Darjeeling--Day II

Darjeeling—Day Two

The woman at the front desk showed me on the map where I should be going and I set off to buy a mobile phone. I started walking toward Chowrasta, which is a main square in the town; although technically it is shaped more like an X than a square. Anyway, I started walking down toward where I thought I should go. After about 20 minutes, I was convinced that I was totally lost and had ended up somewhere in China. I had descended about a thousand feet, zigzagging down the hill…once I stopped to look up, I saw my hotel. I was exactly even with my hotel, just much, much lower. I was exhausted, and a bit sweaty, and ready to call a taxi to drive me back up the hill so I could die in my hotel room. However, I decided to give my Nepali language skills a bit of a go, and went inside a store to ask where I could buy mobile phones. Luckily, the man was very nice—although he answered my Nepali question with an English answer, something I’ve had to get used to. He told me that I was, in fact, going the correct direction. I just needed to keep going down the bloody hill (two more zags, to be precise). After sweating my way down another 600 or so feet, I saw a mobile phone store.

I walked in, trying not to gasp and gag for each breath. Anyone who tells you that 7 or 8 thousand feet isn’t that high is a lying bastard and probably wants you dead. Thankfully, the man in the store was more than kind while I gasped and choked out the words, “Me…need…phone.” He smiled and asked me what kind of phone and service I needed. Although my brain was oxygen-deprived, I did manage to purchase a quality, no frills Nokia phone. He showed me one that, had I been just a bit more delirious, I would have purchased—beautiful, swanky, gadget optimized phone. I won’t go into too many details, but the cost was Rs 8500/-, which translates to about USD $200. I said, “Aie! Kasto mahango!” Which is Nepali for, “Holy crap! That’s expensive!” (well, loosely translated). He laughed and asked me if I spoke Nepali. We had a very nice conversation about my research and what I wanted to do in Darjeeling. After, he offered to walk me to the Darjeeling Language Institute, the next stop on my list. I agreed, before realizing two things: (1) Walking me there consisted of him closing the shop, and (2) it was two buildings down, just across the street. I felt like a prize idiot…but it was kind of him anyway.

The Darjeeling Language Institute (from this point forward known as the DLI because I’m too lazy to continue typing the full name) is on the first floor of a hotel. Nice little place. So the phone guy led me inside and, as luck would have it, there was a Nepali class going on at the time. We walked to the classroom and interrupted the class. There was only one student, so I didn’t feel too terrible about it. The teacher asked me to come up and sit down, and the phone guy disappeared. She asked me a few questions—if I knew any Nepali, etc.—and then asked me to talk to the girl in the class so she could assess my “skills”. We did the usual—“What is your name? Where are you from?” As it turns out, she and her husband are from Tennessee (well, she’s originally from Alabama and he’s originally from Texas) and will be living here for another three or four years. It went quickly, and she asked me to come back on Monday to talk about classes and to pay for them. I got the girl’s address, and she said she would stop by the hotel on the way home. She and her husband live fairly close to me, only about 10 minutes away.

I headed out after that to work my way back up the hill. I decided to take the “short cut” straight up the hill—consisting of stairs and two roads that are at about 45 degree angles. I made it, just barely. I was coughing, sweating, and gasping by the time I got to the top. I stumbled into the hotel, got my key, and collapsed in my room. I was convinced that I had pulmonary edema (I was coughing up things and feeling nauseated) and would die right there. I laid on that bed for over an hour and it didn’t improve. So I stayed for another hour. By that point I was sufficiently recovered enough to walk up another hill (not quite so uphill) to the internet place. That too almost killed me, but I survived to walk back down the hill.

As I arrived at the hotel, I saw the woman from class. She was leaving me a note at the desk, so I invited her up for a minute—standing at that point was beyond what was possible. Karen and I sat for a while and chatted. She is a very nice woman, and I am so glad we met! I walked her home so I would know where she lived (another hill). We sat and had tea at her house. Jonathan, her husband, had a sinus infection and so was laying down. She and I ended up talking until after dark. I’d arrived at their house around 5 pm, so that was quite a while. They walked me home (back up another bloody hill), all the while assuring me that the walking thing would get better. I wasn’t convinced, but agreed anyway.

