Have been to a community today which was extremley interesting and eye-opening. Full blog post tomorrow morning, with pictures from the week.

Ian

Spending the day in bed for the first time this week, due to fatigue and bit of a grumpy belly again, foreshadowed more productive and exciting ventures in the evening as we were all invited by the beautiful Indian model Amanpreet Wahi we met on Tuesday to a fashion Show at the Taj Palace Hotel today. The Show commenced after 9pm, which was lucky for us as our British Council executive organiser Sharan (we love you Sharan!) told us to be ready for an earlier time - which meant we were on time of course. In Delhi, it seems you must plan at least 15 minutes ahead of time. Or it'll race ahead of you like the deadline for the Common Wealth construction must be for the workers. Although, they work night and day to meet this - the city is being put together as quickly as it is being pulled apart - and what do workers get? Not a very large Salary. But they carry on with what Seems to be endless determination, a lack of Sufficient tea breaks that any English builder would no doubt don Stillettoes to work in protest of, and a never-ending Schedule of work.

The fashion Show was great, the host whose name I cannot remember stood out in a unusually short hair-cut, and a sparkling bright pink gown, which increased the impression that she was an interesting person of exubrancy, a travelled mind (when she told us about her recent affairs in Germany)and smiling confidence. I liked her, despite not "knowing" her - she seemed like a groovy woman. Honest, with probably some interesting stories up her sleeve. Though I doubt she would hide them as she told us of her two lovers - one who had gone mad and one who went to heaven - with brimming charm, wit and humour. She spoke during short intervals between different phases of the show - as the models and the stage changed to encapsulate the various stages of an Indian wedding - which never begins at the alter. But earlier, as we learnt, with something akin to our British hen nights as the bride will go through Mehindi -having heena applied to her hands and feet - she must not leave the house for a day! I tried with straining arms, more so after the monday morning yoga, thoroughout the show to get some memorable pictures which captured the beautiful flowing fabric, the performance of the children of disabled charity who began the show by confidently flaunting the clothes line, and the face of another disabled boy who amazed the crowd with his solo singing perfomances, but alas! My camera failed me in the dark room with bright concentrated stage lights, exposure, macro - flash - settings, nothing worked. I did get some pictures but their worthiness will have to be determined by external sources. Spotting our model associate was hard! They all looked so similair it was hard to tell which was which. Afterwards, we indulged in the delicious free-food, though because of my apetite and stomach I only tried some of the delicious chocolate pudding, an indian sweet spongy desert typically present in weddings, and some tiramisu. I wandered over to Odelle, another fellow, who was speaking to two guys - it intrigued me to find out who they were. Low and behold they guy I spoke to was a journalist and a historian, who invited to look around his village, where he grew up - either next tuesday or wednesday. This shall be fun, if we can find time for it during school with the host family and their children.After that we said our brief goodbyes to Amanpreet who was jetting off quickly, and then spoke to a freelance DJ and his model girlfriend about globalisation, the commonwealth games, nightlife, England and his offer to put on the next guestlist - he is perfoming whilst we are here! This is great, it seems the British Council, or the Global Fellowship, provides us with these unique opportunities to explore our potential and embark on our own adventures - really setting us up for life. We really do make the opportunities out here and they are so much more than haggling in a local market successfully, or learning another hindi phrase - or visiting the Taj Mahal. Communication, asking questions, being open, honest, free of expectations, destroying your perceptions - letting change happen, discussing change and just damn talking to people - is the way. Things as I write that seem like theorectical common sense to an little travelled person such as myself, or perhaps lost anyway, but are rienforced in experience and inspiration here in India - at the Taj Palace hotel - via email and through the dusty windows of an artists workspace.

I must digest my writing more, this is just one evening. Haha perhaps you can understand what I was trying to convey in my previous article? How difficult it is to blog about India. To put India into words. It's "only" through my perspective, there are many more I won't see. It's only through Delhi, there's so much of that I won't see, and the entire of India is left. There are so many things, emotions, events, realisations, which have happened so far, and there seems like not enough time nor words nor memory to really convey them to you. Ahh but it's something you have to take with it, appreciate, understand, enjoy and love - I'm not memory or literary god, even if I was - it's still hard to encapsulate everything with encapsulates India for you so far on this unique adventure.

The reason I entitled this article S, was because it seemed to be popping up a lot today. Originally the source of inspiration was my response to a comment a former fellow wrote on my facebook post of the first blog. It made me think that I had encountered the letter S today a lot, when Ravi the journalist told me email and I confused one or two of the letters with S. When we were interviewed pretty much as soon as we arrived at the fashion show for Indian television about the show, indian culture/nightlife, globalisation (what were here for) and Odelle's rapping. He did of course rap for the programme, and then we all broke into "if you leave me now..." thanks to Reece's "inspiring" distraction. And other reasons I've forgotten because I've "multi-tasking" whilst writing the article and I don't even want to look at what time it is here now. I hope the British Council aren't reading this (it's educational, a lack of sleep isn't important surely?).

