Blogs

From attending and watching all of the culture presentations there are two presentations that really stuck out. Dan Hebert’s presentation and the Andrew Lyell’s presentation on tea’s in Bangladesh. Dan’s presentation was so memorable because what he did was actually applied and helped the people of that area in Thailand. The presentation talked about the differences between the city people in Bangkok and the country people. Essentially the country people are treated like second class citizens and their opinions do not matter when it comes to the Thai government running the country. The presentation was great but what really impressed me was the fact that Dan created a 30 minute video highlighting the problems with treating these citizens as second class citizens. That video is now used by the people living in Thailand to support their push to have their voices heard.

Andrew’s presentation was very good too. He talked about tea in Bangladesh which would seem like a boring topic but it was actually very interesting to hear about. He talked about the types of tea and also had one on one interviews with the people that run the tea stands. A tea person essentially is not smart enough to do anything else as they explain to Andrew when he asked the question of “so why did you want to make tea?” What is even more depressing about these tea stands is that these guys are only making at most $7.50 a day. $7.50! There is no way you can live off that if you have a family or any other person you are taking care of. I know it is Bangladesh and that the cost of living is much lower than in the United States, but $7.50 a day when working at least 16 hours is absurd. 

The rest of the presentations were fantastic as well. I really loved it when people brought in food for their presentation. I always enjoy food to eat during presentations. And the youtube links helped make presentations more understandable. It is clear that everybody knew what they were talking about and had a passion for that subject matter, which I could sense through their presentations. I really enjoyed watching these presentations over the last three weeks and will miss taking this class. 

This is the translation I came up with for this song which I first heard in India.  It's from a very well-liked movie called "3 Idiots."  For phrases such as "when your heart is restless/put a hand on your heart and persuade it" and "i guzzled the liquor of scholarship" I still definitely had to look to outside sources/a dictionary.  However, even without doing so I would have had a good understanding of the song as a whole.  Enjoy!

