India just got a whole lot wilder!
My next leg of research took me deep into the jungles of Karnataka. After a two hour flight south, a twelve hour bus ride to the coast on which I sleep through my stop, a three hour bus ride back to the stop I missed on the way out, a half hour on the back of a scootie with my two backpacks (one back and one front, pregnant style), and then a day hike through the surrounding farmland (insisted on by my wonderful, enthusiastic homestay father upon my immediate arrival when he heard I enjoyed hiking) THIS is how I feel:
Note the ripped sleeve due to serious jungle bramblage.
A good night and a half of sleep later--I'm up and ready for field research, the coolest part of my project by far. For this portion, I am living in rural homestays on organic farms--breathing, eating, working with the families, and collecting folk stories and local beliefs about birds. I do not speak the local dialect, but a guide from a nearby town (named Ganapathy, with a curious likeness to the goofy side of Smeagol) has agreed to spend the entire time with me--translating, getting me from place to place, and laughing at me when I get leeches all over my feet.
The Sharavathy Valley--the name of this beautiful region--is quiet, green, peaceful and incredibly like the Shire. Happy, hard-working people go about their farming business every day, with little care in the world beyond the day's weather and the next meal. I seriously, seriously enjoyed co-existing with them.
The patty fields at my first home
Harvesting the betel nuts.
Along with allowing me to pick their brains about birds, the local people were more than happy to fold me into their daily routine on the farm. I learned how to harvest betel nuts (which grow on what look like coconut trees)--and how to methodically crack open the tough shell. I spent four hours one day at the shelling block, "perfecting" my technique even though it still takes me five minutes to get one open. The women--who sit around and gossip all day in the sea breeze and sun--can open three in a minute.
I was also able to spend some time among local people and kids I met on excursions. Since Smeagol (good old Smeagol) was there to translate, I was able to have super awesome interactions! I'd ask them about birds and the local lifestyle, and then invite them in turn to ask me about my life. I mostly got questions about Obama and the climate of my hometown (rainy!), and they were all very impressed when I revealed that I was born in Obama's home neighborhood, Hyde Park.
My next homestay was pretty intense--deep in the woods in an isolated valley, it was a three hour scootie ride from the nearest town. About an hour of this ride was pretty much off-roading up and down hillsides through scrub and rocky fields. But the trek is definitely worth it, because you arrive and realize that not many people have ever seen this place. It is pristine and absolutely stunning.
Ten or so families have lived here for hundreds of years, but other than that--only a handful of trekkers and adventure-minded tourists make their way out. There were very little reminders of the outside world (besides the scooties and all of my stuff)--the houses are made of local mud, thatch, and paint, the food is all home-grown, and banana leaves serve as plates for every meal! They have electricity for a few hours in the evening, but other than that exist in harmony with the sunlight.
Along with the quest for more bird stories, I spent my days amongst the people and animals--mostly the animals, let's be real. This little guy was only a few weeks old.
There were also goats, dogs, monkeys, a resident tiger, chickens, baby chickens (spent a good 24 hours with them, I think--they liked to hang out on my head), spiders, scorpions, snakes, geckoes.
And leeches.
This place was interesting because I've never felt so simultaneously at home and out of my element before--I love being outdoors, love animals, and generally find infinite happiness amongst the beautiful rhythms of the natural world. But this place was so far removed from any sort of civilization--and 7,024 miles (according to google maps) from home. And, I won't lie--after having dengue I'm much more aware of my proximity to the nearest hospital. This definitely stretched my limits, especially because there were more blood-sucking organisms than just the normal fare of mosquitos.
One final anecdote:
The last evening it started monsooning just as evening approached--and Smeagol and I had a thirty minute walk through the woods back home. The family I had been interviewing offered me an umbrella, but I respectfully but firmly declined in accordance with my inborn Seattle stubbornness and the belief that umbrellas are for wimps. However, Smeagol--being the attentive and obliging guide that he was--made a serious effort to find me a banana leaf to shield myself with, finally ripping one off a tree. Having just spent days and days hearing folk stories regarding the importance of respect for nature, I could hardly decline this gracious but unnecessary offer! I pretended to be delighted, but walked happily through the rain dragging the leaf behind me when Smeagol wasn't looking. It all turned out okay though, because we used it as our dinner plates.
Umbrella angst (get me out of this jar).
Unbeknownst to me in this picture, I have five leeches on my right leg and three on my left.
Yip yip to leeches.
Then--a ten hour bus ride back to Bangalore on a quest to skype my entire extended Hamel family for Thanksgiving! Definitely an unconventional one for the books, but still awesome. Now, back to Delhi to finish up my ISP and, subsequently, my semester here in India! Only two and a half more weeks until I'm a free bird.
Love and yips to all.
Gggg!
No comments:
Post a Comment