Seen as we got back late tonight, induced in star-struck awe as we mingled with such a different crowd, to say the least, I'll not write more than I already have. And I'll write more of this week's other adventures tommorow, so many mental promises - can they all be fulfilled with so much happening? Hmm organisation, for next years fellows, do try and exercise more than I "do". I'm too busy reflecting on my journeys, taking pictures/videos, thinking, questioning, writing blogs that are too long for human consumption and procrastinating, as well as enjoying these experiences I'm having. This is just the beggining, yet it seems, scarily and wistfully, that we are already past that stage - moving to quickly to stop and take it all in and write it down and think about the future. This is the here and now, and it's already in the past. Hang on tight I say to myself, and everyone else, the end is nigh on this fast rollercoast ride.

Alright I'll stop ranting, leaving my thoughts scattered, my blog feeling unfinished again with my experiences and my memory, leaving my blog unedited (probably not a good idea) and leaving any appreciation of time right now firmly unbeknowst to myself. Ignorance is bliss.

And as Hagar mused, perhaps we will be brought back down to Earth tommorow in this paradoxical place. I think Delhi is the Shepherd and my mind is the Sheep. (See what did I tell you about the S's?!)

The past few days have been a whirlwind. Late nights and early wake-ups make for very tiring days. We’ve been very lucky in that the people we’ve met and the places we’ve been are not those which could have been seen by any ordinary tourist.

Last Friday we had a presentation from the Sheriff of Rio as well as the kidnapping department. It was reassuring to know that Rio’s kidnapping rate has remained at zero for over ten years! Yesterday was brilliant. We travelled to Rio City Hall where the Municipal Secretary of Education gave a talk on the future of education in Rio. Their approach is to use technology and an interactive slide-show to replace textbooks. I’m sceptical that it will work. Even in the UK with relatively fast broadband and okayish computers in schools, having lessons planned squarely around the whiteboard is enough to make any student cringe.

Today we had a presentation from the Director of Brazil’s largest bank- Banco do Brazil. He explained how the Bank has opened three art museums around Brazil to improve the quality of life of the poorest in society. The museum we visited in Rio city centre was truly magnificent and I am so pleased to see a company so dedicated to such philanthropic projects.

The Portuguese is coming along. We’ve swapped teachers and the lessons are become quite intense. So much vocab. We must have covered the equivalent of a year’s worth of language content in less than a week.  

It´s really hard to blog frequently, but I´ll make sure I keep going!

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blogging - I have literally been too busy experiencing Rio to document it.  So now for a frantic catch up blgging session during my lunch break.

This first week has been absolutely incredible.  From practically the moment I arrived I have had the most memorable, thought-provoking (and fun!) experiences.  I have been inside favelas, experienced my first ever football game (at Maracana), swum in the sea, drunk coconuts and samba-ed (badly!) with the locals and attempted to learn Portuguese.  I have watched the sunset from Sugar Loaf and visited the Christ and listened to some truly inspirational speakers, including the secretary of education for Rio and the leaders of Afro-Reggae.

Each experience could fill an entire blog entry, but time is a bit short at the moment so this will have to do for now.  There has been so much that I havent even mentioned here, but I´m jotting my thoughts down so I´ll be able to blog better later (and upload photos as soon as possible)

Two Brazilian films- Five times Favela and Tropá de Elite.

Five times Favela is a film produced by people living in Favelas across Rio, it is essentially 5 intertwining storylines about Favela life, and its highly anticipated release is set for the 27th August in Brazil. Last night we were lucky enough to meet a few members of the production team and watch a ´making of´style documentary. Also on our first fully-programmed day in Rio, when we visited AfroReggae we met one of the actors in the film, a former drug dealer. In the film he plays a drug dealer in a similar vein to his former life, ensuring an accurate and empassioned performance from him- when we were interviewing him he joked that he expects an oscar for his performance! I think his story shows that projects like AfroReggae really can help to change the direction of a person´s life- from violent druglord with over 100 people working under him, to a big role in a national- and possible international-level film.