Jab life ho out of control

Honthon ko kar ke gol

Honthon ko kar ke gol

Seeti bajaa ke bol

When life is out of control

Round your lips

Round your lips

Whistle and say

Jab life ho out of control

Honthon ko kar ke gol

Honthon ko kar ke gol

Seeti bajaa ke bol

When life is out of control

Round your lips

Round your lips

Whistle and say

All Izz Well

All is well

Murgi kya jaane aande ka kya hoga

Are life milegi ya tawe pe fry hoga

Koi na jaane apna future kya hoga

How can a chicken know the future of its egg

Will it get life or be fried in a pan

Nobody knows what our future will be

Honth ghuma

Seeti bajaa

Seeti bajaa ke bol

Bhaiyaa All izz well

Round your lips,

Whistle

Whistle and say

Brother all is well

Arre bhaiyaa all izz well

Arre chachu All izz well

Arre bhaiyaa all izz well

Brother all is well

Uncle all is well

Brother all is well

Confusion hi confusion hai

Solution kuchh pata nahin

Solution jo mila to saala

Question kya tha pata nahin

Confusion only confusion

No one knows the solution

When a solution is found

We don't know the question

Dil jo tera baat baat pe ghabraaye

Dil pe rakh ke haath use tu fuslaa le

Dil idiot hai pyaar se usko samjha le

When your heart is restless

Put a hand on your heart and persuade it

The heart is an idiot, persuade it with love

Honth ghuma

Seeti bajaa

Seeti bajaa ke bol

Bhaiyaa All izz well

Round your lips

Whistle

Whistle and say

Brother all is well

Arre bhaiyaa all izz well

Arre chachu All izz well

Arre bhaiyaa all izz well

Brother all is well

Oh Uncle all is well

Oh brother all is well

Scholarship ki pi gaya daaru

Gham to phir bhi mitaa nahin

Agarbattiyan raakh ho gayi

God to phir bhi dikha nahi

I guzzled the liquor of scholarship

But still grief did not vanish

The incense has burnt

But we still haven't seen God

Bakra kya jaane uski jaan ka kya hoga

Seekh ghusegi ya saala keema hoga

Koi na jaane apna future kya hoga

How does a goat know what will happen to it

Will it be skewered or minced

Nobody knows what our future will be

To Honth ghuma

Seeti bajaa

Seeti bajaa ke bol

Bhaiyaa All izz well

So round your lips

Whistle

Whistle and say

Brother all is well

Arre bhaiyaa all izz well

Arre chachu All izz well

Arre bhaiyaa all izz well

Oh brother all is well

Oh uncle all is well

Oh brother all is well

Jab life ho out of control

Honthon ko kar ke gol

Honthon ki kar ke gol

Seeti bajaa ke bol

When life is out of control

Round your lips

Round your lips

Whistle and say

All Izz Well

All is well

A link to my project is included in this posting. My sources are included as the final slide in the presentation. In addition, below is a list of the Hindi words that I learned and included in my presentation. Whenever possible I gave the words written in the devanagari script. However, for some words, only phonetic spellings were available and I could not always deduce the correct devanagari spelling. Thus, these words are given in the Latin alphabet.

hindu%20death%20rituals.pptx

Khali - Goddess of Death

सनातन धर्म - Hinduism

वेद- Veda, Holiest Hindu Texts

जीवन - life

मौत - death

कर्म - karma

संसार - samsara/reincarnation

नरक - hell

पाप - sin

pātaka - crime

krmibhojana - Hell of Feeding on Worms

kālasūtra - Hell of The Thread of Time

स्वर्ग - Heaven

Punyam - piousness, virtuousness

मोक्ष - moksha, liberation

चीत - consciousness

आनंद - pure happiness

अंत्येष्टि - death rites

सम्सकारा - sacrament

तुलसी - tulsi/holy basil

पूजा - prayer

दाह - संस्कार - cremation

जीव - soul

भूत - ghost

साधू - holy man/ monk

कशी - Varanasi

सती - widow burning

I really enjoyed watching this week’s cultural presentations and was glad that I could finally come to the MLC class.  I did not know anything about Turkey before seeing the two presentations that were made.  It looks like a beautiful country, especially Antalya.  The culture there seems very rich, though definitely on the conservative side.  I found it interesting that although the culture is conservative, alcohol is still very popular.  I also liked the presentation about the Israel Defense Force.  I found it extremely interesting that all people in Israel must enroll in the army for some period of their life.  I also thought the exception for Arabs was intriguing.  While I don’t think this policy would go over well in the US, it seems like people in Israel genuinely enjoy and value their time in the army.  I was curious if there were instances of people fleeing the country to avoid enrolling, but an Israeli sense of pride in serving their country was made evident in the presentation.  The final presentation was on Birthright.  This is something that I was familiar with prior to the presentation, as I have several friends who have taken advantage of the opportunity to go to Israel.  I was not aware, however, that the Israeli government provides significant funding for Birthright.  This is something that I can definitely see as being controversial, which was brought up in the presentation.  I too think that domestic provisions should be taken care of before funding is provided for what many people see as “a paid vacation for American college students.”

I am very pleased with my choice of topic for the cultural project.  I became fascinated with Hindu death rituals when I encountered cremations in Varanasi.  At that time, I knew very little about the cultural customs surrounding death in Hinduism.  This project gave me the opportunity to explore Hindu beliefs about death; the more that I researched, the greater my interest became.  Though I was familiar with the ideas of karma and reincarnation, I did not realize that Hinduism also recognizes the concepts of heaven and hell.  The 28 Hells described in the Hindu texts were really fascinating.  There are different hells for different sins one might commit in a lifetime.  The hells are very specific and vividly described and the punishments often fit the crime; for example, those who do not share their food with others will be punished in a hell where they are eaten by and must eat worms. 

In researching antyeshti, the Hindu death rites, I also learned that there exist samskaras or sacraments for other stages of a Hindu person’s life as well.  This emphasizes the Hindu belief that death is simply one of many milestones in life.  Hinduism embraces the importance of the soul far above and beyond that of the body.  The body is seen almost as an accessory or container for the soul.  I can really appreciate this perspective; as a science student it is nice to imagine that people are more than just the molecules and enzymes that make up our physical beings.  This knowledge makes the Hindu reasoning for cremation quite apparent.  Hindus believe that cremation will allow the soul to escape from the body more swiftly and easily.  In my researching, I came across an article which indicated a Hindu person cannot donate his organs.  I did not include this in my presentation, because I had not been able to find such information elsewhere.  Furthermore, such a rule seems inconsistent with the Hindu concept of a separate body and soul.

