Roughing It.

Today, I have realized the harsh[ish] realities of this place where I live:

• · The two other interns have lice [my scalp itches just thinking about it].
• · I sure hope I don’t get it, because washing this head of hair with a bucket is quite the chore…although I am becoming quite the pro AND it truly conserves SO much water! You should try it…
• · My feet, ankles, and lower shins look like I have the chicken pox because they are covered in so many mosquito bites.
• · When I walk around campus after dark [don’t worry Mom, it’s safe] I have to high-step like a Clydesdale horse to avoid stepping on cobras
• · While clopping home I do so with a slight hunch because to me it seems like that will keep the swooping bats from hitting me in the face or landing on my head [ewwwwwww].
• · Oh, and I’ve decided to keep my mosquito net in place all hours of the day to avoid becoming paranoid of little lizards making their way into my bed.
• · BUT after talking with the other interns, I realized that I have it pretty good so far because I don’t have a rat who lives on my roof and poops through the ceiling. Knock on wood J

When I wrote that part about the cobras, the reality of my life right now hit me and I asked myself, “who AM i?!?!?” How awesome is it that I LIVE here and even get to write about that kind of stuff?!? I really am turning into nature girl…next time you see me it just may be on Jen vs. Wild J

A Fourth of July in India

As I write this early on the morning of July 5th, most of you are oooohing and ahhing over fireworks from a grassy hill, the end of a dock, or on a boat in the middle of a lake (sigh). And, contrary to popular belief, they still have the fourth of July in India. Do they celebrate? or care? no, not really. And quite honestly....we didn't realize or care either :)

How did I celebrate, you ask? Well, I picked berries with the girls, read about the negative consequences of the market economy, and spent a lot of time working on my capstone requirements for school.

But the best part of the day was when Melissa, another intern, stopped on the way in from town and picked up ice cream and chocolate. After dinner, we snuck into the kitchen and made us some ice cream sundaes, wishing each other a happy independence day. Then we snuggled up in my room to watch Ever After, which is most definitely the greatest Cinderella story of all time. I hadn't seen it for years, so it even had a surprise ending for me! We stayed up SO late talking, and I was up past midnight for the first time since being here. I crashed the moment my head hit my pillow, but it was a great night of good old "American" fun and bonding with my colleagues.

So I hope the fireworks were beautiful, the corn on the cob was the sweetest it's ever been, and that you got to "shred it up" behind the boat (that was for you, Jammin). and....can't wait to celebrate with you next year :)

A Free Ride in a Rickshaw

Today was a big day.

Day 3 of India, and it was time to leave my jungle sanctuary and go into the Big City:

Bangalore.

There are many things I could write about, but I today I am going to tell you only about our rickshaw adventure.

I went into the city with a girl named Crystal, who has been here awhile and knows almost all the ropes.

We had been in town for a few hours (dare I say it....yes, we were shopping) and it was time to go to another street. We stopped to ask someone for directions (Indians are very friendly and love to be helpful) and a rickshaw driver pulled up and told us that he could take us there for 10 rupies. This is very inexpensive, and we asked him several times to confirm that it would only be 10 rupies. He insisted, so we got in. (This is where Grandma Mabby squeals and closes her eyes, remembering a certain rickshaw ride in London and trying not to imagine us in a rickshaw in the middle of the busy Indian street.)

As we chatted with the driver, he said that he was able to offer us a ride so cheap because it was his company. I took this to mean that he owned the rickshaw business and was like, oh cool! Crystal knew better. It turns out that he was taking us to his company and that in exchange for a 10R ride we had to spend 5 minutes in a very expensive gift shop. We argued with him for awhile and then gave in, entering the store, browsing, and leaving. We got back into our ride, and he told us that because we weren't in the store for 5 minutes we had to go to another one. What?!?!

The owner of the store will give the driver of the rickshaw a coupon for discount gasoline if they bring tourists to their gift stores. But the owner will only give the driver a coupon if the tourist spends 5 minutes in the shop. By this time our hands were tied, so we grudgingly walked into the next shop, browsing as slowly as possible and chatting with the clerks. Crystal and I ended up being pushed on a garden swing inside the shop for awhile while the clerks told us how mesmerizing our eyes were, engaging the clerks in conversation while trying to avoid committing to either purchasing something or having dinner with them. Eventually I gave in and made a purchase...don't worry, Crystal didn't give in to a dinner date.

We got back into the rickshaw and the driver was now happy. He drove us to our street, chatting the whole way, and let us out. I didn't have 10R, so Crystal was going to pay with a larger bill, but the driver didn't have any change.

He said, "That is all right girls. If you do not have the exact money, you do not have to pay me."

We looked at each other, looked at him, and said, "Ok, thank you!"

All that....for a free ride in a rickshaw. Only in India.

Surprise Freaks!

Just wanted to report that this morning I opened the shades.

As I drew back the curtain, something fell.

I jerked my head out of the way

and looked to see what had fallen to the bed.

It was none other than a little lizard.

I screamed.

Welcome to India :)

Learning to Eat with my Hands

In India, we eat a lot of rice. Rice for breakfast, rice for lunch, and rice for dinner. It’s like survivor. And…you eat with your hands. I laugh thinking about how I thought chopsticks were hard J But seriously….next time you have rice, try gracefully eating a handful of it with your fingers. It’s tougher than it sounds.

But I thought I had it down…get some pointers from the other Americans, watch the Indians, pick up the rice and shovel it into your mouth as quickly as you can so that you don’t make a mess of yourself.

I was eating with the little girls last night, when they started giggling. I asked, “What? Why are you laughing?” and then they started making fun of me, mimicking the way I raise my elbow when I am putting food into my mouth, saying “No, Auntie” and pushing down my elbow. So thankful that they told me what I was doing wrong, I put my elbow down and tried again. Which was very awkward. And those girls just couldn’t stop laughing. I made quite the mess, but can now say that I am eating like an Indian…or at least attempting to J

A Housewarming Party

Today I walked down the road to go to a colleague’s housewarming party. He is getting married in November and he and his fiancé just bought a house. Although they haven’t moved in yet and it is barren of any furniture at all, they invited us over to warm their new home. It is the spacious 2^nd floor of a newly-constructed, brightly-colored house, an apartment that costs 3,500 rupies a month. In dollars? About $70. Two bedrooms (one is a really cool tower room that is shaped like an octagon and has lots of windows), a living room and a kitchen. Cheap for you or me. But to an Indian? The equivalent of about $437 (For you economists, that’s looking through the lens of purchasing power parity).

Now this housewarming party was unlike any that I have ever been to. We came, greeted the new owners, walked through all of the rooms, and then sat down in the living room (correction to the earlier furniture comment: there was a futon-type sofa and a few chairs set up in the living room). I sat next to a man who is the pastor of the church, and he stood up and welcomed everyone to their new home. We sang “Give Thanks” (a Calvin Christian School favorite), and read some verses from Psalm 90. The pastor prayed a blessing over their home, that it would be filled with joy and overflowing with grace, and then we prayed the Lord’s prayer and had some snacks and left within 10 minutes. It was definitely different than our housewarming parties, and I was surprised by the presence of the pastor and the prayer. But it was really neat…and hopefully, I will be invited to the wedding in November!

Dirty, Stinky, and Sweaty

That was the first thought that I had on this, my first morning in India. For the next 6 months, I am going to be dirty, stinky, and sweaty. An image of the bucket shower that I saw in my bathroom the night before flashed through my head. Nope, not going to be clean until Christmas. Then I turned over and looked at my clock – 6:15 am. I had gone to bed at 3am….looks like I am going to be quite the early riser for the next 6 months too!