The second film, Tropa de Elite, is known in Britain by the name ´Elite Squad.´ It is in Portuguese with British subtitles, and deals from the perspective of the elite level of police in Brazil, whose job is to infiltrate favelas through intense violent opposal to try and rid them of druglords. I´ve not seen this film yet but i am now really looking forward to doing so when i return to the UK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb-rUfBTQ1g Later this afternoon we  are going to visit a favela which has been ´pacified´ by elite police and we´ll look to see if any real difference has been made, and whether the locals feel the difference was worth the brutalisation of their community. Brutalisation is by no means an exaggeration- the protocol is to shoot first and ask questions later, if there´s anyone left to hear the answer- collateral damage is huge and there are reports of children (who are used as runners for the drugs as they cannot be arrested under the age of 16) being shot by police to force the drug dealers themselves to deliver their drugs. Reportedly one in three murders in Brazil are committed by the police, and a government official was unable to deny this statistic when asked about it by a member of our group on Monday night.

Food for thought next time there´s a police brutality story in the UK- our police problems pale into insignificance compared to the militia-like force here.

Apologies for the last few blogs... they´ve been very rushed, not particularly well-written and a bit inaccurate, and i get the feeling i´m repeating myself quite a bit. When there is time (if ever!) i´ll work on editing them a wee bit, but at the moment they are templates for me to make sure i remember details of the trip which i can refine a bit later :)

So here i am in Brazil, i will excuse myself now for any grammar/punctation mistakes or even spelling mistakes!! The first week was absolutely amazing but i can safely say I am missing a good british cup of tea, but that is about it!

So far we have visited 2 favellas and another one today, the christ, sugarloaf. We have seen museums, beaches, the amazing bods of brazillian men and women! Oh my god just thining about what i have experienced so far is enough to make me want to stay here forever! There have been alot of debates among us here on different topics whihc i personally think is good, we all have different opinions and different outlooks on life and we are all learning from each other. I feel very priviliged to be allowed into certain places where we have visited it just shows the importance of what these poeple are doing is to them and that they are proud for us to visit them.

This is quite a short blog but i will try and do one every day from now, in a minute we are visiting another favella, very excited.

Love from Brazil, Lauren x

So here i am in Brazil, i will excuse myself now for any grammar/punctation mistakes or even spelling mistakes!! The first week was absolutely amazing but i can safely say I am missing a good british cup of tea, but that is about it!

So far we have visited 2 favellas and another one today, the christ, sugarloaf. We have seen museums, beaches, the amazing bods of brazillian men and women! Oh my god just thining about what i have experienced so far is enough to make me want to stay here forever! There have been alot of debates among us here on different topics whihc i personally think is good, we all have different opinions and different outlooks on life and we are all learning from each other. I feel very priviliged to be allowed into certain places where we have visited it just shows the importance of what these poeple are doing is to them and that they are proud for us to visit them.

This is quite a short blog but i will try and do one every day from now, in a minute we are visiting another favella, very excited.

Love from Brazil, Lauren x

But only on a lunch break so this may be quite a breif blog

So far weve had an amazing time, experiencing things we wouldnt normally ever see

We entered into the social project Afro Reggae, an amazing community that intend to take children that may usually be driven into crime and giving them a safe place to spend  their time being taught different creative and musical ways of expressing themselves by adults living in the community themselves.

alot of the time however has been spend in the hotel pictured bellow recovering from long days and quite challenging days full of debate.

I willl upload more soon and actually talk about things but as im incredibly short of time i thought photos would give a slight taste of what we~ve experienced thus far.

In China: history and culture are so interwoven that they are sometimes not distinguished between. Thus, in my lectures, Chinese paper cutters and painters have begun by introducing the fact that their art is 1000s of years old. However, this may mask the fact that Chinese culture no longer has its root in the historical but rather in the commercial. 

The Great Wall and The Forbidden City are two examples of such histo-culture (should be a word). The incredible structures both represent old China; they are works of beauty, craftsmanship and history. They are not, however, fair representations of modern Chinese culture. Since the cultural revolutions rejection of the old way Chinese society has changed drastically with less empathises on the importance of family relationships. This is reflected Zhu Wen’s work I Love Dollars, where the protagonist informs his father that his reckless behaviour is an attempt to see if he can break free of his family ties.

More over, where Chinese culture and society is linked to the past, it is also linked to the present and future. The entrance to the Forbidden City (the Gate of Heavenly Peace) lies at the end of Tiananmen Square, overlooking Mao’s mausoleum and Congress building. More over, that within the Forbidden City itself there is the Tiananmen Fast Food Restaurant indicates that what comprises much of modern china is cantered on commerce. In 2007, Rui Chenggang, a Chinese News anchor protested against the presence of a Starbucks Coffee in the forbidden city that “undermined the Forbidden City's solemnity and trampled over Chinese culture”. However, the reality is that American Brands litter the streets of Beijing.

