On being a minority...

Eleanor Roosevelt once said:

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Badass! And something to keep in mind with all the curious stares and blatent whistles...

Where's the value?

Learning to navigate this place...to really enjoy those warm, fuzzy, "I GET IT" moments and control those negative moments.

Throughout all of this, I am learning to continutally ask--where's the value? In all things in life, I am learning, there needs to be a pull, some sort of value, for people to get involved and stay involved.

I think about what I've gotten involved with in my life, and why...because whatever it was, offered some sort of value to me: either it had a promise of something bigger, better, at the end of the tunnel, or it was something I cared about and wanted to make a difference in.

The constant challenge: finding that pull, value, for those I am working for, as well as the membership. For each person, the value is different. "Helping" them to find that is a big challenge in a culture where it takes 5 phone calls and a million rescheduled meetings just to have lunch...

Frusturated? A little bit. Challenged? Most definatly.

And there's lots of value in manning-up to a challenge like this--to make it happen.

20 fingers

Recently re-found their chick-rap song from the mid-90's (think TLC, Crazy Sexy Cool era)called "Short Dick Man". A hilarious song that I'd recommend for anyone that wants a laugh...I know we'll be playing at our next rooftop gathering...

Status Reinstated

After spending the past 3 months being a minority AND a female in a pretty conservative country, I've been pretty skeptical of the opposite sex. Actually, I've been VERY skeptical.

A roommate of mine is dating an Indian guy, and I don't know how she does it. See, the thing with Indian dudes dating western girls is that its so apparent there is only one motivation: SEX. I have plenty of reasons/observations that have led me to this conclusion:
1. Indian people are directed by what their parents want them to do. Any life decisions are made as a family, not as an individual. This twists the whole mindset from a western one, and has been hard to wrap my head around.
2. Indian boys have to marry Indian girls. period.
3. Indian boys don't tell their parents if they are dating someone...which brings me to point 4
4. Dating is something all together new in India.
5. Indian boys want (its almost a need) to marry a virgin.
6. Indian boys have the maturity level of 12 year old...well, this is probably true across cultures.

Ok, there are more reasons, but you get the point. In short, I don't see any reason to waste my time on something like this (sorry Juggie). If I wanted a boyfriend simply for the sex...well...that's what a vibrator is for. (sorry grandma) A boyfriend is a there to be an intimate companion. In a situation like this, I would ultimately feel like I was being used for sex or to show that the guy is cool and can date a foreigner.

Couple this with the fact that in my job, I have regular contact with only 2 women. They're pretty freaking amazing women, though...one started her own business and one is pretty high up in a big NGO. But I digress.

In short, I feel a lot of times like an object here...something i LOATHE. If you know me, you know that this is NOT ok (while in Paris, my host dad made comments about my host mother occasionally, which resulted in a quick: "des femmes ne sont pas des objects" from me (women are not objects)...its more than not OK, its something I feel compelled to be a part of changing.

So it was really nice today, when I got the opportunity to chat with an old friend, a dude, about interesting topics like different cultures, artificial intelligence, etc. Its so nice when I'm reminded that men can and do realize I have a brain and can meet them on an equal level. Funny thing is, he probably didn't realize that this type of conversation was any different from normal.

So, in my thanks to him, I'm reinstating his status of "gentleman." Many thanks man!

And if there are any Indians out there that can prove me wrong on the above, please let me know. I'd LOVE to be proven wrong...

"Betsy, do you know how to Salsa?" Me: "A little bit...mostly in my dreams..."

And we laughed...and danced. I havent made no sense and laughed my ass off about it in such a long time. There was so much energy.



Lynn was the catalyst: she brought home some Shakira and salsa and samba and tango music from work on my thumb drive. The DJ by the name of iTunes was put to work, and we all danced...just an impromptu dance party in our pajamas in the dining room. Event the Christmas Tree couldn't help but join the action. So much fun!



