Sunday, July 26, 2009

Things I've Become Acclimated to....

A short list of things I have become almost completely used to....

  1. Power outages at very inopportune times.
  2. Flies hovering around my favorite eating establishments, eating establishments that typically lack four walls anyways.
  3. Diarrhea.
  4. Stares of all kinds from the local Lucknovites--haunting stares, friendly stares, sexual stares, awkward stares, etc.
  5. The toilet not being able to flush several consecutive times.
  6. Bucket showers.
  7. Cold bucket showers.
  8. Cycle rickshaws.
  9. Going about my day and speaking Hindi/Urdu to make things happen.
  10. Going about my day and having no one understand my English.
  11. Feeling isolated from the Western world.
  12. Noise. Constant noise, usually from the street.
  13. Always having bug bites of some sort on me somewhere.
  14. Beggars. And that one really bothers me--that I've become almost callous to it, but it happens.
  15. Vegetarian Indian food.
  16. Chai. :)
  17. Wearing a dupatta (scarf) whenever out in public.
  18. Insane amounts of heat everyday. Why, darling, 105 is the new 85.
  19. Color. Everywhere. :)
  20. Functioning on Indian time. I may never be on time again for anything... ever ;).
  21. Being able to eat like a king for $3-$4.
  22. KULFI.
  23. Not being able to read most signs.

2 comments:

  1. And also the fact there is no toilet paper in any public place? I resorted to carrying napkins in with me because there was nooo way I was about to use that little water hose with the squirter on the end haha!

    Have you eaten from a banana leaf yet? : ) I liked having chai in the morning and then eating this rice cake type bread with coconut chutney that was wrapped in a banana leaf.

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  2. It was fun reading through your list because there are quite a few things on there that I can relate to: beggars, cold showers(mountain cold), bugs are a must, eating out doesn't break my wallet, and toilet problems :)

    We definitely have a lot to talk about when we get back. We could dedicate a whole day (or week) ;) to talking about India, and we could do the same for Ecuador, as well. I'm so glad that our experiences have been far from dull. Anyways, I look forward to your safe return to the US, and may God bless you greatly with the time you have left in India.

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