Along these lines, something which made this project a bit more difficult was the lack of reputable research available about death beliefs in Hinduism.  Generally I would prefer to use journals or other peer reviewed publications, but combing through all the resources available in the UR library system turned up only one very relevant article.  Even that article mentioned that death in Hinduism is a rarely studied subject.  Apart from beliefs described in the Hindu texts, most information seems to be passed on orally. 

The concept of Sati or widow burning is certainly something I felt I should not overlook in my project, as many people have heard of this practice.  It is hard to imagine that women ever did this, even harder to imagine that still today, there are rare instances of sati.  Also, I cannot help but wonder if it was truly religious faith or social pressure that drove more women to commit sati.  Instances of sati have decreased exponentially in recent years.  This speaks to the adaptation of the culture to fit into a more globalized and modern world, as well as to the growing empowerment of women in India.

Artifact4WritingPractice.pdf

These are two of the vocabulary lists I wrote out to practice the vocab and my handwriting.  The one in blue ink (the first one) is from later in the semester.  The second sheet is from earlier in the semester.  Hopefully the handwriting in the blue ink looks better.  I think the letters look at least a little smoother than the earlier list.

Freeze_ICanstatements.docx

Freeze_LearningPlan.docx

These are my I can statements and my learning plan.  The learning plan includes my self evaluation.

familytree.mp3

In this recording I say my own name, my parents' names and my brother's name.  I also say how many siblings my parents have and then I make a distinction between the 8 different words for "cousin" by saying how many of each type of cousin I have. 

Indian people traditionally eat with their hands. Silverware is occasionally available, but is generally reserved for serving from main dishes onto individual plates.  Some households may also have small spoons for eating more soupy dals. Possessing silverware is in some ways seen as a status symbol or sign of wealth, so more well off families or families in urban areas are more likely to use cutlery.  Indians only eat with their right hand because the left hand is considered to be unclean.  This can be difficult, but is a practice that Westerners must be careful to follow if visiting India.  Most meals are served with some type of flat bread - roti, naan, chapatti.  This makes eating without silverware much easier, as one can break off pieces of the bread and use them to scoop up the rest of the food on the plate.  

From my experience, there is definitely some technique involved in being able to break off a piece of roti using only one hand, but in time it becomes habit.  I did, however, find it problematic on the occasions I was presented with a plate of rice without any roti or chapatti.  The texture of a handful of mushy rice and dal, followed by my attempts to make sure at least half of it actually made it into my mouth and not all down the front of my shirt was not always enjoyable, but very comedic. 

Farsi_Learning_Activity.docx

This file is a learning activity based on lessons that helped me in Rosetta Stone.  I described this lesson earlier in a Learning Journal and I just wanted to post it to see what it would look like.  In this I go through how to say "This apple is green."  In doing so I use a picture of a green apple and another picture of a green leaf.  I use these to teach the student the vocabulary with the English word, the Persian transliteration, and the Persian script.  I also include the verb "Is" and the demonstrative adjective "This."  I then go through how the English sentence will be changed to be grammatically correct in Farsi.  Finally I put the sentence together in English and then Farsi to show the student what the finished product looks like. This project actually helped me to learn that the Farsi word "En" means "This"  I knew when to use it and how to say it, but I never really knew that it specifically meant "This."

In order to effectively teach the body part vocabulary I have learned this semester, I would organize a very active vocabulary learning session.  Some of the words I could teach would include:

कंधे (kandhe, shoulders)

दिल (dil, heart)

मुंह (mooh, mouth)

सिर (seer, head)

घुटने (ghutne, knees)

उंगलियों (ungleeyan, toes)

आंखें (ankhay, eyes)

कान (kan, ears)

नाक (nak, nose)

दांत (dant, teeth)

I would write the words for the students, and then have the students practice pronouncing each word, while pointing to that part of their body.   Once the students were somewhat comfortable with the vocabulary, we could play a game of Simon Says.  "Aapka mooh chuheeay, appka kan chooheeay, etc." In addition, we could adapt the song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to learn vocabulary.  The English words would be replaced by their Hindi equivalents while keeping the familiar tune the same.  