I also learned last night, that people can actually MAKE pudding. I don't mean adding milk to some powder, but really make pudding. Actually, I found out in a way that made me realize just how "American" I am: Lynn put the pot of pudding down on the table, and asked if I wanted some. I asked her "Did you make it?" and she said yes. Then I asked: "You serve your pudding warm?" (and in my head, I was thinking 'oh great, now I ahve to choke down warm pudding...fuck') But by the time my thoughts had stopped, all the girls were looking at me. "What?" I asked. "Betsy," Annso said, "she MADE the pudding." Giving her a blank stare I thought-yea, I can MAKE pudding too...just scoop it out of the container and add bananas, not too hard. And just as this thought was finishing, I realized that she actually MADE the pudding...from scratch. WOW...my grandmother should have swooped down and slapped me.

But it did make for a great laugh! And then we continued with the dancing for a bit longer...in true, crazy fashion...



...until the cab fiasco...all I'll say about it is that we were gifted a nice new Tata 4-door purple car! Eat that, Hikmet and your $1 car!

Once in a while, its just nice to be asked.

This weekend has been a blast.

AIESEC Trainee party at Crave on Friday night saw about 100+ people make it out and dance their booties off. A friend, Tich, from Zimbabwe proved to be a more than adequate dance partner, with hilarious moves that kept me laughing all night. Found out one of my friends is moving in with his girlfriend. You know who you are man--and now I get to make fun of you, since you lost the bet!! Annso and I stayed out until 2am, shakin' it the whole time...I haven't danced like that since the 225 gilman was called home.

Saturday night, another kick ass party, this time at a trainee flat in Gurgaon, in honor of...Drumroll please...BRAZILLIAN CARNIVAL!!! Granted, I didn't get to dance to any salsa (no one there knew how to fucking dance), and I didn't get to meet any Brazillians (there was one at the party, but he passed out before we even got there), but I did have a BLAST!!! Met tons of new people...the @ers actually invited one of their contacts out to "learn more about AIESEC and the way cultural immersion happens." Fucking crazy.

In any case, the party was pretty stellar. And then "Billy Jean" came on (actually, I might have had a hand in that...) It made me miss this nomad so much!!! Hope you're having a blast in Cairo!

By the end of the night, my dancin' shoes were ready to retire. But our cab had been stolen by some other trainees (chutias--fuckers in Hindi) so the fearsom foursome, as we had become that night, were sol. Then, a group of guys from the party heading to their car, offered to drop us home. Pretty cool of them (and for us, so we didn't have to bargin with another freaking cab driver), and even cooler that the dude driving was an Indian from the US. Got home, up to the flat, started up the mellow-down music and started chatting with the roomies about the evening when I heard voices in the stairway. I opened the door, and there were the guys. I looked confused, and asked if we had forgotten anything. Apparently not...but one of the dudes, the Indian from the US, did ask for my number. And that made the night even cooler. Once in a while, its just nice to be asked...but only once in a while...

The hilarity from the sister unit continues...

An email from the teacher she is student teaching for...


Subject: Here's a good one that happened today in class-no joking


I have a student teacher who writes a daily message for the kids to respond to.

Today’s question was: If you could combine two animals into one, what would the new name be?


One of my innocent boys signed his name and next to his name we wrote: porn.


Whoa, red flag! I noticed it and wanted my student teacher to handle it (because I was laughing so hard). The boy calmly said he wanted to combine a pony and a unicorn! Makes sense now doesn’t it.



BTW he has no idea what his word actually means!

Writing french and navigating russian websites...in India

Wrote an email in french to the french alumni association

Navigated through the all-in-russian, russian alumni association to find their "contact us" page and wrote an email there.

...and that's just the beginning of my searching.

damn this job is amazing

Hilarious!

"One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh no," I said, "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late."

--Jack Handy

Thanks to one brilliant 50th OC member, I laughed my ass off today...Adam, you rock my world!

Me in a saree...

Me in a saree, traditional Indian dress for women. Some wear it every day, some wear it only for weddings or special occasions. Its supposed to be very feminine...they'll make a girl out of me yet!

Disgusted by my own

A couple dudes joined anne and i for dinner last night. One of them kept complaining and making fun of India...then turned around and kept saying how he wants to travel all over the world and wishes it could be his job. I looked at him, (I'm sure the pissed off look came through) and said: dude, most of the people in the world live like this. If you're going to travel, fucking get used to it.

