Holiday Weekend

  Friday the 10th after our Hindi class we took a field trip to visit a paper making factory and family run block printing and blue pottery factory. The paper factory made had made recycled paper from old clothes and other cotton fabrics. Learning about the processes was very interesting. The wages that the workers make seem small but are considered to be a livable amount to support one’s self.  Most of the paper is surprisingly made for cooperation’s like Hallmark, Walmart and others.

  At the block printing and blue pottery shop we saw traditional Rajasthan block printing and blue pottery native to Iran, famous for its light blue color. Hand block printed fabric is being replaced today by screen printing that mimic the block printing design. This is one of the few shops in Rajasthan that still use much of the traditional method

The dyes used in this type of block printing are made of minerals and horse shoes instead of some of the other organic vegetable dyes they use. They are traditionally darker colors like black and red because of this.

Saturday the 11th Jocelyn, Josh and I went to the Museum of Indology not far from the MSID office. The museum seemed to be set up in a house but it had many interesting things, many of which were unlabeled and cluttered. The met the Museum owner, Sharad Sharma, who told us a little more about the museum his father started and his families places for constructing a new Museum to house the collection.

Saturday was also the Festival of Ganesh Chaturthi and Eid-ul-fitr (the end of Ramadan). The streets were blocked off to cars and full of people. It reminded me a lot of being at the Minnesota State Fair. To escape the crowed that over powered our streets my host family, Josh and I went to the other side of Jaipur to Mama ji’s brothers house. We went to a nearby temple for a large family get together where we ate dinner and felt extremely out of place, even though seemed just like any other family reunion that I have gone to with my family.


Sunday the 12th a group of us went to the Albert Hall/Central Museum. The Museum was quite large compared to the Indology museum. It was also very crowded. Not surprisingly, like whenever we are out in public, we attracted a lot of attention. A group of youngsters followed us around and tried to talk to us and get in our pictures whenever they could. After the Museum we went back home to watch the Parade, as an extension of last night’s holiday.

The Parade lasted hours. We were able to watch it from the apartment where six students host families live. From the balcony and roof top we had a great view. The scene was very colorful and crowded. There were many floats depicting godly and historical events, performers and bands. After the parade many students went to the fair to ride the ferrous wheel which spun abnormally fast and looked like it could use a little more maintenance.

Here is a picture of my host family.

From left to right, Josh, Udit, Mama ji, Papa ji, and Dadi ji.










Feel free to message me or e-mail me with any questions or comments you guys have.