India!

So today I got home from India, which was really great. We went to Bodhgaya first, which is located in the poorest state of India, Bihar. Bodhgaya is a rural community, and it is also considered the most holy Buddhist pilgrimmage site in Asia. We stayed at a Burmese Monastary which was a great experience in terms of living inside a monastic community. Although the city of Bodhgaya is considered the most prosperous city within the state of Bihar, it was still shockingly desolate, even compared to that of Kathmandu. I went on a walk through the main village there, and it was unbelievable. It was essentially farmland with small homes made out of mud and cow dung on the outskirts. The situation is clearly dire, and few of the children were wearing shoes. As we walked by, everyone would just scream, "hello, money money money?" It was sad, irritating, depressing, and a lot of emotions all at once. What made it even more difficult is that this village is apparently the site of many National Geographic-esque photo shoots because while we were there, Westerners came in, snapped some pictures of the children, and then sped off as fast as they came. All of the kids chased the car hitting it screaming "money money money." Of course Kristina, the girl, and I weren't staying there and getting in touch with the life either, but just the whole scene of the photographer and the kids made me uncomfortable and represented more than just the poverty in India, but the relationship between Indians and people of the West. I'm still trying to figure out what even happened and how I really feel about it. Needless to say, I appreciated my time in Bodhgaya for both the cultural immersion as well as the chance to see one of the most holy Buddhist Stupas, the Mahabodhi Temple.

After leaving Bodhgaya, we went to Varanasi which was amazing. Varanasi is, from a western perspective, India in a nutshell: women in saris everywhere, rickshaws, the Ganges, chai stands. I know it sounds cheesy the way I describe it, but it was really quite amazing. We took a rowboat out on the Ganges at sundown. It was so interesting to see everyone bathing in the river. It was also really cool, although smelly, to see the cremation areas, called the ghats.There is only one ghat that actually still functions, although throughout history, all of the ghats were used to cremate Hindu bodies. After death, Hindus believe it is most desireable to be thrown into the Ganges, so a lot of older people go to Varanasi to literally wait until they die. It's kind of like a city of death, which is both creepy and interesting. When we were in Varanasi, there was also one sadhu with hair that was easily 15 ft long. A sadhu is a Hindu holy man who renounces everything in life and lives to die, basically. They wear yellow and gold, and meditate for a living. There are four stages to the Hindu life, the fourth one being that of a renouncer. This renouncer with the long hair was sitting on top of one of the ghats, and his dreads draped down all the way until the river.