Julie in Jodhpur: Final weekend in India

This past week has been an absolute roller coaster ride. While I'm thrilled to come home (and excited to be making plans for the ten days prior to school starting), it is also really hard to say goodbyes.

I have been doing a lot of interviews and I must say, if I had more time, I could spend many more months going into the field every day to do this work. That said, I am officially done with my field research and with 18 interviews in tow and a notebook filled with random ethnographic observations, I feel pretty good about it. I luckily have until March to put my thoughts together on paper, so we will see what brews between now and then.

On Friday, by matter of sheer coincidence, I also participated in what amounted to a pretty fitting 9-11 tribute. There are 93 girls between the ages of ten and eighteen who attend the Veerni hostel and many of these girls, from some of the poorest and most desolate villages of Jodhpur, had barely even heard of the U.S., but expressed a ton of curiosity about my "village" and my family. Therefore, I prepared a slideshow of photos from home, featuring photos of my family and both New York and Chicago (including University of Chicago). I tried to choose photos that would give them a sense of the seasons (snow featured prominently) and it was a lot of fun to see their faces light up when a new photo popped onto the screen. They really enjoyed it and even the adults from Veerni project were shocked by the images of New York streets, Time Square, etc.

At the end of my presentation at the hostel, it was time to say goodbye to the girls for the last time and they all made me promise to come back. Quite honestly, I hope to, and knowing all of these girls' career girls, I hope that I return, many of these will be achieved.

On Saturday, after doing a few interviews, I was invited to a co-worker's home for dinner. Lajwanti picked me up at 4:00 and what I thought would just be a quiet evening in her home, ended up being a miniature tour of Jodhpur and of her extended family. We went to Mandore Gardens, a local picnic spot, filled with mausoleums from the 1600s, and a place where I had already recently spent a sunny Sunday. With her three year old in tow, however, we also went to the attached "Fun World"--an extremely dilapidated miniature amusement park, where about 30% of the rides functioned. After touring Jodhpur, we returned to her home and had a three course moonlight dinner prepared by Lajwanti's mother (the power went out, so we had no choice but to eat dinner on the roof). It was really enjoyable and ended with my first taste of paan, a so-called palate-cleanser that is essentially cherries, spices, and spearmint wrapped in a leaf. I'm going to admit it--it's kind of gross, but after such an amazing meal, I won't complain.
I also got to watch some Indian children's television during the course of the day and was a bit disturbed by what I saw. The video that Lajwanti's child was addicted to was essentially an Indian version of Mary Poppins, with a young woman who recited and sang English nursery rhymes. It wouldn't have been so bad if the actress in question did not have a remarkable tendency to go sharp every few notes and the children who acted out the rhymes weren't wearing creepy makeup.

Anyways, here are some photos from the past few days. Tomorrow will be my last day of work (for which I will don my sari) and then I will be spending the evening out with various friends. After that, I will begin my 36 hours or so of transit (from Jodhpur to Delhi and Delhi to New York). Can't wait to see you all upon my return!