with Satya to go to a Telugu movie that night. We met at the front gate on campus to get a rickshaw. I have to say it is amazing how many people they can fit in those tiny little things. I think we had eight or nine people in a vehicle which is meant for three or four people. It was kind of scary, but I guess just like anything else, you get used to it.
The movie was odd, to say the least. Indian movies are definitely completely different from the typical Hollywood movie we get to see in the States. There is lots of dancing and singing and there were many scenes that everyone except us thought was hilarious but we just didn’t seem to get the joke…I blame this on:
1. The fact that the movie was in Telegu and did NOT have any subtitles, and
2. The cultural context.
It was an interesting experience. Not just the movie itself was different, but the whole experience of people laughing and whistling and clapping in the movie theater and mostly HUNDREDS of people staring at us…constantly!

The scariest part however, was the Rickshaw ride home. We walked through dark alleys in order to get to the spot where we would find a Rickshaw, and after finally getting there, we again tried to fit twice the amount of people in one Rickshaw than should be legal. The scary part was that this guy, who had been following us since we left the movie theater, just kind of jumped in the Rickshaw with us. Luckily we had Kirthy and Satya’s friend with us. During the ride, Satya’s friend and the creepy guy almost got into a fight and it was pretty scary. We were all relieved when Satya’s friend got him to get out of the Rickshaw. We finally made it home at about 10:30 p.m.