That was the end of the conversation. A bit akward, but it really, REALLY pissed me off...no, disgusted me. Yes, India is dirty. Yes, things aren't like they are in the west. But things are as they are, because of surroundings, culture, circumstance.

I'm a firm believer that things aren't always what they seem. If this dude would just step off the road into a temple or a garden, or even have a conversation with an Indian person, they'd learn that this place is absolutely amazing--so different from anywhere else i've been...

So young and already so remarkable

This is a shout out to two really special dudes from 225 gilman: Triz and Bill. You guys rock my world. See what they've done here. You need to check it out.

I'd say I'm proud of you, but that's not the appropriate emotion. I'm more than proud. I feel privileged, just to have worked, brainstormed, kicked ass, drank (maybe a few too many) and smoked out of the sweet water pipe with you guys.

Rock the casbah!

of dreams, branches, and pens full of ink

"Dream Big"
"You can do anything you put your mind to"
"Never Stop Dreaming"

Sometimes I wonder if people really realize what it takes to get there...and if they have the stamina, committment, know-how, courage, wisdom, and (most important, in my opinion), integrity to get there.

Dreams become ideas.
Ideas become goals.
Goals become reality.

At least that's how its supposed to go.

A dream can only be truly relized by someone that is completely committed to seeing it through. Not someone that will achieve at all and any costs (they're just mad). But someone that realized the value in realizing a dream the right way--with hard work, determination, and integrity.

From here, my mind goes a few ways:

A. If the cause is a "moral" one, how far can one go, in the name of the dream, before integrity is breached?

B. I am stepping in, doing my best to make someone else's goals a reality. The thing that I am slowly realizing (or 'day by day, day by day' as the dude in my cab would say), is that I share this dream. For shit's sake, I was so excited to talk to somone about what's happening now, how to make something happen, how to move forward...

C. Not everything is rainbows and puppies. The world could conspire against you for reasons unknown to humans, or nature...dreams could be great ideas, and great ideas a needed reality, and the person have the upmost integrity-but it might not work. The hopeful side in me wonders why.

And these are my thoughts at 12:30am--I should be sleeping. But I'm just too excited...the past week of downtrodden-ness with a fairly harsh wave of culture shock is over. I am motivated again...and I am the most happy when I am motivated and motivated when I am happy.

Bring on that 8 page to-do list and give me a pen full of ink. I'll tell you what happens when you're older.

Where's the relief for women?

Enjoying the night air on my third story balcony tonight, I noticed a man taking a walk with a friend hopped off the road and relieved himself in the bushes.

Not that that's a big deal...I've seen men peeing just off the road (and sometimes on it) on a daily basis here. But it got me to thinking...I've never seen a woman squatting on the side of the road, or just off the road, or anywhere for that matter.

Where do the poor women, that sleep in the huts outside my walled-in fortress of a house, relieve themselves?

For all of my criticism, I wouldn't want to be from anywhere else...

Searching the endless vault of daily show episodes on youtube, I came across the first one that aired after sept.11th. All of the memories came flooding back, where I was, who I was with, watching the second plane hit the wtc, seeing both towers crash to the ground...I was also reminded of how powerful democracy is. Not in a powerful leader type of way (although it can be that), but in a people empowerment kind of way. The fact that I can criticize every aspect of my country AND have the means and the power to do something about it is something that I will never take for granted.

Being in India has allowed me to step outside my country, my comfort zone, and really see it for what it is, and I feel so privilaged and humbled that I am an American. Now I'll get back to criticizing and scheming ways to make change happen...

Quotable quotes from the siter unit

"You can take a dude that will go overseas and get shot and put him in front of 30 fifth graders and he almost pisses his pants! What the fuck!" -my sister on getting her boyfriend (former military) to speak to her class of fifth graders.

"Oh my god, you're going to give up your lunch hour to brush your teeth..." -my sister on the teacher's reaction at her school to getting the kids to brush their teeth.

"Fifth grader to my sis: 'Hey, Miss Corey, I got an idea!' My sis to the fifth grader: 'hang onto it, you might use it some day!"

Talking about her experience as a student teacher this morning, I was reminded of my grade school years at the Holy Angels Catholic School. Even the smell of the cafiteria came back to me. It never ceases to amaze me how we grow...thanks for bringing back sweet memories sista!