I cannot believe that it has been a year and eight months since I arrived here. Especially since I barely made it through the first weekend (aside: if you have a broken foot don’t come to India…especially in monsoon season). But I made it through that first weekend and then some. So what do I think of India after all this time? Well, I wouldn’t say that I love India; I don’t hate it either; I would say that I love parts of it and I don’t like other parts of it. But this is a beautiful country and I think that most people (assuming you aren’t a neat freak or germaphobe) would enjoy experiencing India.
So, as I get ready to take off and bid farewell to India and to my blog I thought I’d list my top 5 India experiences that are in my head right now:
1 Рseeing the Taj Mahal for the first time with my parents (clich̩, yes, but true)
2 – getting caught in monsoon rains
3 – sitting in the Kerala backwaters looking up at the stars
4 – a crazy autorickshaw ride when I first got here (check Oct 2, 2008 post for full details) which was a wild goose chase as well as an amazing bonding experience across cultural/religious lines
5 – experiencing the India/Pakistan border ceremony
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog because I’ve definitely enjoyed writing it.
Bye!!!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Things I will/won’t miss
As I go over in my mind on an almost daily basis the things I’ll miss about being here I also think of things I won’t miss.
Certain likable/not-likable things are making themselves very prominent this week; like the bougainvillea which are blooming like crazy and are so pretty and bright right now and I will miss seeing them so much; or like banking which I’m currently arguing with…why is it that one person says one thing but when that person is out someone else says the exact opposite and they don’t understand why I’m frustrated. My personal favorite response last night was: “well if there is a problem I’ll be here next week”…to which I said: "yes, but I won’t be”.
Anyway…here’s a list of some of my favorite/least favorite things:
I will miss flowers blooming year round
I won’t miss the summer at all
I will miss having a driver and a maid
I won’t miss having to rely so much on others and not being able to drive myself
I will miss all the random animal sightings; in particular the peacocks and elephants
I won’t miss the street dogs; they weird me out
I will miss being able to take great weekend trips for such a small amount of money
I will and won’t miss all the crazy transportation I’ve had to take to get to places; they are an adventure but sometimes it would be nice for life to be less adventurous
I will miss my awesome and crazy cheap facials and massages
I won’t miss the dirty dusty air that make monthly facials almost a necessity
And on and on….
I have a sneaking suspicion that my first month home will involve a lot of me getting excited over things that I have missed about being home. And then I’ll start to miss things about being here. As long as I can find a good Indian restaurant near where I end up I'll be happy...if I can find a south Indian restaurant I'll be thrilled!
Certain likable/not-likable things are making themselves very prominent this week; like the bougainvillea which are blooming like crazy and are so pretty and bright right now and I will miss seeing them so much; or like banking which I’m currently arguing with…why is it that one person says one thing but when that person is out someone else says the exact opposite and they don’t understand why I’m frustrated. My personal favorite response last night was: “well if there is a problem I’ll be here next week”…to which I said: "yes, but I won’t be”.
Anyway…here’s a list of some of my favorite/least favorite things:
I will miss flowers blooming year round
I won’t miss the summer at all
I will miss having a driver and a maid
I won’t miss having to rely so much on others and not being able to drive myself
I will miss all the random animal sightings; in particular the peacocks and elephants
I won’t miss the street dogs; they weird me out
I will miss being able to take great weekend trips for such a small amount of money
I will and won’t miss all the crazy transportation I’ve had to take to get to places; they are an adventure but sometimes it would be nice for life to be less adventurous
I will miss my awesome and crazy cheap facials and massages
I won’t miss the dirty dusty air that make monthly facials almost a necessity
And on and on….