Similarly, the Silk Market features more fake designer goods than anywhere else I have seen, with aggressive sales women determined to rip you off. However, if this is testament to undermining of Chinese culture then works like the 2008 Olympic Games site are an indicator of its possible rebirth. Like the Great Wall, the Bird’s Nest Stadium demonstrates beauty, craftsmanship and history, however, it indicates that China is at a cross roads between Americanisation and embracing its own distinct future. For the moment the Golden Ms of McDonalds in Beijing continue to be embraced by both foreigners and Chinese alike.        

Slight error in yesterdays blog, the class in the afternoon was actually meant to be Chinese drawing, calligraphy is next week... oops.

Today was my first true oversleeping issue, and I missed the Tai Chi class, but luckily I woke up with five minutes to get ready for class. As annoyed with myself as I was, I was very glad of the extra two hours of sleep! The language class seemed particuarly difficult today- hopefully just a one off! But, at lunch I did get the chance to put some of it into use, and with the collective power of mine and Katie’s brain (and a little help from Jordan) we were able to order in Chinese, and the waitress even helped us pronounce some of the dishes we didn’t know! It was really nice to have her helping us, and it’s not the first time, Chinese people do seem really helpful with the language if you try, in fact they’re helpful with all things!!

We had a lecture this afternoon, which was titled “The Development of Chinese Society” but it had a lot about economics and politics in it as well. It was SO interesting, both in terms of the information, but also in terms of what the lecturer was happy to talk about (I’ll explain what I mean in a minute). We learnt that although China is the 3rd biggest country, only 13% of the land is arable, so food production can be a major issue, as can the fact that it borders 14 countries and shares the sea with a number of others; and so through history it has had to fight off many invasions. Also the multi-ethnic make up (there are 56 ethnic groups) can sometimes cause disputes within the country, and cause challenges with communication- 53 of the 56 have distinct languages! In terms of the political set up, it’s more complex than just the Communist Party of China in charge. There are also 8 other political parties.... however their job is to support the CPC and push party policy, I asked the lecturer if most people were aware of this, he said they were and they were happy with it. The decisions are made by the Politburo, which has 9 standing members who are the main political figures, this is actually quite an improvement from the time of Mao, when he was the only man in charge, at least know there is some discussion. The members of the politburo are also elected by the over 2000 members of The National Congress, although the members of the Congress are not chosen by the people. Finally, there is The Central Discipline Inspection Commission which has the role of keeping check on the CPC, however it is part of the CPC so it is not totally autonomous. Oh, actually finally, finally, something else that interested me was that in the 1980s after Mao’s death, the Politburo produced a paper on Mao’s time as leader, they said that 70% was successful, this was the time leading up to the 1949 revolution and founding of the PRC, and 30% negative and this was during his time in charge. 

Anyway, enough about that, it’s not a history lesson. What was more interesting was the lecturer spoke totally freely about so many sensitive subjects. As well as being very open about the undemocratic set up of China, and the failings of Mao, he went as far as to mention Tibet and Tiananmen, which are normally taboo subjects in China. He did joke that maybe he would be taken away at the end of the lecture, and then pointed to the camera at the back of the room. I say joke, but he did seem to indicate that the camera was there to keep tabs on what was being taught, he said though that he himself had not experienced problems with being restricted in what he could teach. I think everyone was incredibly interested in what he had to say, as there were about forty minutes of questions, I asked if the ordinary people of China were aware of the censorship they were subject to, and to what extent they knew how politics worked in other countries. He said that the intellectuals knew the situation, and weren’t happy, but that non-intellectuals didn’t really know, but also didn’t care. I think this may be because the Chinese government is in fact doing a good job, and the lecturer even suggested that because they were unelected they in fact worked harder for the people as there was the constant fear that they could be overturned in a violent revolution. Although there are plenty of bad statistics for China, one of the best  is that the poverty rate fell from 64% in 1978 to 10% in 2009. This not only impacts China, but also the whole world, after all 22% of the global population are Chinese, so it means a significant fall in world poverty rates and also reduces the risk of Chinese refugees surrounding countries that could be problematic. 

After the lecture there was a few spare hours, that I spent lazing about, before we had dinner at the University. After that we journey across town to the Red Theatre to watch The Legend of Kung Fu, a live action show about the story of a little boy who reaches enlightenment.    It was incredible.    The skills of all the performers were unbelievable, they were doing back flips and landing on their heads, cracking sticks of wood over this guys head, and then one man led on some knives in a block, then had a mini bed of nails put on a chest, which someone else led on, who then put a patio slab on their chest to have someone else smash it with a sledge hammer. :O :O :O is about all I can do to sum it up! After the show we got an epic group photo with the performers!

I’m back home now and on track for a (sort of) early night, it’s 10.30 now, and I’ll probably go to be in an hour or so! Sorry about the length of all my blogs, I’m trying to reduce them, but even when I don’t think I’ve done enough, I find there’s still loads to say!