That was the first few days. Since then I’ve been very productive—I’ve been making contacts like crazy. I visited my friend Scott’s in-laws, which was a great time. They were so kind and asked me to consider them family while I am here. That would have been enough, but his mother-in-law has agreed to teach me to cook Nepali food! I can make momos (little dumpling things which are fried heaven), but the ‘national’ food of Nepal—called dāl bhāt—escapes me. It doesn’t sound difficult—rice, lentils, curried vegetables, and pickle—and yet, they are quite particular about the way it should be cooked. So she is going to teach me when I return next year. I also need to learn to make chapattis, but that is for another day.

I still have quite a few things to do. I’m doing a few interviews next week, and I’m working on calling the West Bengal District archive, the National Library, and the Victoria Memorial Hall—all in Calcutta. I’d say that, over all, this has been a ridiculously productive and memorable trip. I was terrified of coming to India—I’ve spent the past 4 years focused on Nepal, and to have to change your dissertation focus COMPLETELY at the end of your second year is not necessarily advisable. I was also nervous about my health, which has yet to be even ok in Nepal. Plus, I’d never been to India and don’t speak a word of Hindi. It is close to Nepali, but not close enough to really be able to communicate effectively. Yet, I think it was really all for the best. I have found more research topics than I could have ever imagined, and will be able to continue to work here for many years to come.

That’s about it. I have only taken one roll of pictures, so will be working on getting more of them so I can eventually scan them. I only have three weeks and two days left in Darjeeling, then a week and a half in Calcutta. I just booked my hotel for the last two days. My flight leaves the 22nd at 7:30am, so I was trying to book a room at the hotel next to the airport. However, after being jerked around for the past two weeks, I discovered that the airport hotel is closed for renovations. As if they couldn’t just tell me that instead of pushing me to book elsewhere. I decided to chuck the agency suggestions and book at the Hyatt Regency. It is a little expensive, but I think totally worth it if only because they (for the room I’ve booked) give complimentary transfer to the airport. Finding a taxi at 5 am is difficult enough, but to find one that will actually show up is even more difficult. On top of that, there is no way I would be awake enough to argue about the price and so I would get ripped off anyway. One person quoted the taxi at US $40! Can you imagine! In the end, the room ends up being about $20 cheaper than the other hotels I found AND I get the ride to the airport—plus a few other things, like free breakfast, drinks in the evening, 35” flat screen TV in the room, and maybe, just maybe, a massage and facial. I really like India.

Can’t think of anything else to write. I have a sore throat right now, and so had to cancel an interview I had with a Times of India reporter since it hurts to talk! But considering the state of my health EVERY SINGLE TIME I’m in Nepal, I’ll take the sore throat. So far, a little more than a month into it, I’ve only had a little stomach upset. That was due to the cups of hot pepper they were putting in every meal. I’ve began requesting “no peppers” in my food—which translates to only three or four—and taking my twice daily dose of Pepcid AC, and I’ve been fine ever since. I think the sore throat is really a fine thing compared to dysentery, bronchitis, and all the other god-awful things that always happen to me in Nepal. But it means that I’m going to take it easy for a few days, because my last three weeks are, I’m sure, going to be a big push with the interviews.

I’ll try to keep updating as often as I can…but this is all very ordinary to me. Please let me know what you’d like to know about Darjeeling, Delhi, India, Nepal, or really anything. Either leave them on my guestbook or email me. I check my email every day, and the guestbook not quite so often, as long as the electricity hasn’t gone out. The monsoon hasn’t quite reached us yet, just like for most of the rest of India. It kind of stalled in southern India (near Goa) and in Bangladesh, so the weather has been pretty hellish through most of Northern India. Apparently Delhi was up around F 150 degrees the other day, so I’m pretty glad to be up this high. We’ve had a few days of rain in the last week—cleared out the tourists—but has been clear the past few days.

That’s pretty much it. I’m truly enjoying my time here and will be quite sad to leave. The people here are very nice, and I’ve found quite a few nice apartments that I could envision myself living in for a year or two.

Oh—my itinerary (in case you were wondering). I’ll be in Darjeeling until the morning of the 12th of July, and taking the train from here to Calcutta. I’m planning on staying with Arpita (friend and fellow graduate student at Rutgers) until the evening of the 16th, when I’ll move into another hotel. I’ll be in that hotel until the afternoon of the 20th, when I’m heading to the Hyatt. My flight leaves Friday morning and I’ll be arriving back in Indiana that evening (the 22nd). If anyone is really dying to talk to me, my phone number is (from the US): 00-98320-18286. There is no city or region code because it’s a mobile phone. I don’t expect any phone calls, but just in case!

Well, hope everyone is doing well…and I hope to have more adventures to write about in the near future!