I have a sneaking suspicion that my first month home will involve a lot of me getting excited over things that I have missed about being home. And then I’ll start to miss things about being here. As long as I can find a good Indian restaurant near where I end up I'll be happy...if I can find a south Indian restaurant I'll be thrilled!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Happy Holi (again)
Well Holi this year was much crazier than last year; no doubt because this year Holi fell on a Monday and last year it was on a Wednesday. On Sunday (the day before) I got thwacked with a water balloon; it hurt like crazy and I’m amazed I don’t have a bruise. I was in an auto rickshaw and saw something out of the corner of my eye…it was some kids pointing at me and then one of them threw (like a baseball pitcher pitches) a balloon at me at top speed. Luckily I was able to crouch a bit so it only got me on my leg. And today there is dried paint all over the place on the sidewalks. I did go out for a bit yesterday; just a quick walk; but only got sprayed with water guns, no color; I think that was just luck because just a few minutes later I heard a bunch of kids running down the street. A very odd holiday. Everyone complains about it before the day saying how annoying it is but then they all celebrate. Oh well, it is over and so my last week in India started with a bang (so to speak).
Nothing much to blog about today. Tomorrow I’m off to the bank to close down my bank account…hard to figure exactly how many rupees I’ll need before I leave but I’m trying. Just enough to eat my meals but not too much so I can’t buy anything else…no more room in my luggage.
Nothing much to blog about today. Tomorrow I’m off to the bank to close down my bank account…hard to figure exactly how many rupees I’ll need before I leave but I’m trying. Just enough to eat my meals but not too much so I can’t buy anything else…no more room in my luggage.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Hooray/memories
Well I’m thrilled to say that I got my security deposit back from my landlord and now am 100% done with my apartment. It was quite stressful getting all those loose ends tied up but now I can relax; whew. Of course I’m a dingbat and forgot that the check has to have my name written exactly as my bank has it written; my bank account has my middle initial on it and the check doesn’t. So...in the logic that is Indian banking; I need to send a letter to the bank saying that yes, that check really is for me. You would think that the person writing the check would need to say it is okay…but I've learned that sometimes over here it is best to ignore logic. All that matters is that I got the security deposit back (landlords here are notorious for not paying back the deposit).
Anyway…last night I was out to dinner with my colleague and we were reminiscing about some of our first memories in India which now seem kind of funny. For example; both of us on our first night here sat in bed thinking “what have I done”. I was so hot and then the power went out and there were all these crazy sounds all around and I did not think I would make it through. But I made it through that first night and then some…
I also remembered the first time I went to Khan Market, which is one of the more upscale markets in Delhi. I was shown one of the “grocery stores” and I remember thinking that I would never shop there because it was such a small store with stuff piled a mile high on every wall…now I go there every few weeks because they have the best apples in the city.
I also remember the first time I went to buy milk; first I couldn’t find the milk guys in my market because they are at the very back; then I was confused because they don’t sell milk all day (which now makes sense to me because they get it delivered twice a day) and I couldn’t figure what type I wanted. To be honest I still haven’t figured out the type yet because they all seem like they are whole milk to me but apparently one of the three is slightly less fattening.
Its fun to remember some of those first moments because I feel like I’ve come so far and kind of conquered life in India.
So...Monday is a holiday, Holi. Maybe I’ll be brave this year and venture out and get covered in color…or maybe not. We’ll see.
Anyway…last night I was out to dinner with my colleague and we were reminiscing about some of our first memories in India which now seem kind of funny. For example; both of us on our first night here sat in bed thinking “what have I done”. I was so hot and then the power went out and there were all these crazy sounds all around and I did not think I would make it through. But I made it through that first night and then some…
I also remembered the first time I went to Khan Market, which is one of the more upscale markets in Delhi. I was shown one of the “grocery stores” and I remember thinking that I would never shop there because it was such a small store with stuff piled a mile high on every wall…now I go there every few weeks because they have the best apples in the city.
I also remember the first time I went to buy milk; first I couldn’t find the milk guys in my market because they are at the very back; then I was confused because they don’t sell milk all day (which now makes sense to me because they get it delivered twice a day) and I couldn’t figure what type I wanted. To be honest I still haven’t figured out the type yet because they all seem like they are whole milk to me but apparently one of the three is slightly less fattening.
Its fun to remember some of those first moments because I feel like I’ve come so far and kind of conquered life in India.