Head, shoulders knees and toes (x2)

सिर, कंधे, घुटने, और उंगलियों

सिर, कंधे, घुटने, और उंगलियों

And eyes, and ears and mouth and nose

और आंखें और कान और मुंह और नाक

Head, shoulders knees and toes

सिर, कंधे, घुटने, और उंगलियों

When trying this activity out, I found that it was relatively successful.  I think the effectiveness of the activity would be improved in a classroom setting where each student learning the vocabulary would be surrounded by others learning the same vocabulary.  This way, if the student could not remember a particular word, he could look around the room and see other students pointing to their head, or their eyes, or whichever word we were on.  This would create an association between the vocabulary and the visual stimulation for each word.

Here is a list of some slang words I learned while in Turkey and here at Richmond (I have translated them in the order that they are spoken and added the grammatically correct version as well, if needed):

Napiyorsun? The correct way to spell this is, Ne yapiyorsun? (What are you doing?)

(Napan in Cyprus): This is comes from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It means the same thing as Ne yapiyorsun.

Naber? The correct way is, Ne haber? (Wassup, how's it going?)

Fistik: Haha, this one means peanut when translated literally but its a term guys use to refer to a pretty girl. Hey Fistik! Naber?

Demi? (Pronounced Dim, as in, "dim the lights" and "May" as in the month but spoken as one word. Dimmay ) The correct version of this is, Değil mi? (Isn't it? Bugün güzel,  Değil mi? It's a beautiful day, isn't it?)

 Naptin? Correct version is, Ne yaptin (What did you do?)

Hadi ya! Translated: Come one! Leave it alone!

Sağol Translated: Very informal for "Thanks"

Lan: Translated: Son, boy, mate. Used in a semi-derogatory sense. Example, "Listen here boy, I know a lot more than you do"

The first track under my music files is a short segment about my family where I say there names and how old they are.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OF MY ARTIFACTS ARE UNDER THE MUSIC FILES ON THE NING.

Artifact1.mp3

This is a conversation that Michael and I recorded where we introduce ourselves, say where we are from, and ask for and say the time.

Artifact3.mp3

Here is a conversation that Rachel and I recorded based on a conversation that I wrote for an earlier artifact.  We accidentally added it to my page as music so if you hear us talking when you go to my page...sorry.

Earlier on in the semester I wrote briefly on Birthright in Israel, but now after doing my culture project on the subject matter I can delve much deeper in to the subject. Birthright is a great opportunity for several Jews around the world to travel back to Israel on a free ten day trip to experience their heritage and bond with the local Jews. Nearly 70% of the people, aged 18-26, that participate in the program are from the United States. This is partly because the generous benefactors that make this program happen are from the United States and they give back to the program, as evidenced by a recent donation of $25 million from an American couple. The birthright trip varies on a group basis. The program is run by several different groups that will lead tours based off of what the tourists want to see. If the group is orthodox Jews then the 10 day trip may be more faith based. If the group is just college aged kids from Richmond then they may be looking for a more social interaction during that trip. Both groups are guaranteed to attend the Mega Event which has very important people (called machers) attend the event with musical artists like Lenny Kravits performing for the guests. There is another interesting part of the trip called a mifgash or encounter with Israeli soldiers that are the same age as the guests. The purpose of this 5 day mifgash, in which the soldiers travel around with the others, is to develop rich discussion and learn about such things of what it means to be a Jew in Israel and what it means to be a Jew in the rest of the world or what it means to serve in the Israeli army etc.

If you were a Jew that has graduated from high school and has at least one parent still practicing their Jewish faith then you qualify for Birthright. However, it is very difficult to actually get in to birthright. As of right now they are taking 37,000 Jews from the ages of 18-26 each year. That means for each spot available there are several thousand applicants. You almost have to be lucky in order to qualify and hope that the pre screeners do not take you out of the group because you are believed to have a hidden agenda. This hidden agenda has been complained about by several people because Birthright does not explain why they will not allow you on the trip, just that they think you have a hidden agenda so they will not let you come. Other complaints about Birthright is that the trip is extremely biased and only gives the story of the Jewish people through a pro Israeli perspective. This propaganda is only hurting the relationship between the Jews and the Arabs in that Middle Eastern environment. Another complaint by the local Jews in Israel is that the funds used to pay for Birthright could be used elsewhere to help others. For instance, would you rather use the money to help take care of the elderly or to allow for college aged students to come over and have fun?  Most would say the first option is more honorable so that is why some people complain about the use of the funds.

Overall, I believe birthright is a great idea. Although I am not Jewish I think a trip like this to discover ones Hebrew ties would be a fantastic opportunity and something that would certainly enrich my personal faith.