India adventure—the 21st country I have visited (1)

2nd Indigenous Terra Madre – International Mei Ramew – 3-7 November 2015 – Shillong, India

How was it? Well, what should I say? It was incredibly and surprisingly amazing. It’s just that I have to be really careful with my expectation. Disappointment is caused by the distance between expectation and reality. The bigger the gap, the more disappointment will be. Maybe the main problem of me-myself is that I came to India from Europe. From Denmark, where everything is organized, calm, peaceful, more punctual, and natural to plain taste. So, I welcome myself to the advanced journey in India, a place where it can really challenge your physical, mental and spiritual experience. I really suggest India for those who are advanced in travelling, not just touristing! Because it is literally incredible!

India adventure—the 21st country I have visited (2)

Accomodation

NEHU guest house

Around 9.30 pm, I arrived in the NEHU guest house. It’s not a hotel. It is a university guest house, pretty old building, some molds on the wall, rusty toilet, broken shower, hard mattress, is all fine for me. I can manage it, but roommate. I was supposed to be in a room with a woman from Peru. She could not speak English at all, but Spanish, and not even body language. So, I asked to move. Finally, I have a roommate from Paraguay. She can speak a very little English and body language. That is better. On the third day, I went back from the conference, open my unlocked room, I saw additional mattress on the floor. “ok, there will be someone else coming. Waw, I did not expect to have more than 1 roommate actually, but I can understand the situation”. Entering deeper to my room, I saw a woman was lying on MY BED! And all my stuff that was on my bed has been removed to my first roommate’s bed. Wohohow!! What the what? Hello, this is out of my line! I can understand the situation that some people might not have accommodation. I can understand that the committee might probably did not have more rooms. But moving my stuff without asking and taking over my bed is unacceptable. “Are you asking me to sleep on the floor while I’ve been here for 2 nights?” – That was only on my mind, I did not spit it out. I could not be angry as I was very shocked. I just talked to receptionist that I am disappointed and I don’t like the way whoever taking over my place. Finally, I could manage it. When I came back to my room, she had tidied up my bed and started to sleep on the floor. Thanks!

India adventure—the 21st country I have visited (3)

Foods I tried

Kwai. In Indonesia we call it kinang. But this Kwai is a bit different. They use betel nut, betel leaves and a bit of lime. They gave us kwai to welcome people to their village. The taste is very dry, astringent and if you don’t use to, it will make you feel dizzy. In Yogyakarta, especially, we call it kinang. It consist of betel leaves, lime, gambier, tobacco, and sometimes with magnolia alba flower. I have never tried the Yogyakarta version anyway.

India adventure—the 21st country I have visited (4)

Site visit

I was supposed to go to Moosakhiah village for the site visit on the 4th day. But I do not know, from the list on the hotel, I was moved to Laitsohpliah village, the same a s Jonas. Well, as Laitsohpliah is closer than Moosakhiah, I would prefer to go to Laitsohpliah. I don’t want to get lost too far away. I wanted to get back to the hotel soon as I have to prepare presentation for the last day as well. So, without confirming to anyone, I went to Laitsohpliah.

On the way to Laitsohpliah

Laitsohpliah is located about 35km to the south of Shillong. It took about 1,5 hour to get there, not to forget of getting a bit lost in the beginning of our journey. Arriving at Laitsohpliah, we were welcome with a piece of Kwai, a lot of varieties of tubers, and tea in a bamboo glass as a welcome drink. And then we went by bus to the other side of village. From there we walked back to the village. Bayona, a native girl from Laitsohpliah guided the way and explained a lot about her village. She speaks very good English since she worked in Shillong and took a computer course. She told me that it would have only taken about 10-15 minutes to walk back to the village. Fifteen minutes of walking, I have not seen any sign or sound of the village. Thirty minutes, she said “we are just going to arrive”. And yes, it took 40 minutes in total to get to the village. Jonas has been back by bus to the village. Anyhow, I enjoyed the walk as she is very friendly and open. She showed me her aunty home, the pig cage, and many more. In the middle of our way, we found a little-but-very-poisonous snake with a yellow strip on its neck!

India adventure—the 21st country I have visited (5:last)

What is Indigenous terra madre?

Indigenous Terra Madre is an international event that brings together indigenous people from all over the world to network and share knowledge about food, nutrition, and biocultural diversity. The first Indigenous Terra Madre was held in Jokkmokk, Sweden, land of Sami people. The second event was organized by Slow Food organization and NESFAS (North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society). The objective of this event is to give opportunity for indigenous and local food communities to interact with each other and with policy makers, scientist, UN agencies, and international institutions to discuss issues that affect the vitality and sustainability of their food systems. To give a touch of the indigenous people of North East India, the second ITM is called Internationa Mei-Ramew 2015. Mei-Ramew means mother earth. (source: here)

Closing remark – What did I learn? (11Nov 2015)