So...Monday is a holiday, Holi. Maybe I’ll be brave this year and venture out and get covered in color…or maybe not. We’ll see.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Crazy animals
Last night I was awoken at around 3 a.m. by some dogs having what sounded like a barking contest. Highly annoying. But, it reminded me of a funny event in Jodhpur. We saw so many animals there; cows galore, a bunch of camels, donkeys, a few monkeys with very long tails, one elephant and a whole lot of goats. For the elephant and the goats we saw them while in our autorickshaw. The elephant I spotted coming towards us so I said “elephant!”; my friend didn’t see him right away but definitely noticed him right as he passed us which really took her by surprise…imagine sitting in an autorickshaw and seeing a huge elephant leg walking right past you…crazy. He was a very happy healthy looking elephant. The goats were impossible to not notice right away as suddenly about 50 of them (literally) came running down the road towards us. A little scary for about a half second until I noticed a guy following them who seemed to be the goat herder directing them. Much as I will not miss all the street dogs I will for sure miss all these random animal sightings.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Just in time...
So I'm almost totally moved out of my apartment into a little guest house (with a flat screen TV in my room...very exciting!) and I'm quite proud of my packing. I have some stuff to ship home but not as much as I thought I would have. I could probably fit it all in my luggage...but then I wouldn't be able to pick my bags up so that wouldn't work.
Just a quick post today as I have to head home in a few hours to meet the furniture rental people but I just had to quickly mention that I timed my move back perfectly. It is just now starting to warm up; I even had to put my overhead fan on for a little bit. Today the high is 27 (80F) and by Saturday it will be up to 31 (88F). Likely in a few weeks it will be upper 30s and I will be happily not sweating at home. Perfect timing - yeah!
Just a quick post today as I have to head home in a few hours to meet the furniture rental people but I just had to quickly mention that I timed my move back perfectly. It is just now starting to warm up; I even had to put my overhead fan on for a little bit. Today the high is 27 (80F) and by Saturday it will be up to 31 (88F). Likely in a few weeks it will be upper 30s and I will be happily not sweating at home. Perfect timing - yeah!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Things I will miss…
While there are definitely plenty of thing that I will not miss about India (the honking is seriously driving me crazy lately) there is so much I will miss. Today’s topic? The medical care. Yesterday I had an earache and fearing an ear infection (because I’m flying next week and do not want to fly with a bad ear) I went to the clinic. I walked in and asked to see the ENT specialist. 10 minutes later I was with the doctor, 10 minutes after that I was out of the place with a prescription. The only reason it took that long is because the computers were down and they had to hand write the receipts.
I decided while I was out to stop by and see my dentist just to make sure that everything with my root canal still looked good before I went home. I had to wait a bit longer for him, maybe 15 minutes; then I went in, we chatted, he checked my teeth (all is well) and he didn’t even charge me.
It isn’t just that it is crazy cheap to see a doctor here; it is that it is fast and the service is great. They have always diagnosed me properly and the medication has always worked and the doctors always remember me from visit to visit (although I do really stand out here so really I can’t give them too much credit for that).
Now it is back to the world of having to make appointments; making sure the doctor is on your health plan. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Sigh.
Of course I suppose I could just hope to not get sick as much any more.
Aside: Tomorrow I’m moving out of my apartment into a guest house for my final week and a half here. Will be sad to say goodbye to the place but just yesterday one of the toilets broke again and I didn’t have water for about a ½ hour so that is making it a bit easier to move on.
I decided while I was out to stop by and see my dentist just to make sure that everything with my root canal still looked good before I went home. I had to wait a bit longer for him, maybe 15 minutes; then I went in, we chatted, he checked my teeth (all is well) and he didn’t even charge me.
It isn’t just that it is crazy cheap to see a doctor here; it is that it is fast and the service is great. They have always diagnosed me properly and the medication has always worked and the doctors always remember me from visit to visit (although I do really stand out here so really I can’t give them too much credit for that).
Now it is back to the world of having to make appointments; making sure the doctor is on your health plan. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Sigh.
Of course I suppose I could just hope to not get sick as much any more.
Aside: Tomorrow I’m moving out of my apartment into a guest house for my final week and a half here. Will be sad to say goodbye to the place but just yesterday one of the toilets broke again and I didn’t have water for about a ½ hour so that is making it a bit easier to move on.
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