Spring is in the Air

It's really hot now in Bangalore, though we've had a little rain as well. Our plants have begun to recover from our time away, so Gilles is happier (though he still hasn't forgiven the maid for not watering them).

I just finished making a short video for a Red Cross fundraiser on March 30th. It's footage from my documentary to accompany an original song by an LA-based songwriter. It will be a mini-premiere for the documentary, which we're hoping to have out in some festivals for this summer.

In other news, I've started a new project, a short documentary about prominent deaf businesspeople in India. So far I've made contact with a juice stand owner, a tea stall owner, a sweet shop owner, and a tailor. The tailor is the most interesting for my film, because he has built his business up over the past 17 years and now employs 3 deaf and 5 hearing tailors in his shop. Plus it's right down the street from me. He received an award from the President of India a few years back and now he has a photo of the event on his business cards.

I was also just asked to translate the autobiography of a deaf person from French into English - I don't know if that's going to go anywhere, but it would be good experience for me!

We're leaving for Europe in a month - time has gone by really fast!

The Ides of March

So, I have to admit I've fallen behind in blogging. Ah well. I have a few more pictures to upload but it will have to wait until my computer finishes rendering my new documentary.

That's what I've been doing most of the time - editing the footage we shot down in Kanyakumari. It is now a 20 minute rough cut featuring shots of the shell collectors on the beach, interviews, a wedding, some Bollywood tracks, and some voiceover I recorded in the quietest room in our apartment - our bathroom! So it sounds like me singing in the shower. Anyway I'll need a nice man's voice for that. Gilles has volunteered. It will be like a Jacques Cousteau movie! So far the hardest part about this film is that all the interviews are in Tamil. I hired a translator to give me an (Indian!) English version, but somehow the people in the movie seem to speak for 5 minutes for each sentence of translation! Well, I will be sending out rough cut dvds soon, so tell me if you want to see it! Why does India make me so exclamatory?!

I am looking forward to taking a break from India, I must admit. I am pretty fed up with the whole Fulbright thing, which still hasn't come through. Most of the Fulbright scholars are almost done! And I think it's ridiculous to expect anyone to wait around for 6 months for a 9-month grant, but on top of it I'm not 21 anymore and I have things to do, like follow Gilles around;)

We did take a break last weekend, visiting Srirangapatna, near Mysore. We lounged on hammocks, watched the water in the river move, and rode in a little round boat called a coracle. We also visited the extremely tacky Brindavan gardens, where Indian teenagers go to pose for Bollywood-style photographs in front of colored fountains.

This weekend we invited some friends over and made quiche. Well, I made the crust and Gilles made the quiche. We even drank California wine! We're trying to cook more often but it's just slightly more of an effort than we're used to at home.

Anyway, we'll be heading to Europe in five weeks, so right now we're just rushing to get as much work done as we can. I am still trying to graduate in June, using "Shallow Sea" as my thesis film. We'll see how UCLA likes it.

Jaipur

Jaipur
Originally uploaded by qiubuo.

Jaipur, like Toulouse, is known as a pink city, and you can see why in this picture. It is part of a major "triangle" for tourism, and 50% of those tourists are French, so the Bellons and I fit in fine. Jaipur was an early experiment in urban planning, and it is easier and more pleasant to navigate than most Indian cities today. Not surprisingly, today the central area of the Old City, near the "Wind Palace," is dominated by people selling things. The Alliance Francaise would be happy to know that their students are putting their skills to good use by following French tourists around. We got out of our car on one side of the street, where we were greeted by a carpet salesman who then appeared two more times on the other side of the street. We also saw a man selling drums about five times -- he lowered the price to about 50 cents but we sadly didn't want a drum. And then there were two cute little boys who each said "I have a very small shop. It's right here." and opened a plastic bag to show us their keychains. One of them followed us for an hour, tried to teach us Hindi, and showed us his school.

The Observatory, Jaipur
Originally uploaded by qiubuo.

Jaipur's observatory was built in the 19th century by the maharaja, who had an interest in both astronomy and astrology. These observation towers each represent a sign of the zodiac. This photo is taken from a much higher observation tower with steep steps; on the way up we met several tourist very slowly making their way down.

The Amber Palace, Jaipur

The highlight of Jaipur is the Amber Palace perched on a hill above the city. It would take hours to walk through every room of this immense structure, where the maharaja and his family once lived. From the highest towers you can watch elephants bathing down below.